How to Allow Facebook Messenger to Access Your Photos

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: October 25, 2022

This wikiHow teaches you how to give Facebook Messenger access to your photos so you can save images from Messenger to your device, and share your photos with your friends on Messenger.

Things You Should Know

You'll need to enable access to your photos to save Facebook Messenger images.
When using iPhone or iPad, you'll need to access your Privacy settings for Photos.
When using Android, you'll need to open Messenger's app settings.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using an iPhone or iPad

1
Open your iPhone's Settings. This is the grey gear icon located on your Home screen.
2
Scroll down and tap Privacy. This option is in the same block of options as General, but you have to scroll down to see it.

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3
Tap Photos. This will show you a list of all apps that have requested access to your photos.
4
Slide the Messenger switch to On position. The switch will turn green. You can now access the photos on your device from Facebook Messenger.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using an Android

1
Open your device's Settings. You can do this by tapping the Settings app on your Apps list.
2
Scroll down and tap Apps. This option will be under the Phone heading, and it will open a list of all applications installed on your device.
3
Scroll down and tap Messenger.
4
Tap Permissions.
5
Slide the Storage switch to On position. This will allow you to share photos, media, and files from your device's galleries to your friends on Messenger, and save images from conversations.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I turn off screen overlay?

Community Answer

Open Settings, select Apps. Tap the Gear icon. Select Draw over other apps. Select the application that is running in the background. Turn Off Permit drawing over other apps. Close and re-open the application. Set the application permission.