How to Save Pictures from Emails on an iPhone + Quick Fixes

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Easily move pictures from an email to your iPhone gallery

Written by Rain Kengly

Last Updated: July 14, 2024 Fact Checked

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Saving Pictures

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Troubleshooting

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Video

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Q&A

Do you want to save a picture that was emailed to you? Whether you're using Apple's Mail app, Gmail, or another mail app, you can easily download the email attachment to your Camera Roll. Here's how to save pictures from emails on an iPhone.

Downloading Email Image Attachments on iPhone

To save pictures from an email to your Camera Roll, tap and hold the picture. Select Save Image or Save to Files. You can find saved images in the Photos app.^{[1]
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Section 1 of 2:

Saving Pictures

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Tap the email message. This will open it fully. You should see the picture within the email body.
- This method will work in iOS' Mail app, Gmail app, or another email app.
- If you don't see the picture in the Mail app, make sure you don't have Privacy Protection turned on.
  - To check, open Settings → Mail → Privacy Protection → toggle off Protect Mail Activity.^{[2]
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A pop-up menu will open.^{[3]
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Tap Save Image. You can find this in the pop-up menu, under Markup and Reply.^{[4]
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- The picture will be saved to your iPhone. You can find it in the Photos app.
- Alternatively, you can select Save to Files to save the picture to the Files app or iCloud.

Section 2 of 2:

Troubleshooting

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Take a screenshot instead. If you can't save a picture to your Camera Roll, it may have protections enabled or it's in a file that can't be saved. In this case, you can screenshot the picture. Keep in mind this will affect the size and resolution of the image.^{[5]
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- On iPhones without a Home button: press the lock button and top volume button at the same time.
- On iPhones with a Home button, press the lock button and Home button at the same time.
If you don't have enough storage space on your iPhone, you may be unable to save new pictures. Consider using a cloud service such as iCloud or Google Drive to store media.^{[6]
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Community Q&A

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Question

How do I transfer an emailed photo on my iPhone to my iPhone photo gallery?

Community Answer

Press and hold the attachment until the menu comes up at the bottom of the phone offering options to move photos to applications, social media (e.g., attach to Message, Mail, Facebook), etc. Select "Save Image" - second row of icons. The photo will automatically be saved to your photo gallery.

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Question

How do I get "save" image when trying to save a photo from an email on my iPhone when the option won't come up when I tap and hold the image?

Community Answer

If you tap and hold the image, it should give you a few options such as "copy photo", "save photo" "print", and some other things. If it does not give you the option of saving the photo on your phone, then either you cannot save the photo, or you may be out of storage space.

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Question

I have to tap the attachment to download the photo that is in my e-mail. Why does it take forever or fail to download? How can I speed it up?

Community Answer

Try speeding it up by refreshing the page. If your Wi-Fi is slow, that might be the problem. Remember to be patient, and if it continues to be slow, check to see if your computer/e-mail service is the problem.

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