In case you accidentally erased photos or videos from your WhatsApp chats, there are ways to try and recover them. It’s a pretty common mistake to erase a photo or file that you will later on need. So don’t worry, in this article you can learn different ways to try and recovering your files.
WhatsApp shares lots of images and videos daily. Your chat is full of data that will quickly fill up your storage media space. So it’s common to make a manual erase periodically. But in case you accidentally erased photos you want in your WhatsApp chat, try the following methods to recover them.
Restore the security backup and recover accidentally erased photos from WhatsApp
One of the most useful features in WhatsApp is the security backup. It allows you to recover all your conversations, photos, videos and files from a chat when you change your phone. It can also help you if you accidentally erased photos from WhatsApp. It can take some time, but it’s extremely safe and efficient.
The security backup is stored periodically according to your own configuration. You can set it daily, weekly or monthly. It’s even possible to cancel it if you don’t want to lose your storage space. The steps to do so are the following:
- Open WhatsApp in your phone.
- Press the three dots button on the upper right part of the screen.
- Enter Settings.
- Look for the Chats section.
- Select Security backup.
- You can see the latest security backup. Be aware of not pressing Save or you will create a new copy with your erased files included.
- Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp.
- Introduce your number and load the security backup.
- Press Restore and wait for the copy to install.
- WhatsApp photos you erased will then appear normally on your gallery. If they are not there, you can open the chat and download them manually.
Check Android files
A good solution is exploring Android files for the photos even if you erased them on the chat. It’s important to avoid confirming the action to erase the image both from the chat and from the device. If not, you won’t be able to find them.
- Open Files app from Google or other File Manager program.
- Select Android folder and go to con.whatsapp.
- Enter WhatsApp –> Media –> WhatsApp Images to find all your files stored.
In iPhone devices you can’t access the files manually because they are not stored in the phone. You need to set Save in Photos for the files to be stored into iOS gallery.
Other ways to recover erased photos from WhatsApp
In case none of the methods above work, you can still try some solutions. First, try downloading the file again. You can go to the chat and find the file you want do download. If you have erased it accidentally in the recent 24 hours, it’s possible that you can download it again. You can also tell the person who sent you the photo to resend it. It’s even more practical than loading your security backup just for one photo.
Finally, you can root your Android phone to access the device file. This option allows you to explore the deepest layers of the operating system. If it’s a very important file you may think about this alternative, but if it’s only a photo, it’s better to ask for it again.
There are also apps like TrashDigger that let you recover all kinds of erased content even WhatsApp files. You just need to download the app and press the Start Recovery button and wait for the results.
Do you have any questions or problems related to the topic of the article? We want to help you.
Leave a comment with your problem or question. We read and respond to all comments, although sometimes it may take a while due to the volume we receive. Additionally, if your question inspires the writing of an article, we will notify you by email when we publish it.
*We moderate comments to avoid spam.
Thank you for enrich our community with your participation!