You may have several audio files on your smartphone and you likely receive a plethora of them frequently, if not daily. If you’re an iPhone user, you might wonder “where do audio files save on iPhone”. Because iOS doesn’t give you or any app direct access to its storage, the query is not rare. With that said, here you will get to know where audio messages save on iPhone.
Where Do Audio Files Save on iPhone?
As mentioned earlier, iOS doesn’t give any app or you direct access to the device’s internal storage. Because of this, any audio file that an application records, sends, or receives stays in it. For instance, if you receive an audio message on WhatsApp, the file is stored in the program itself. If you record a voice memo, it will be kept in the Voice Memos app.
However, since Apple introduced the Files app in iOS 11 in 2017, things changed, and now you can manually save those WhatsApp voice messages in your iCloud or iPhone’s local storage using the application. The same principle works on other apps and their audio files as well.
The Files app can be accessed from the Home screen of your iPhone. If the program is not installed, you can go to App Store and download and install it from there.
Where Do Audio Messages Save on iPhone?
Unlike WhatsApp audio messages that you must manually save using the Files app, iMessages work differently. By default, iOS is configured to automatically delete the audio iMessages after two minutes. However, you can change this behavior and make your iPhone save those messages forever.
To change the default expiration time of iMessages from two minutes to never, you must follow the step-by-step process given below:
Step 1: Go to the Message Settings Screen
On your iPhone, tap Settings. Scroll down and tap Messages to open the Messages window.
Step 2: Go to the Message Expiration Setting
Scroll down to the AUDIO MESSAGES section and tap Expire.
Step 3: Change the Default Message Expiration Time
From the Expire screen, tap Never to keep the audio iMessages on your iPhone forever.
Note: After the above configuration, your iPhone will save all the audio iMessages in the Messages app, and make them accessible to you according to your convenience.
After removing the expiration time from your iMessages, you may still have to search for the important ones from all the conversation threads that the app has. Therefore, to access the vital audio iMessages more conveniently, you can save them to another location or app. The three locations where you can save audio messages include
#1. Notes App
Because the Notes app is present on your iPhone’s Home screen, the file can be easily accessed when you save an audio iMessage to it. The process of saving an audio message to the Notes app is given below:
- Long-tap the audio iMessage.
- Tap Copy from the menu that appears.
- Open Notes app, create a new blank note or open an old note, and then paste the audio message there.
#2. Files App
In this process, you use the Files app to save the audio iMessage on your iCloud Drive or iPhone. The step-by-step procedure is given below:
- Long-tap the audio iMessage.
- Tap the sound wave icon.
- Click on the Share icon.
- Scroll down to choose the Save to Files option.
- On the next screen, tap iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
- Optionally tap the Folder icon from the top-right corner to add a new folder to the selected location. Rename the folder as well.
- Finally, tap Save from the top-right corner itself to save the audio iMessage to your iCloud Drive or on your iPhone.
- Use the Files app to access the saved iMessage whenever needed.
#3. Send as an Email
You can also send the audio iMessage as an email attachment to yourself. After this, you can download the message to your preferred device and access it at your convenience. The process is explained below:
- Use the method explained earlier to select the message and get to its Share screen.
- Tap Mail (or any other email app that you use).
- While composing a new mail, make sure that the audio iMessage is attached to the email.
- Enter your email ID in the To field.
- Populate the other fields with their corresponding information and values.
- Send the email.
- After sending, access your email Inbox on your preferred device.
- Download the attached audio iMessage and save it to your preferred location for easy accessibility.
Where Do Voicemails Save on iPhone?
The answer to the question ‘where do voicemails save on iPhone’ is the same. They are saved within the Voicemail section of the Phone app. However, as with other audio messages, even the voicemails that you receive can be saved for future use. The process is given below:
- Launch the Phone app.
- Tap Voicemail from the bottom-right corner of the screen that opens next.
- Tap the voicemail that you want to save.
- Tap the Share icon present on the right of the sender’s name.
- From the available sharing options, you can AirDrop the voicemail to another Apple device, such as your Mac computer, send it to yourself as an email attachment, or tap Save to Files (explained here).
- After tapping Save to Files, from the next screen, tap to select iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
- Optionally tap the Folder icon from the top-right corner to create a new folder on the selected location.
- Tap Save from the top-right corner itself to save the voicemail on your iCloud or iPhone.
Note: Unlike iMessages, you cannot set any default configuration for voicemails, and you must save each one to your selected location/folder individually.
Conclusion
Now that you know where audio files save on iPhone, you are free to make choices according to the significance of the audio messages and other files that you receive or download. While iMessages tend to disappear after two minutes by default, you can change the settings and make them live on your iPhone forever. Nevertheless, unless you manually save the audio to your preferred location on iPhone or iCloud Drive, the files stay within their corresponding apps and must be accessed from there.
