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How To Fix Problems with Downloading or Sending Media Files on WhatsApp

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Usually, communication and file sharing via WhatsApp works very smoothly. However, problems can sometimes arise when you want to download or send photos or other files. The causes can be diverse and range from a lack of Internet connection on your mobile device to a defective memory card.

This tutorial will walk you through some solutions to problems that you may have with downloading or sending media files on WhatsApp.

What to Do if You Can't Download or Send Media Files on WhatsApp

The first thing that you can do is to make sure that your mobile phone is connected to the Internet and has a strong enough signal. To test this, you can try loading a web page.

If this does not solve you issue, make sure that the date and time on your app are displaying correctly.

Verifying MicroSD Card Space

You should make sure that you have enough free space on either your microSD card or on your device's internal memory. You may try deleting some files that you no longer need, if necessary.

Setting the MicroSD Card to Read-Only

If you are specifically having problems downloading files, make sure that your phone's microSD card (if it has one) is not set to read-only. You can test this by trying to save a media file outside of WhatsApp. If you are able to, it means that you do not have this setting activated. If you are unable to, change your memory card's security settings or try deleting some files from the WhatsApp folder on the card.


After following these steps, you should restart your device. Once the restart is complete, you should no longer have trouble downloading WhatsApp files. If the problem persists, a portion of the microSD card may be damaged. To fix this, make a backup of your data and, then, format it.

If the problem continues after you have tried all of these solutions, you should look into replacing the microSD card with a new one, as it may be defective.

Image: © WhatsApp.
Jean-François Pillou

CCM is a leading international tech website. Our content is written in collaboration with IT experts, under the direction of Jeff Pillou, founder of CCM.net. CCM reaches more than 50 million unique visitors per month and is available in 11 languages.

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