How to stop photos taken in Messages being saved to your library

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens.

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-stop-photos-taken-in-messages-being-saved-to-your-library/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

3 of 3 steps with real screenshots · 1 official source below

Device

iPhone

Shown on

iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)

App

Settings

Path

Settings › Camera

Real screenshots

3 of 3 steps

What we did

Performed: we made the change on our device and show the result

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Open Settings and tap Camera

   Camera is in the group that starts with General, a few rows below it.

   Done

2. 

   Scroll down to the heading Messages

   It is near the bottom of the Camera page, below Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera.

   Done

3. 

   Scroll down and switch off Save Captures to Photo Library

   It is under the heading Messages, below Lock Screen Swipe to Open Camera. It was on on our iPhone 17e; the picture shows it after we switched it off. The note below reads: "Automatically save captures taken in Messages Camera to the Photo Library."

   Done

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens.

If you do not see this option

• Search for it. Open Settings, tap the search field at the bottom and type Save Captures. Apple notes that the sections in Settings depend on the iPhone model. Source: Find settings on iPhone
• Your Camera page has other rows. Apple says rows such as View Outside the Frame and Lens Correction appear only on supported models, so the Messages heading can sit higher or lower than on ours. Source: Change advanced camera settings on iPhone

If this does not work

• Photos taken earlier are still in your library. The switch only affects new captures. Delete the older ones in the Photos app.
• Photos still land in your library. This switch only covers the camera inside Messages. Photos you take with the Camera app itself are saved to your library as usual.

About this guide

A quick photo taken inside a chat, of a receipt or a parking spot, is automatically saved to your library in the Photos app as well. If you do not want these throwaway pictures there, one switch stops it.

The screenshots are our own, taken on an iPhone 17e running iOS 27.0.1, in dark mode.

Good to know

To have them saved again, switch Save Captures to Photo Library back on.

In short: Settings, Camera, Save Captures to Photo Library off.