6 Solutions to the Problem of Unable to Download Videos and Images from WhatsApp

WhatsApp is one of the most popular instant messaging applications. WhatsApp quickly adds features to the app, making it an integral part of many people’s lives for communicating with friends, family, and even managing work affairs. While many continue to share multimedia content on WhatsApp, it can be frustrating if WhatsApp suddenly gives an error while downloading media. Many WhatsApp users rely on media files such as images, videos, and audio to accomplish tasks.

But when media files don’t work as expected, it can ruin the experience and force you to use alternative methods like email. In fact, there are many factors and reasons that may prevent you from downloading videos and images from WhatsApp on Android and iPhone. So in this article, we will guide you through the steps to troubleshoot the issue of not downloading WhatsApp media and fix it. By following these steps, we hope that you will be able to download media (photos and videos) from WhatsApp without any problems.

This is the first thing to consider if you are unable to download photos and videos on WhatsApp. It’s obvious that you cannot download files from WhatsApp and other apps if you don’t have enough space on your phone’s internal or external storage.

If you are unable to download photos on WhatsApp and storage is a problem, don’t worry! Let’s say you are trying to download a video clip that is 50 megabytes in size, but there is only 40 megabytes of storage available on your device, then WhatsApp will not complete the download. To check this for Android, open the File Manager app on your phone and check the available storage space. Alternatively, you can also go to Settings > About phone or Battery and device care (this will vary from device to device) or search for storage in the search bar within the Settings app. Ideally, the available storage on your phone should be sufficient to accommodate the media file you want to download. But if your storage space is low, you need to clear it to free up additional storage space.

If you are using an iPhone, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to check how much storage you have used and how much is available to use. So, if storage space on your iPhone is low, you also need to free up enough space to resolve the issue instantly.

This is another important storage-related check you need to perform if WhatsApp is not downloading media files. If WhatsApp does not have access to your phone’s storage or photos, you will receive an error message when trying to save media files. In this case, you need to grant WhatsApp storage permissions.

To grant WhatsApp permission to access your storage on Android, follow these steps. However, bear in mind that the process may vary depending on your device. Go to Settings > Apps > Manage app permissions > then Storage > WhatsApp > and click on Allow. As for granting WhatsApp permission to access photos on iPhone, open Settings > Privacy. Then select Photos, choose WhatsApp from the list of apps, and make sure to select All Photos.

Important: Resolve the issue of WhatsApp images not appearing in the photos app on Android phones

When an app malfunctions or some of its features do not work correctly, forcibly closing the app is an effective way to overcome the obstacles that cause the app to crash. So follow the following steps to force stop applications on your smartphone. For Android phones, go to your phone’s settings and click on Apps > Manage apps > then select WhatsApp from the list of installed apps > finally click on the “Force Stop” icon and select OK in the confirmation dialog. As for Force Stopping WhatsApp on iPhone; double-click the home button or swipe up from the bottom of your device’s screen and release your finger when preview app cards appear on the screen. Drag the WhatsApp preview up to forcefully close it. Now, restart WhatsApp and check if you can download media files without issues!

Another thing to check is that you are using the latest version of WhatsApp on your device. Old versions of the app sometimes contain bugs that cause some features to fail. New versions come with bug fixes that return the app to its normal state. Click the following link to update WhatsApp on your device. [WhatsApp on Android / WhatsApp on iOS] Or try deleting WhatsApp from your device entirely and then re-installing it from scratch. This nuclear option should solve the problem when most methods fail. But remember to backup your WhatsApp chats before taking this step.

You might be interested: 4 Different Ways to Recover Deleted Images and Videos from WhatsApp

If the problem persists after trying all the previous solutions, try resetting your device’s network settings, especially if you are having trouble using Wi-Fi or cellular data. For Android devices, go to Settings > Connections and Networks > Reset Wi-Fi, mobile data, and Bluetooth, or by clicking on the forget network option and resetting it.

If you are using a Pixel phone, open Settings and go to System > Advanced options > Reset options, then select Reset Wi-Fi, mobile data, and Bluetooth. (Note that the specific steps for different Android devices will vary). You will be prompted to authenticate the network settings reset by entering your phone’s password/ID.

To reset network settings on an iPhone, go to Settings > General > Reset Network Settings. Enter your iPhone’s passcode and click on Reset Network Settings when prompted to continue. Remember! Resetting your device’s network settings will delete all previously saved Wi-Fi networks and cellular data configurations.

If all the previous steps fail, the issue may ultimately be due to a problem with WhatsApp’s servers. Sometimes when WhatsApp servers malfunction, some app features and functions may fail to work. You can use trusted third-party platforms like DownDetector. It will indicate if there is any problem with the app’s servers. In such cases, you have no choice but to wait for Facebook (WhatsApp’s parent company) to fix the problem.