How to Recover Disappearing Photos on WhatsApp Easily and Quickly [2023]

If you’re an avid WhatsApp user, you must know that you have the option to save WhatsApp pics and videos automatically to your phone’s gallery. However, many users have faced an issue where WhatsApp photos disappeared from gallery for no reason.

They didn’t delete the photo, and they didn’t delete the conversation. So where did it go? Therefore, we have prepared a comprehensive guide on how to recover disappearing photos on WhatsApp and how to avoid this from happening again.

Bonus Tip: Here are some other WhatsApp tips you may like.

• How to Recover Deleted Photos from WhatsApp Android >
• How to Restore WhatsApp Messages on New iPhone >

Why Have My WhatsApp Pictures Disappeared

If you notice your WhatsApp pictures disappeared, there could be several reasons behind it:

• Media Visibility Settings: If the media visibility setting is turned off, WhatsApp pictures will not appear in the gallery.
• Corrupted Files: The gallery or Photos app may not recognize corrupted or damaged files, resulting in their disappearance.
• Storage Permissions: If WhatsApp does not have the necessary storage permissions on your device, it may be unable to save or display media files in the gallery.
• Third-party Apps: Some third-party gallery apps or file managers can exclude or hide the WhatsApp media folder.
• App Updates: If you notice that WhatsApp pictures have disappeared after updating the app, it is possible that there is a bug due to a software update.

How to Recover WhatsApp Photos Disappeared from Gallery

If WhatsApp images disappeared from gallery, you can recover them using professional data recovery tools. And below we will show you the top tools to recover your WhatsApp photos.

Way 1. Recover WhatsApp Images Disappeared from Gallery Android in Clicks

If you’re an Android user whose WhatsApp pictures disappeared from the photo gallery, you can get them back with DroidKit – Android Phone Toolkit quickly. DroidKit is a one-stop Android solution that offers multiple useful features like recovering lost data, removing the lock screen, fixing underlying system issues, and bypassing Google accounts. All Android data types, including WhatsApp messgaes and photos, can be recovered by DroidKit with ease. And it’s a simple and easy tool that requires no prior knowledge and can get the recovery done in just a few clicks. And you can also learn more about the main features of DroidKit below.

• Recover all WhatsApp data – WhatsApp photos, messages, videos, files, etc. All of these data can be recovered.
• Preview and select as you want – You can freely preview all WhatsApp data, and then select to only recover lost photos or other data. No blind recovery.
• No technical and root requirements – Recovering WhatsApp data is just a button click away. You don’t need to root your device, nor do you need to have any technical knowledge.
• Guaranteed high success rate – DroidKit can help you recover WhatsApp data from multiple sources, such as your device, Google backup, and even damaged Samsung devices.
• Full device coverage – DroidKit supports all Android OS versions and Android devices, such as Samsung, Huawei, LG, Xiaomi, etc.

In addition, DroidKit can also recover other Android data types, like photos, music, contacts, text messages, and more. Now free download DroidKit and follow these simple steps to see how to recover disappearing photos on WhatsApp in simple clicks via DroidKit.

Step 1. Launch DroidKit on your PC/Mac and click WhatsApp Recovery from the Data Recovery tab.

Step 2. Connect your Android device to your computer, and click Start.

Step 3. Now follow the on-screen instructions to prepare the corresponding settings on your device.

Step 4. DroidKit will scan and list all WhatsApp data, and you can easily view and select photos to recover.

Step 5. Click on the To Device or To PC button to recover your disappeared WhatsApp pictures.

Way 2. How to Save Disappearing Photos on WhatsApp with Ease on iPhone

If you have an iPhone, you can recover WhatsApp pictures disappeared using AnyTrans – iPhone Data Manager. It is a data management and transfer tool specially designed for iOS users, and it can also help you quickly restore your lost important data. All iOS data, such as WhatsApp data, photos, videos, call logs, etc., can be easily backed up, transferred, and restored with AnyTrans. And you only need to click a button to get back your WhatsApp photos or other data, suitable for anyone. Besides, if you have synced your WhatsApp data to Google Drive, AnyTrans also allows you to restore your data from Google Drive. Most importantly, AnyTrans supports all WhatsApp versions and iPhone models.

What’s more, AnyTrans can also help you manage iCloud or iTunes contents, and transfer data from iPhone to iPhone, Andriod to iPhone as well as iPhone to computer. And now it is available on both Windows and Mac computers.

Here is how to recover disappearing photos on WhatsApp on your iPhone via this powerful tool.

Step 1. Free download, install and open AnyTrans on your computer. Connect your iPhone to the computer. Then click Social Messages Manager > From Local Backup.

Step 2. Choose a backup and click Next for the WhatsApp pictures restoration to start. This might take a few minutes; therefore, ensure your device remains connected until the process is complete.

Step 3. Once the process is complete, AnyTrans will restore your WhatsApp backup to your iPhone. Now you can view and save all the disappeared WhatsApp images.

In case you do not want to use a third-party app on your device, you can use the following alternative methods to fix the disappearing pictures issue.

How to Fix WhatsApp Photos Disappeared

Below we have rounded up 5 alternative ways to fix WhatsApp pictures disappeared on your iPhone or Android:

Fix 1. Save Pictures Before Disappearing Manually

One option to keep your WhatsApp pictures from disappearing is to save them manually. This way, even if the picture disappears from the conversation, it will still be available in your gallery or files. Here’s what to do:

Step 1. When you receive a picture on WhatsApp, click on it to enlarge it.

Step 2. Now tap on the arrow/3 dots in the lower-left corner and select “Save” from the given options.

Step 3. This will save the picture in your gallery or local storage.

Fix 2. Enable Media Auto-Download

Another method to fix the my WhatsApp photos disappeared issue is to turn on the auto download option in WhatsApp. This will automatically download all images and videos to your gallery and won’t disappear even if the message is set to “Disappearing Messages.” Here’s how to enable it:

1. On your WhatsApp, go to “Settings > Storage and Data.”
2. Now tap on “Photos” under “Media Auto-Download” and set it to “Wi-Fi” or “Wi-Fi and Cellular.”

This will enable media auto-download, and all your images and videos will automatically be saved in the gallery.

Fix 3. Delete .nomedia File

If you have a .nomedia file in your WhatsApp folder, it will hide WhatsApp images, and you won’t be able to see them on other apps. Therefore, deleting the .nomedia file also helps to reappear disappeared WhatsApp pictures. Here’s how to go about it:

Step 1. On your Android device, go to “File Manager” and click on the 3 dots at the top-right corner.

Step 2. Tap “Show Hidden” for hidden files to appear in the folders.

Step 3. Find the WhatsApp folder in the File Manager and click “Media > WhatsApp Images.”

Step 4. Here you’ll find the .nomedia file. Delete it permanently to view disappeared WhatsApp images in your gallery.

Fix 4. Clear WhatsApp Cache

If the above 3 methods don’t help fix WhatsApp pictures disappeared, you can try clearing the WhatsApp cache. Here’s how:

1. Go to “Settings > Apps > WhatsApp.”
2. Tap on “Clear Cache” to clear it.

This will probably help bring back your lost WhatsApp photos.

Fix 5. Update WhatsApp

If you’re using an older version of WhatsApp, it can come in the way of displaying WhatsApp pictures in the gallery. Therefore, updating your WhatsApp might fix the WhatsApp pictures disappeared issue.

Step 1. Launch Google Play Store on your device.

Step 2. Tap on your profile icon at the top-right corner of the screen and select “Manage Apps & Device.”

Step 3. Tap on “Updates” to see all apps pending an update. Select WhatsApp from the list to update it to the latest version.

Where Did All My WhatsApp Images Go?

If your WhatsApp pictures disappeared from your phone’s gallery, they’re most probably saved in a folder named “WhatsApp” in your phone’s internal storage. You can access them via the “Files” folder on your device. Here’s how:

1. Go to “File Manager > Internal Storage.”
2. Tap on “WhatsApp > Media.”

This is where all shared media files on WhatsApp are stored.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below we have answered some common queries to help you with disappearing pictures on WhatsApp.

Q. How to disable disappearing photos on WhatsApp?

You can disable disappearing photos on WhatsApp by turning on the “Media Auto-Download” option from the settings. This will help you save your images to the gallery even if they get deleted from the conversations.

Q. How to send disappearing pictures on WhatsApp?

If you want to send a disappearing on WhatsApp, you can do so by enabling the “View Once” option when sending the image.

1. Select an image to send to your contacts on WhatsApp.
2. Tap on the “i” in front of the caption, and set it to “View Once.”

This feature ensures that the recipient only views the image once and cannot take a screenshot of it.

The Bottom Line

If you find that your WhatsApp photos disappeared from gallery, you can recover them using various methods. However, if you’re looking for a foolproof way to recover disappearing images, trying DroidKit or AnyTrans for free is a good idea. Just follow the guide above to see how to recover disappearing photos on WhatsApp. Have you ever come across such an issue? How did you get your images back? Let us know in the comments!