WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows users to easily send messages, make voice and video calls, and share photos, videos, documents and more. One great feature of WhatsApp is that it automatically saves all photos you receive in chats to your phone’s gallery. However, many users want to know how to export and save their entire WhatsApp chat history including all photos that have been exchanged.
Why Save WhatsApp Photos?
There are several reasons you may want to save all the photos from a WhatsApp chat:
- Preserve memories and important photos exchanged with friends/family
- Free up space on your phone by backing up photos then deleting WhatsApp chats
- Transfer your chat history including photos when switching phones
- Have a backup in case your phone is damaged, lost or stolen
Manually saving photos received on WhatsApp can be very time consuming. Luckily, there are simple ways to export your full WhatsApp chat history with photos to your device storage, computer, or cloud drive.
Save WhatsApp Photos on Android
For Android users, the process is straightforward:
- Open WhatsApp and tap the 3-dot menu in the top right corner
- Go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup
- Tap “Back Up” to create a backup of your chats to Google Drive
- Once backup completes, open Google Drive on your phone and find the WhatsApp folder
- Open the WhatsApp folder then browse to the Media folder
- Here you will find subfolders organized by chat containing all your photos and videos
- Tap and hold to select all folders, then tap the 3-dot menu and Download
- This will save all your WhatsApp media to your phone’s storage
You can also connect your Android phone to a computer and transfer the WhatsApp/Media folder to save everything to your computer.
Save WhatsApp Photos on iPhone
For iPhone users, you have a couple options to save your WhatsApp chat photos:
Use iCloud Drive
- Open WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup
- Tap “Back Up Now” to backup chats to iCloud
- Go to Photos app and confirm WhatsApp photos are visible in the Albums tab
- Open the Photos app and tap “Select” in the top right
- Select all photos you want to export then tap the Share icon
- Choose “Add to iCloud Drive” and they will be saved there
- You can then access your iCloud Drive on a computer or other device
Use Computer Transfer
- Connect iPhone to computer and open iTunes
- Select your device and go to File Sharing
- Choose WhatsApp and click “Save to…” to export chat history to computer
- Navigate to the Media folder to access all your photos and videos
- Copy the entire Media folder to save on your computer
The computer transfer method saves files directly instead of via iCloud.
Third Party Apps
There are also third party apps you can use to easily export your WhatsApp chat history and media:
- Android: Apps like ChatExporter and Export Chat for WhatsApp make it easy to export chats and media.
- iPhone: Apps like PhoneTrans, iMyFone iTransor, iExplorer allow transferring WhatsApp chats and photos to computer.
The benefit of third party apps is they provide more customization options for exporting specific chats and media types.
Tips for Preserving WhatsApp Photos
Follow these tips to make sure you never lose your precious WhatsApp photos and videos:
- Backup your WhatsApp chats to Google Drive or iCloud regularly
- Export and save media to external storage periodically
- Take clear screenshots of important chats before deleting a conversation
- Use a third party app for more flexibility in exporting chats
- Store chat backups and exported media in multiple places as another backup
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I transfer WhatsApp chats to a new phone?
On Android restore your Google Drive backup on the new phone during WhatsApp setup. On iPhone use iCloud to transfer chats and media when prompted while installing WhatsApp.
Can I export WhatsApp chats from iPhone to Android?
Yes, use a third party app like iMyFone iTransor to transfer WhatsApp chats and media from an iPhone to Android device.
Is my WhatsApp chat data still available after uninstalling the app?
Your WhatsApp data is still stored after uninstalling. Chats and media will be restored if you reinstall WhatsApp and verify your phone number.
Do my WhatsApp backups contain full quality photos and videos?
Yes, WhatsApp backups contain original quality versions of all photos, videos and other files exchanged in chats.
Conclusion
Saving your WhatsApp photos prevents losing those important memories and gives you a backup if needed. Follow the steps outlined above based on your Android or iPhone device to easily export and store all the photos from your WhatsApp chats. With regular backups and exports, you can relax knowing your chat history is safe.