6 Easy Steps to Save Photos on Facebook Messenger

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: March 6, 2025 Fact Checked

Do you want to save that picture sent through Facebook Messenger? Luckily, you can do this pretty easily on Android, iPhone, or iPad! With a few taps, you'll be able to save all the existing images in your chats as well as all the photos and videos you capture on your phone. This wikiHow article teaches you how to save photos from Facebook Messenger to your phone or tablet as well as how to set it up so you can automatically save any video or picture you capture.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Saving Pictures Manually

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1
Open Messenger. It’s the blue chat bubble icon with a white lightning bolt on your home screen (or in the app drawer, if you’re using Android).
- If it’s your first time using Messenger, you’ll be prompted to sign in. Use the same username and password that you use to sign in to Facebook.
- Since there's no way to automatically download new images like there is with WhatsApp, you'll have to manually save all the pictures you want.
This "i" inside a circle is the info icon and will open a new menu. You'll see it in the top right corner of a chat.^{[1]
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3
Tap View media, files & links. It's under the "More actions" header near the center of the menu.^{[2]
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- Under the Media tab, you'll see all the images that have been sent in the chat.
The image will take up the screen.
This three-line menu icon is in the bottom left corner of the screen and says "More."^{[3]
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6
Tap Save. The image will save to your phone's Gallery.^{[4]
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- If it’s your first time saving a photo, you’ll see a pop-up asking if you want to automatically download all photos you receive. You should only say “Yes” if you have a lot of extra space on your device. Skip to method 2 or 3 for step-by-step instructions on how to automatically save images.
- Repeat this process to save multiple pictures since you can't download more than one at a time.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Saving Pictures Captured on Your Phone Automatically for Android

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1
Open Messenger. It’s the blue chat bubble icon with a white lightning bolt.
- If it’s your first time using Messenger, you’ll be prompted to sign in. Use the same username and password that you use to sign in to Facebook.
- You can't automatically save the pictures you receive on Messenger, but you can set it so every picture you take on your phone or edit in Messenger is saved to your camera roll.
It's the "Me" icon in the top left corner of Messenger.
Scroll down to find this under the "Preferences" section header and next to an icon of a picture.^{[5]
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If the switch is blue and pointing to the right, then the feature is active and any picture you take on your phone or any image that you edit in Messenger will be automatically saved to your camera roll.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Saving Pictures Automatically for iPhone and iPad

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1
Open Messenger. It’s the blue chat bubble icon with a white lightning bolt on your home screen.
- If it’s your first time using Messenger, you’ll be prompted to sign in. Use the same username and password that you use to sign in to Facebook.
- You can't automatically save the pictures you receive on Messenger, but you can set it so every picture you take on your phone or edit in Messenger is saved to your camera roll.
It's the "Me" icon in the top left corner of Messenger.
Scroll down to find this under the "Preferences" section header and next to a picture icon.^{[6]
X
Research source}
If the switch is green and pointing to the right, then the feature is active and any picture you take on your phone or any image that you edit in Messenger will be automatically saved to your camera roll.

Community Q&A

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Question

Where do you find the saved pictures?

Darlene Antonelli

Community Answer

You can find the saved pictures in your phone's gallery.

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If you accidentally tapped No when you were prompted if Messenger could access your files and media, you can change the permissions in Settings > Apps (Android Only) > Messenger. If you have an iPhone, you'll find the permissions in Settings > Messenger > Photos.

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Once you've downloaded the photos, you can find them in your phone's Photo Gallery.

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