Many of us use WhatsApp on a daily basis, receiving messages with media and other files. These files can add up over time and take space on your phone's memory. Removing dated files that you no longer need will save space and improve device performance. Keep reading to find out how to save space on WhatsApp.
Free Up Space in WhatsApp
To get started, open WhatsApp and go to Settings, the gear located in the lower right part of the screen:
Then press Data and Storage Usage > Storage Usage. Here you can see how much space is being taken up by your different chats, sorted by size. Select a conversation and you will see the space taken by file type, i.e. photos, videos, GIFs, voice messages, text messages, contacts, locations, documents, and stickers:
At the bottom of the screen you will see Manage. Click on it and you will have the option to check what media types to delete. Then select Clear to delete the files:
Repeat these steps for each conversation until you have enough space on your phone.
Change WhatsApp Automatic File Download Setting
By default WhatsApp automatically downloads all files received in your chats. Considering the amount of content you're receiving daily, this could quickly use up your phone's memory. To avoid this, deactivate this setting so that files are no longer automatically downloaded.
To do this, you must follow the same process as above. Go to Settings > Data and Storage. Then you will see the option Automatic File Download and below Photos, Audios, Videos, and documents. By clicking on each of them, you can choose if you want each type of file to be downloaded automatically: 1. Only when you have Wi-Fi; 2. When you have wifi and mobile data; or 3. Never.
N.B.: Thanks to this trick, you won't only save storage, but also internet consumption and battery usage!
