What Does It Mean When Your Ex Sends You Pictures?

If you’re wondering what it means when your ex sends you pictures, know that most of the time the message isn’t very cryptic. Usually, it means that your ex feels comfortable talking to you and that your ex wants to share a few updates on his or her life.

But because there are many different types of pictures a person can receive from an ex, it’d be wrong to generalize and say that they always mean this or that. Pictures are unique representations of a person’s thoughts and feelings, so they don’t always mean the same thing.

For some dumpees, they mean that their ex misses them and regrets breaking up with them, and for others, that their ex wants nothing to do with them anymore.

The meaning can vary widely for each person, which is why the real meaning really depends on the types of pictures an ex sends you.

For instance, if the pictures are very random (of landscapes, animals, or memes), there probably isn’t any secret meaning behind them. Your ex sends you those pictures out of sheer boredom.

But if the pictures are of something you and your ex used to do or enjoy (especially pictures with you and your ex in them), then the pictures are of nostalgic nature. They remind your ex of the good times with you—so your ex sent them to you to relive those moments.

Nostalgia is the 3rd out of 5 stages of a breakup and typically indicates that your ex is warming up to you a little and that your ex may want to get back with you if he or she misses you a lot.

These are just 2 types of pictures.

There are also:

• emotional pictures (pictures that depict anger, sadness, depression, frustration…) Such pictures ask for sympathy and understanding.
• threatening or revenge pictures (the pictures that intend to cause pain and elicit a strong reaction)
• bragging pictures (pics that mean to put you down and uplift your ex)
• selfies and facial pictures (these pictures indicate that your ex is curious about the way you see him or her and that your ex may want to get closer to you as a friend or even as a partner. Sometimes dumpers only seek approval through selfies, so don’t get too hopeful if you receive selfies
• screenshots or reminding pictures of things you should do or promised to do
• sexual pictures

Depending on the types of pictures your ex sends you, the meaning may or may not concern you. The best way to know if it does is to learn if the pictures involve you or if they merely intend to entertain, reassure, satisfy, or appease your ex.

This post is for everyone who wants to know what it means when your ex sends you pictures.

1)Random pictures

If your ex sends you pictures of random things such as dogs, cars, or tv shows, these are probably the most common and meaningless pictures you can receive. They typically indicate that your ex is bored and that he or she doesn’t have anyone else to talk to.

Your ex sees you as someone with temporary entertainment value, which is why you may want to avoid entertaining your ex or you could see your ex disappear on you when more interesting people or things become available to your ex.

2)Nostalgic pictures

Although nostalgic pictures are the best pictures you can receive from an ex in terms of getting back with your ex, they are also the most harmful ones as they can remind you of the happy moments from the past and trigger your suppressed longings.

They can reset your healing process and give your ex the strength and reassurance to keep moving forward.

These pictures are, unfortunately, quite common right after the breakup because breakups sometimes cause dumpers to feel overwhelmed with guilt, shame, and doubt—and force them to be hot and cold to dumpees.

They are a bit less common months or years after the breakup though.

If you receive a nostalgic picture after you’ve mainly or fully moved on, it’s a sign that your ex is thinking about the past because your ex is having a difficult time being happy—and wants your help.

In this case, it’s probably safe to help your ex.

Mind you that nostalgia isn’t good nor bad. It’s a combined feeling of gratitude and mild anxiety which usually goes away very quickly. For nostalgia to have a long-term effect on your ex, your ex must not only desire the past more than the present but must also want to do something to relive it.

And that is something that happens only when your ex’s present happiness is much worse than it was in the past.

You can tell your ex’s pictures are nostalgic when your ex sends you pictures from vacations, birthdays, anniversaries, restaurants, and places you’ve had a really good time at.

3)Emotional pictures

These pictures indicate that something or someone has affected your ex emotionally and that your ex is looking for your help to alleviate the pain.

You’re someone your ex used to express himself or herself to and seek emotional support from, which is why it’s possible that your ex sees you as a person he or she can rely on even today.

If that’s the case, be careful not to fall for your ex’s emotional pictures. Even though your ex may look weak and vulnerable, your ex may not come back because of that.

Your ex might only talk to you to feel better and treat you like a stranger afterward.

Emotional pictures can be any highly emotional pictures that depict that something unexpected and unpleasant has happened.

4)Threatening or revenge pictures

These pictures have only one goal; to cause you pain and bring a bad reaction out of you.

The more hurt you get by your ex’s hateful pictures and the worse you react to them, the more satisfaction your immature ex will get.

This is because your ex will feel that he or she got to you, paid you back for your wrongdoings, and that he or she still has control over your thoughts and feelings.

Victimized, vengeful dumpers love causing pain because the angry/hurt feedback they receive raises their egos and empowers them with reassurance.

5)Bragging pictures

The power of no contact sometimes inspires exes to break no contact and brag about things like hobbies, achievements, new friends, dating options, and anything that has improved for them since the breakup.

Dumpers (and people in general) brag about various things out of spite and a desperate need for reassurance. They lack faith in their abilities, so they try to restore their self-confidence by extorting validation from the people who pay the least attention to them.

Those people usually aren’t their dumpees because most dumpers don’t care about their exes’ validation. They lose respect for them weeks prior to the breakup.

But despite that, sometimes dumpers don’t want to let their exes go before they convince themselves that they’re better than them. Such dumpees are usually young, immature, or have some sort of mental illness.

6)Selfies and facial pictures

When an ex sends you selfies, he or she usually wants acknowledgment or some kind of personal feedback. This is because selfies indicate that your ex still cares about your opinion of him and that your ex wants to get closer to you.

Bear in mind that an ex who sends you selfies doesn’t necessarily want you back as a romantic partner. Your ex could send you pictures of himself just to show you that it’s possible to act “normal” and be friends.

7)Screenshots and reminder pictures

Screenshots and reminder pictures are just impersonal reminders to let you know that you need to take care of something.

Do your best not to analyze them because they are almost as meaningless as random pictures.

To summarize, here’s what it means when your ex sends you pictures.

What does it mean when your ex sends you pictures out of the blue?

If you’ve been in no contact and you received pictures from your ex out of nowhere, this means that your ex is trying to break the ice. Your ex is trying to establish contact but doesn’t know what to say and how to approach you.

Your ex is still guarded from the breakup and apprehensive at the prospect of your negative reaction (rejection), so he chose a picture to do the speaking for him. In this way, he conveyed that he’s interested in conversing with you but that he won’t risk talking to you until he’s certain it’s safe to do so.

His ego is at stake, so he started a conversation in a very passive manner.

That’s why when your ex sends you pictures out of the blue, your ex initially has only one goal in mind. Your ex wants to know what you think and feel about him. Other things about your life aren’t that important to your ex because your ex is slightly anxious and just wants to know if it’s safe to start talking again.

But although your ex is apprehensive about talking to you, it’s important not to jump to conclusions and presume that your ex wants you back.

Your ex may indeed want to talk to you (see how you’re doing and learn what you’ve been up to), but this doesn’t automatically imply that your ex is ready to talk to you every day and start hanging out with you.

The first text or picture after no contact is just about re-establishing contact. It doesn’t mean anything other than that unless your ex shows signs of genuine friendship or romantic interest.

Remember that so that you don’t get too excited and overwhelm your ex the moment your ex sends you a picture.

Why is my ex sending me pictures of himself?

If your ex is sending you pictures of himself or herself, you need to know the difference between face pictures and body pictures.

Face pictures are much more personal than body pictures as they usually subliminally portray a wish to bond. Body pictures (pictures of weight loss, body tattoos, or something superficial), on the other hand, aren’t that deep.

They fit under the random/meaningless pictures category as they intend to update you on your ex’s body change/progress.

You probably won’t receive these pictures from your ex unless your ex feels comfortable sharing them with you.

What to do when your ex sends you pictures?

When your ex sends you pictures, make sure not to respond to them on impulse. Take some time to identify the type of pictures your ex is sending you before you do something that could hinder your recovery and allow your ex to treat you as a friend.

If you learn that your ex’s pictures don’t change much between you and your ex, you should consider your ex’s reach-out a breadcrumb and go back to no contact.

Nothing good will come out of conversing with your ex because if your ex had something important to tell you, your ex would have done that already. He or she would have been candid with you and wouldn’t just tease you with a picture and expect you to play detective

That’s not how exes who regret breaking up with dumpees do things. Although most of them are embarrassed and afraid of rejection, they still express themselves like adults with words.

So save yourself the trouble of looking for hidden meanings in your ex’s pictures because no matter how hard you look, you won’t find any. All you’ll find is more questions and unnecessary setbacks.

To stop your ex from sending you more pictures in the future, simply make a comment on the picture and tell your ex that you’ve been trying to focus on yourself and that you’d appreciate it if he or she didn’t reach out anymore.

This should make it obvious that you aren’t going to spend your time and emotions on an ex who sends you pictures and pretends everything is okay.

The truth is that pictures can give you a very hard post-breakup time. Not only can they hurt you and confuse you, but they can also trigger your separation anxiety from the past and give you hope that your ex is finally coming back around.

As I mentioned before, this isn’t something that tends to happen when exes send pictures. Pictures may carry unspoken meanings, but they hardly ever prove that your ex wants you back.

If your ex wanted you back, your ex would make it obvious that he or she wants you back. Your ex would express his or her feelings with words and wouldn’t expect you to decrypt his or her hidden messages.

Besides, as someone who’s been dumped, the least you deserve is an explanation as to what had happened and why your ex is sending you pictures.

What would you do if your ex sent you pictures? Would you entertain your ex and perhaps reply with pictures? Comment below this post.

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Zan

My name is Zan and I’m the founder of Magnet of Success. I enjoy writing realistic relationship and breakup articles and helping readers heal and grow. With more than 5 years of experience in the self-improvement, relationship, and breakup sphere, my goal is to provide advice that fosters positivity and success and avoids preventable mistakes and pain. Buy me a coffee, learn more about me, or get in touch today.