Where do my saved voice messages go?

You may send and receive a lot of messages. Some people just are more verbal than others. If you have friends like that, they tend to send a lot of voice messages instead of sending traditional texts. This is because they prefer speaking to typing.

The Messages app on your iPhone and iPad lets you send voice messages to contacts and groups. You can save your sent or received audio messages. Saving an audio message is easy, however, you may not be able to locate your saved audio message. You can also copy and paste the audio message in the Files app. Lastly, you can keep the audio message in the message conversation until you delete it manually. In this article, I explain how you can do each of these.

Where are saved audio messages

If you long press the Audio Message you sent or received, you will see the Save option. If you tap this option, as I explained above, the message will be saved in Voice Memos.

After tapping the Save button, there is no notification or message saying something like “saved.” You won’t even know for sure that your message is saved. But do not worry, your message is saved. After saving an audio message, it will be saved in the Voice Memos app. To access your message, open Voice Memos and tap All Recordings. Your message will be there. The saved voice items will have a caf extension. Caf extension files are audio files. The saved voice message will be named “Audio%20Message.caf”. If you have multiple message audio files, they will be named “Audio%20Message.caf 2” etc.

If you are using iCloud for Voice Memos, then your saved audio messages will sync across your devices that are signed into the same iCloud account. You can turn iCloud for Voice Memos off or on by going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Show All and enable or disable Voice Memos.

How to save your audio message in Messages

By default, audio messages are set to be deleted after two minutes of listening to them. After listening, you will see a Keep message under the audio message. If you tap Keep, the message will be saved in the conversation in Messages. You can also have the Messages app keep the audio messages by default. If you want to do this, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Messages, and tap Expire (under the Audio Messages section).
2. You will see two options: Never and After 2 Minutes. Select Never. If you select this option, this will ensure that audio messages will never be deleted. You will always be able to access your audio messages from the Messages app.

How to copy an audio message and paste it in the Files app

You can also save your audio messages someplace else on your iPhone or iPad. For example, you can save them to the Files app or iCloud Drive.

It can be incredibly confusing to find where your audio files have been saved. If you have an iMessage audio file, by default, it expires in a couple of minutes unless you specify otherwise. 

Similarly, you can find a WhatsApp audio message in the app itself. All voicemails or voice memos are saved in the voice memo app. If you receive an mp3 file, it'll be stored in the related folder, i.e., the Music folder.

Since I switched from my Oneplus 6T Android phone to an iPhone 13, I didn’t realize that the iMessage audio messages have an expiry date. When I wanted to go back and listen to an audio message, it went missing. That's when I immediately set the Expire option to Never and made sure I saved audio messages that were important.

Read on to understand where the different audio files are saved in an iPhone and how to locate them.

Where Do Voice Messages From An iMessage App Get Saved On Your iPhone?

The default setting on iOS devices doesn't save voice messages. In fact, they expire in 2 minutes. However, you don't have to worry, as you can actually choose to change the default setting and save your audio message.

Method 1: Storing It In The Messaging App

If you're okay with saving audio messages in the messaging app itself, you can use this method. Otherwise, go to Method 2. Note that voice messages saved via this method exist only as long as your message thread exists. For instance, if you delete a message thread with someone, the audio files will be deleted along with the other messages.

So, you can save audio messages either by tapping Keep or by modifying the settings.

1. Using The Keep Option

You can use this method if you only want to save selected audio messages and are okay with the rest expiring. Otherwise, follow the next method to modify the audio settings.

1. When you receive voice messages in iMessage, you can see the Keep option right below the audio message.
2. Tap on Keep to not let the voice messages expire.
3. Once you tap Keep, you can see that the Keep option changes to Kept along with the date. To locate the audio file, you can come back to this particular thread. 

2. By Setting The Expire Option To Never

If you don't want any of your audio messages expiring in 2 minutes, it can be annoying to press the Keep option each time. In case you want to save all your audio messages without having to press Keep every time, you can use this method and change the audio settings to save the audio file directly. You’ll now have these messages saved in the app as long as you don’t delete the conversation.

1. Open the Settings application on your iPhone.
2. Go to Messages.
3. Scroll down to the AUDIO MESSAGES section. You can find the Expire option now.
4. You'll see that it has been set to After 2 minutes, by default. You can click Never.

Method 2: Manually Save The Audio Message

You can also manually save your audio messages. If you have an iPhone with iOS 12 or iOS prior to it, you can manually save the audio messages on an iPhone using the Save option. iPhone users with updates after iOS 12 can copy and paste the audio message, or export it.

1. Using The Save Option

This is a simple step to save your audio message. However, this method doesn't work on the newer versions of the iPhones i.e., updates after iOS 12. Although the Save option is present in the updates after iOS 12, it's useless as it doesn't actually save the message in the Voice Memo app or anywhere, for that matter.

1. You simply long-press on any particular audio message.
2. Tap on the Save option.
3. This will automatically save your audio messages in the Voice Memo app.

2. By Copying and Pasting The Audio File

1. Tap and hold on any audio message.
2. Click on the Copy option.
3. Go to the Files app on your iPhone device and navigate to the folder where you want to save audio messages.
4. In that folder, tap and hold anywhere on the empty space and select the Paste option.

Method 3: Export The Voice Message

Another option to save audio messages is by exporting the message by sending it to yourself or someone else.

1. Press and hold on any audio message.
2. Click More.
3. Now, tap on the arrow icon or the paper plane icon. It would open a new message.
4. You can now type in a number to send it to someone else or you can type in a mail ID to mail it to someone or yourself.

Where Do WhatsApp Voice Messages Get Saved On Your iPhone?

WhatsApp's audio messages don't expire like the iMessage audio messages. By default, the WhatsApp audio message file is stored within the app itself. You can find the particular audio message by searching for it in the right WhatsApp conversation thread.

Since the saved audio messages are in the app, the audio files will be gone if you delete the app data or uninstall the app. To avoid this, you could export the audio files or save them to your iPhone. Follow the steps below to do that:

1. Press and hold on any audio message file that you want to save.
2. You can see a pop up menu. Tap on the Forward option.
3. After that, click on the Share button found at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
4. Now, follow the steps from one of the three methods below based on how you want to save your WhatsApp audio message.

1. Save A WhatsApp Voice Message

1. Choose the Save to Files option on your iPhone.
2. Navigate to the location where you want to save audio messages.
3. Now, click Save on the top right corner of your screen.

2. Copy and Paste The Audio Message

1. Choose the Copy option on your iPhone.
2. Go to Files on your iPhone and to the folder to save your iPhone audio messages there.
3. Long tap on an empty space and click Paste.

3. Export WhatsApp Audio Message

1. You can see a list of apps listed, and choose where you want to export it. For instance, if you want to mail it to yourself, click on Mail and enter your email ID.

Where Do Voicemails Get Saved On Your iPhone?

Voicemails are saved in the Voice Memo app on your iPhone. You can just open the Voice Memos app to search for the voicemail you want. This is again stored within the app. You can also store them in your desired folder or export them by sending them to another app.

1. Go to the Phone app.
2. Select the Voicemail tab.
3. Tap on the voicemail you want to save.
4. Click the Share icon.
5. If you click Notes, you can add the voicemail to your Notes app. If you select Save, you can save it to your iPhone as a voice memo. Select an appropriate option.

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If the audio file is stored within the app, you can use the steps below to locate the saved audio messages.

1. Open the app from where you received the voice message. For instance, if you want to listen to an audio file that you received on WhatsApp, open Whatsapp.
2. Go to the conversation thread you received it in.
3. Search for the voice message or audio file in that conversation.

If you've manually saved it, you can navigate to Files and to the folder you saved the file to listen to.

What If You Deleted An Audio Message By Mistake On Your iPhone?

Audio messages from iMessage that have expired can't be retrieved. However, if you chose to save your audio file and deleted it by mistake, you can retrieve the audio messages on your iPhone quickly using your iCloud account. This method can be used provided you've backed up your iPhone to your iCloud account. Here's how you retrieve your iPhone audio messages:

1. Go to the iCloud app and log in with your credentials.
2. Now, select the iCloud Drive.
3. Tap on Account Settings right below your profile.
4. Go to the Advanced section and select Restore files.

Conclusion

Struggling to find your audio files in iPhones like many users? Each audio file is stored based on the app. For example, iMessage audio files on your iPhone will be saved on the iMessage app, provided you’ve chosen to keep the iMessage audio messages as they expire in 2 minutes otherwise.

You can also manually save them in a particular folder of your choice or export them by sending them elsewhere. This guide can help you locate your audio message files, save them, or export them quickly with ease on iPhones.

When you save a voice message where does it go?

Where are saved audio files on Iphone?