Where Are WhatsApp Photos and Media Saved?
WhatsApp media folders on Android (scoped storage move) and where received photos land on iPhone.
Last updated
This covers received photos, videos and voice notes, not chat backups (those are a separate post). On Android the media tree moved with scoped storage, which is why old guides point to a dead folder.
Current Android path sits under Android/media with the com.whatsapp package name. The legacy top level WhatsApp folder is a leftover on upgraded phones, not the live store.
Where WhatsApp stores this, by platform
/storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media
Visible as Internal storage/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media. Subfolders per type: WhatsApp Images, WhatsApp Video, WhatsApp Audio. Pre Android 11 installs used /storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media instead.
WhatsApp/Settings/Chats/Save to Camera Roll
iPhone has no browsable media folder. Received photos stay in chat plus Camera Roll when that toggle is on. Storage use shows under Settings, Storage and Data, Manage Storage.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my old WhatsApp/Media folder empty?
Scoped storage moved the live tree to Android/media/com.whatsapp after Android 11. Your files migrated; the old folder is stale.
How is this different from WhatsApp backup?
Media folders hold the actual photos and videos. Backups (Google Drive or iCloud plus crypt files) hold chat history for restore. See the backups post for those paths.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.