How to send self-destructing photos and videos on WhatsApp

You must send a friend of yours a very important photo, but as a matter of privacy, you would like the multimedia content to be deleted after being viewed. In this regard, you have learned that WhatsApp has introduced a feature that allows this possibility and you would therefore like to know how to use it, to achieve the purpose you have proposed.

How do you say? That’s the way it is and that’s why you wonder how to send self-destructing photos and videos on WhatsApp? In that case, don’t worry, I’m here to help you and to explain, step by step, how to take advantage of this tool of the Facebook-owned instant messaging service that allows you to send photos and videos which will no longer be visible in the chat, after being been viewed by the recipient.

Having said that, in the next chapters I will explain how to proceed acting from a smartphone and tablet, but also from a PC; therefore, if the topic is of interest to you, I invite you to sit down comfortably and take just a few minutes of free time, in order to calmly read this guide of mine. Carefully follow the procedures that I will provide you and you will see that you will be able to easily and quickly master this feature of WhatsApp. At this point, I wish you a good read.

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to send self-destructing photos and videos on WhatsApp
  • From Android and iOS
  • From PC

Preliminary information

Before explaining how to send self-destructing photos and videos on WhatsApp, I must provide you with some important preliminary information useful in this regard.

In fact, you must know that the WhatsApp feature called View once allows you to send photos and videos in chats, sharing multimedia elements which will no longer be visible, after they have been viewed by the recipient. Also, the media files will not be saved in the recipient’s media gallery.

This tool can be used by the app WhatsApp for Android (download from the Play Store or from the official Web site of WhatsApp ) and iOS (downloadable from App Store ).

Furthermore, it is also possible to use it from a PC, using the official WhatsApp client or using WhatsApp Web. In all the cases mentioned, however, the functionality in question must be manually selected every time you want to send a photo or video.

The usefulness of this tool is given by the fact that it guarantees greater privacy to multimedia content sent via WhatsApp as when you send a photo or video that can be viewed only once, the sender will not be able to review them. Also, you cannot forward, save, or share sent and received photos or videos if View Once is enabled.

It is equally important to specify that if you receive a photo or video set for one view only, you must see the media content within 14 days of receiving it. At the end of this period of time, in fact, the availability of the multimedia file will expire and, therefore, the content can no longer be displayed.

In this regard, you should know that you can know if the recipient has opened the photo or video with the View once option enabled only if this person has enabled the functionality related to read receipts.

Also, you should know that the media files that have been sent through the View Once feature can be restored from the backup, in case the message has not been viewed yet, when backing up. If, on the other hand, the photo or video has already been opened, the multimedia item will not be stored in the backup and, therefore, cannot be restored.

In conclusion, before moving on to the practical part of this tutorial, I want to suggest you to use the View once option only to send photos and videos to your trusted contacts as the functionality to send photos and videos that self-destruct on WhatsApp has some limitations.

In fact, it is possible to take a screenshot or a screen recording of the multimedia file, before it is no longer visible, without the recipient being notified.

In addition, an attacker could take a photo or record a video using the camera of another device, to preserve the media file, before it is no longer available for viewing.

How to send self-destructing photos and videos on WhatsApp

Having made the necessary premises, let’s see together, step by step, how to send photos and videos that self-destruct on WhatsApp, acting through the instant messaging app for Android and iOS and also how to perform this operation from a PC, using the WhatsApp client for Windows and macOS or using WhatsApp Web.

In this regard, before starting, check that you have updated the WhatsApp app, by connecting to the Play Store on Android (or to the default virtual store of your device) or to the App Store on iOS. Make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp, otherwise you may not be able to use the feature that allows you to send self-destructing photos and videos.

If you have any doubts or problems about how to do this correctly, I suggest you read my guide on how to update WhatsApp.

From Android and iOS

To send photos and videos that self-destruct on WhatsApp via the app for Android or iOS, the first thing you need to do is clearly to start the app in question via its icon located on the home screen and/or in the drawer of your device.

Then, through the Chat screen, locate the person to whom you want to send temporary multimedia content and tap their name to open the dedicated private conversation screen.

Now, on Android, press on the paperclip icon and tap on the Gallery item, in order to select the multimedia element of your device’s photo gallery. Alternatively, tap on the Camera option to take a photo on the spot via the WhatsApp camera.

On iOS, on the other hand, to send a multimedia attachment, press the (+) button and then press the words Photo and video library or the one called Camera, respectively to select a photo or a video from the multimedia gallery of your device or to send a photo / a video on the moment using the WhatsApp camera.

At this point, on both devices, press the key with the symbol (1), in order to activate the View once function. Finally, send the multimedia item in question by tapping on the airplane icon.

At the end of the sending, the photo or video will be viewable only once and, after it has been viewed by the recipient, the message Open message will be shown, confirming that it has been viewed.

From PC

Even using the WhatsApp client for Windows or macOS you can send photos and videos that self-destruct and the exact same operation can also be done using WhatsApp Web.

Therefore, to start, mirror your WhatsApp account, scanning the QR code through the app’s Settings menu, in order to view, on the main screen of WhatsApp for PC, the list of all your currently active conversations.

Once this is done, locate the chat with the user you want to send multimedia files to and click on their name to open the dedicated private conversation screen.

Then press on the paperclip icon located at the bottom and then click on the Photo and video button or on the one called Camera, respectively to attach an image or a video located in the memory of your computer or to take a photo/video on the spot.

After selecting the multimedia element to send, press the button (1), in order to activate the View function once which will allow you to protect your privacy, making the multimedia attachment self-destruct. Finally, to send the photo or video, click on the airplane icon.

Once sent, the message will be visible to the recipient only once and to confirm the view, you will be shown the word Open message.