Whatsapp is not only a chat, but also the most used tool to exchange photos and videos between friends.
Whatsapp has a rather surprising storage and archiving system for the "media" received, so as to make it possible to review images and videos even from a long time ago and even if they have been deleted from the phone's memory .
WhatsApp, in fact, allows users who have deleted multimedia contents from their devices to recover them without needing to make any backups.
Any file received can be recovered and re-downloaded from Whatsapp, not only images, but also videos, GIFs, voice messages, audio files and documents .
The only problem is that this automatic recovery does not always apply, because, for example, the photos sent which were then deleted from the phone's memory cannot be recovered unless special methods are used.
READ ALSO: How automatic and manual Whatsapp Backup works
Recovery of WhatsApp photos and videos on iPhone
On iPhone, every time multimedia content is received from someone on WhatsApp, it is not automatically loaded.
The photo, for example, appears blurry with a download symbol that you have to touch to view it.
After downloading a photo or video, it is saved in the " WhatsApp " folders and also in the " Camera Roll " in Photos (in " Video " if it is a video).
GIFs, however, are not saved in Photos and remain only in Whatsapp.
After downloading and viewing the photos and videos received in WhatsApp messages, they can be removed from the Photos app without fear.
First of all, by default, all deleted media on iPhone are not deleted immediately in the Fotoma app only moved to the " Recently deleted" folder where they will remain for 30 days before disappearing permanently.
In any case, however, even after deleting the photo or video, this can be recovered by opening the chat where it was received in Whatsapp where it can be downloaded again.
The important thing is that the multimedia content or chat in which it was received must not have been deleted from WhatsApp,
If the conversation is still there and has not been canceled, you can search for each photo and video from the chat settings and then, touch the item to save it using the Share button at the bottom left.
The image or video will return to the Photos app.
If it is a photo or video sent on WhatsApp, it works in exactly the same way and just touch it and use the share icon to save it.
Recovery of WhatsApp photos and videos on Android
The WhatsApp Android app is slightly different from the one on iOS.
Even in Whatsapp on Android, if you disable automatic media download (in Settings> Data Usage> Archive ), photos and videos received appear with the blurred thumbnail and the download icon, with in addition also the indication of the size of the file.
In addition, these will appear in the gallery of the Photos app only if the option in the settings> Chat has been activated (see also how to hide photos received in Whatapp from the gallery)
For each file received in the past, if this has been deleted from the internal memory of the phone, it will be possible to recover it by opening the chat where it was sent and touching the blurred thumbnail to be able to re-download it.
Recovery will not be possible if the conversation has been deleted (if a group has been left) or if the content of the specific message has been deleted.
The restored media that is downloaded will also be visible on your main photo gallery (if the option is enabled).
The recovery of very old photos may not work and when you try to touch the button to download them from the blurred thumbnail present in the chat, the message " Download failed, this media is not present, ask .... to resend it " appears.
I did not understand the time limit for storage in the cloud which is in Whatsapp, so maybe let me know.
For photos and videos sent from your phone, however, if these are no longer present in the phone memory, even if the message and the thumbnail is present in the chat, there is no way to download it and restore it.
In the event that you were unable to recover the photo or video because it was manually deleted, there is still hope if the option to delete the media from the phone has not been used.
If you create a chat with yourself on Whatsapp, the files saved in this chat will remain recoverable from the cloud and available, at least for several months.
In each chat, you can tap the options button in the upper right corner and then go to see the list of all shared media.
Finally, remember that in Settings> Archive use, you can see all the photos, videos, GIFs and audio messages of each chat in order to free up space in Whatsapp and delete photos and videos forever from some conversations.
Finally, I refer to the guide to recover deleted Whatsapp messages and restore backups to be used as a last resort to find deleted photos and videos.
Whatsapp has a rather surprising storage and archiving system for the "media" received, so as to make it possible to review images and videos even from a long time ago and even if they have been deleted from the phone's memory .
WhatsApp, in fact, allows users who have deleted multimedia contents from their devices to recover them without needing to make any backups.
Any file received can be recovered and re-downloaded from Whatsapp, not only images, but also videos, GIFs, voice messages, audio files and documents .
The only problem is that this automatic recovery does not always apply, because, for example, the photos sent which were then deleted from the phone's memory cannot be recovered unless special methods are used.
READ ALSO: How automatic and manual Whatsapp Backup works
Recovery of WhatsApp photos and videos on iPhone
On iPhone, every time multimedia content is received from someone on WhatsApp, it is not automatically loaded.
The photo, for example, appears blurry with a download symbol that you have to touch to view it.
After downloading a photo or video, it is saved in the " WhatsApp " folders and also in the " Camera Roll " in Photos (in " Video " if it is a video).
GIFs, however, are not saved in Photos and remain only in Whatsapp.
After downloading and viewing the photos and videos received in WhatsApp messages, they can be removed from the Photos app without fear.
First of all, by default, all deleted media on iPhone are not deleted immediately in the Fotoma app only moved to the " Recently deleted" folder where they will remain for 30 days before disappearing permanently.
In any case, however, even after deleting the photo or video, this can be recovered by opening the chat where it was received in Whatsapp where it can be downloaded again.
The important thing is that the multimedia content or chat in which it was received must not have been deleted from WhatsApp,
If the conversation is still there and has not been canceled, you can search for each photo and video from the chat settings and then, touch the item to save it using the Share button at the bottom left.
The image or video will return to the Photos app.
If it is a photo or video sent on WhatsApp, it works in exactly the same way and just touch it and use the share icon to save it.
Recovery of WhatsApp photos and videos on Android
The WhatsApp Android app is slightly different from the one on iOS.
Even in Whatsapp on Android, if you disable automatic media download (in Settings> Data Usage> Archive ), photos and videos received appear with the blurred thumbnail and the download icon, with in addition also the indication of the size of the file.
In addition, these will appear in the gallery of the Photos app only if the option in the settings> Chat has been activated (see also how to hide photos received in Whatapp from the gallery)
For each file received in the past, if this has been deleted from the internal memory of the phone, it will be possible to recover it by opening the chat where it was sent and touching the blurred thumbnail to be able to re-download it.
Recovery will not be possible if the conversation has been deleted (if a group has been left) or if the content of the specific message has been deleted.
The restored media that is downloaded will also be visible on your main photo gallery (if the option is enabled).
The recovery of very old photos may not work and when you try to touch the button to download them from the blurred thumbnail present in the chat, the message " Download failed, this media is not present, ask .... to resend it " appears.
I did not understand the time limit for storage in the cloud which is in Whatsapp, so maybe let me know.
For photos and videos sent from your phone, however, if these are no longer present in the phone memory, even if the message and the thumbnail is present in the chat, there is no way to download it and restore it.
In the event that you were unable to recover the photo or video because it was manually deleted, there is still hope if the option to delete the media from the phone has not been used.
If you create a chat with yourself on Whatsapp, the files saved in this chat will remain recoverable from the cloud and available, at least for several months.
In each chat, you can tap the options button in the upper right corner and then go to see the list of all shared media.
Finally, remember that in Settings> Archive use, you can see all the photos, videos, GIFs and audio messages of each chat in order to free up space in Whatsapp and delete photos and videos forever from some conversations.
Finally, I refer to the guide to recover deleted Whatsapp messages and restore backups to be used as a last resort to find deleted photos and videos.
