How to free up storage on WhatsApp

Android
iOS
To ensure that WhatsApp works properly, make sure that your phone has storage space available. You can view how much space WhatsApp takes up on your device and free up storage by deleting items.
It’s possible that there might be a difference in the storage usage noted by your WhatsApp app and your Android phone. This is mainly because of the difference in the way WhatsApp calculates storage vs your phone’s OS.
Note: We suggest backing up your chats to your Google Account before deleting any content from your phone. Learn how here.

View storage

  1. On the Chats tab, tap
    more options
    > Settings.
  2. Tap Storage and data > Manage storage.
The amount of space taken up on your device by WhatsApp is displayed at the top of the screen.

Review and delete items

You can free up storage by deleting items that are large or have been forwarded many times. You can also delete items per chat.

Review items

  1. On the Chats tab, tap
    more options
    > Settings.
  2. Tap Storage and data > Manage storage.
  3. Select a specific chat.
  4. You can tap the sort icon to sort by Newest, Oldest, or Largest.
    • The file size of the item is displayed in the top corner of the item.
  5. Tap an item to review. You can also:
    • View which chat the item is from and when it was sent: Tap
      more options
      > Show in chat.
    • Star or unstar the item: Tap
      star
      or
      unstar
      .

Delete items


If you delete an item, it'll be deleted from your WhatsApp media. Deleted items might still be saved on your device. If you have multiple copies of an item, you’ll also need to delete all copies to free up space.
  1. On the Chats tab, tap
    more options
    > Settings.
  2. Tap Storage and data > Manage storage.
  3. Select a specific chat.
  4. You can:
    • Delete all items: Tap Select all if you want to delete all items at once.
    • Delete individual items: Tap and hold an item you want to delete. Select additional items to delete multiple items at once.
  5. Tap
    delete
    .
    • Select Delete starred items to delete starred items.
    • Select Delete any copies to delete duplicates.
  6. Tap Delete.
Note: Media will be deleted from your device if you select Delete media in this chat while clearing the chat. This won’t remove you from any groups or remove the chat from the Chats tab.

Delete items through search

You can also delete individual items by using the search feature.
  1. On the Chats tab, tap
    search
    .
  2. Tap Photos, Videos, or Documents.
  3. Tap the item you want to delete.
  4. Tap More
    more options
    > Delete.
    • Optionally, tap Delete media in this chat.
  5. Tap Delete.

Low storage alerts

If the amount of available storage on your device reaches critically low levels, WhatsApp might not work properly. If this happens, WhatsApp might prompt you to free up space to continue using the app.
To learn how to free up storage on your phone outside of WhatsApp, contact your phone’s manufacturer.

Does this answer your question?

Yes
No