WhatsApp’s view once feature allows users to send media files that can be only viewed one time and will be automatically removed after that. This is an extremely useful feature for anyone who doesn’t want to allow the recipients to keep copies of their photos. But, according to WhatsApp, the photo will not be removed from the recipient’s device for 14 days unless they open it.
That means, unless, the recipient opens the specific view once photo you send them, the photo will be e available on the device for up to 14 days from the day you sent it. So, you should think twice before depending on this feature to send any sensitive photos that you might not want to be stored in others smartphones.
Do not send view once photos, believing it will protect your files from being saved by the recipient. They can still take a screenshot or use another device to take a picture. So, use this feature to send files to only those whom you trust.
With that being said, in this article, we will look at the possible methods that you can use to recover the view once photos. We will analyze the possible ways for both the sender and recipient.
For the Sender
If you are the sender of the view once photo, you might be trying to recover it after you accidentally erased all your WhatsApp data, or changed your smartphone. In any of those cases, your best bet is the WhatsApp backup. At the time of the backup, if the view once media is not opened by the receiver, the file will be included in the backup. That means, once you restore the backup, you can still have that media restored.
If the backup was taken after the recipient already opened the file, then, the view once photo will not be included in the backup. So, you won’t be able to recover it.
For the Recipient
Once you open the view once media, it’s game over. The feature is set up in such a way that the file will be permanently deleted once the recipient opens it. As soon as you open the file and close the media viewer, the file will be removed from the device storage. So, you have time until you close the opened media file. You could either take a screenshot, or use another smartphone to take a picture of the file.
Using third-party tools
Just like any other files, the view once photos may/may not be recoverable utilizing third-party tools. Whatever the case is, you should think twice before allowing some tools to get access to your sensitive data, especially because this specific case is the “view once” photos.
With that being said, if you still want to try recovering it, there are a lot of recovery tools out there that allows recovering photos from your Android, or iOS. You simply plug in your smartphone to the computer, allow the software to start searching for the files, go through the found files, and then simply recover it and store it to your computer.
Using GBWhatsApp
We do not recommend using such tools unless you absolutely trust them with your data.
GBWhatsApp is essentially a WhatsApp clone that extends some features of the original app. Keep in mind that it comes with its own risks and is not officially supported. One of its features is the “Anti-View once”. It allows you to overcome the limitation set by WhatsApp and allows you to open view once photos unlimited times. While this feature will not allow you to recover the already opened view once photos, it will allow you to open the future ones as many times as you would like without the file getting removed automatically.
You can enable Anti-View once feature by following these steps –
- Tap on the menu icon (three vertical dots) from GBWhatsApp.
- Tap on GB Setting.
- Go to Privacy & Security.
- Turn on the feature that says Anti-View once.
That’s all. From now on, you will be able to open any photos anyone sends you through WhatsApp as many times as you would like, irrespective of their view once nature.
