You can view how much space WhatsApp is taking up on your device and free up storage by deleting items.
View storage
- On the CHATS tab, tap More options
>Settings.
The amount of space taken up on your device by WhatsApp media and Apps and other items 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
- On the CHATS tab, tap More options
>Settings.
- The file size of the item is displayed in the top corner of the item.
- View which chat the item is from and when it was sent: Tap More
>Show in chat.
Star or unstar the item: Tap Staror Unstar
Delete items
If you choose to delete an item, it will 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 in order to free up space.
-
On the CHATS tab, tap More options
>Settings.
- Tap Storage and data >Manage storage.
- Tap Forwarded many times, Larger than 5 MB, or select a specific chat.
- 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.
- Tap Delete
.
- Select Delete starred items to delete starred items.
- Select Delete any copies to delete duplicates.
- Tap DELETE.
Delete items through search
You can also delete individual items by using the search feature.
-
On the CHATS tab, tap Search
.
>Delete.
- Optionally, tap Delete media in this chat.
Low storage alerts
If the amount of available storage on your device reaches critically low levels, WhatsApp might not be able to function properly. If this happens, WhatsApp might prompt you to free up space in order to continue using the app.
You can also free up space by deleting apps you don’t use or large videos, photos, or files saved on your phone. For more information about how to free up storage on your phone outside of WhatsApp, please contact your phone’s manufacturer.
Khamosh Pathak is a freelance technology writer who specializes in tutorials. His work has also been published on iPhoneHacks, Zapier’s blog, MakeUseOf, and Guiding Tech. Khamosh has seven years of experience writing how-tos, features and technology guides on the internet. Read more.
WhatsApp groups can run amuck with memes and videos. All that media takes up valuable storage space on your iPhone or Android phone. Here’s how you can reduce WhatsApp storage space without deleting the app.
WhatsApp has a built-in storage management tool for both Android and iPhone. Using the tool, you can quickly see which conversation is taking up the most storage space and then go in and individually clear out different kinds of media. For instance, you can remove just the videos from a group chat.
Reduce WhatsApp Storage Space on Android
You’ll find the storage management tool in the settings section. Open the WhatsApp app on your Android smartphone and tap on the three-dot menu button.
Here, tap on the “Settings” option.
Now, choose the “Data and Storage Usage” listing.
Here, you’ll see a “Storage Usage” section. It will tell you how much storage space WhatsApp is using on your Android smartphone.
Once you tap on the “Storage Usage” section, you’ll see a list of all the conversations in WhatsApp, sorted by how much storage space they’re taking up. Tap on a conversation from the top of the list.
You’ll now see just how many text messages, images, videos, and GIFs are associated with the conversation. Tap on the “Free Up Space” button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Now, tap on the checkmark next to the media type you want to delete. Next, tap on the “Delete Items” button.
From the popup, tap on the “Clear Messages” option.
The messages and media will be deleted from WhatsApp storage, and you’ll get the storage space back.
Reduce WhatsApp Storage Space on iPhone
The process of reducing WhatsApp storage space on the iPhone is slightly different.
On your iPhone, open the WhatsApp app and go to the “Settings” tab. Here, tap on the “Data and Storage Usage” option.
Now, swipe down and tap on the “Storage Usage” option.
You’ll now see a list of all WhatsApp conversations, sorted by size. Tap on a conversation to see details about its storage space usage. From the bottom of the screen, tap on the “Manage” button.
Now, select the media types that you want to delete.
From there, tap on the “Clear” button.
Tap on the “Clear” button in the pop-up message once again to confirm.
Now, the relevant data will be removed from WhatsApp storage, and you’ll get the storage space back. You can go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to check available storage on your iPhone.
If you use WhatsApp as your primary messaging service, you should know that you can turn off the auto-save feature for incoming media. Once you’ve cleared off the unnecessary conversations, we recommend that you disable the auto-save and auto-download features from settings. This way, you’ll save yourself from repeatedly clearing WhatsApp conversations.
Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox
Have you had trouble downloading files? Does it get stuck while making a call? Or you just notice that it doesn’t work as before. Maybe you should consider deleting WhatsApp cache . We tell you why and how to do it.
What is the cache?
The cache is the storage area of a device where all the used and most requested data are stored. In this way, they recover faster when required.
All electronic devices have it, so you access passwords, search results and frequent items faster. And although it is very useful, if the cache memory becomes saturated, it can cause applications and devices, in general, to become slow.
Image: Depositphotos
Why clear the WhatsApp cache?
The instant messaging application, part of Facebook , collects information about the texts, emojis, audios or stickers that you sent and received. According to the Remo Software site, the cache should be cleared to improve the app experience. Also, this way you will take care of your privacy against possible cyberattacks and hacks.
If what you are concerned about is your data, don’t worry, it won’t be erased, nor will your photos, information or conversations, it will only make your application work as if it were just installed.
Image: Depositphotos
How to delete WhatsApp cache?
To have more space available, that is, clear or delete the WhatsApp cache, follow these steps:
- Go to ‘Settings’ of your phone.
- Select ‘Applications’
- Search WhatsApp
- Go to ‘Storage’
- Clear cache
NOTE: you must select ‘Clear Cache Memory’ and not ‘Clear Data’. If you do this, your account and app chats will be deleted.
Image: Screenshot via WhatsApp.
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Home > Clean up iPhone > Free Ways to Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data on iPhone
July 6, 2017 (Updated: June 28, 2021)
4555 views , 3 min read
The fact is that it’s really easy to accumulate lots of documents and data in any app on your phone, and this is especially true with WhatsApp. If you’re not careful, you could end up filling up your phone with WhatsApp documents and data that you don’t need, and then you won’t have room for the stuff you actually want. Luckily, there are a few ways to address this problem, and even delete the data securely so that it can’t be recovered.
Why We Need to Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data?
There are many reasons why you might want to clear WhatsApp documents and data iPhone:
- To clean cache and boost iPhone. Junk can accumulate on your device and make certain apps run slow. Sometimes deleting temporary files like the cache can help. Many times, caches for some apps can get very bloated without your realizing.
- To make more room on your iPhone. Junk files can slowly fill up your iPhone and you may not even realize what’s happening until you suddenly can’t store important things, like photos. Clearing up unnecessary WhatsApp documents and data will help you make the most of your storage space.
- To delete private data and protect privacy. Some of the data from WhatsApp may be private and you might not want anybody to be able to see it. In that case, deleting it in a secure way that completely erases the data is important.
- 1. Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data iPhone Permanently
- 2. Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data iPhone, Recoverable
Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data iPhone Permanently
Nowadays, most iPhone users would like to seek an iPhone cleaner for WhatsApp as manual cleaning is multitask. One of the great one is iMyFone iPhone Cleaner Win/iMyFone iPhone Cleaner Mac which offers great features to clear WhatsApp documents and data iPhone permanently. Of course, you can use it to clear other app documents and data if you need.
- Clean WhatsApp Cache Free – Clearing WhatsApp cache will help free up space and run it better.
- Erase WhatsApp Data – Preview and permanently delete WhatsApp messages, photos, videos, and attachments in bulk, 100% unrecoverable.
- Wipe Deleted WhatsApp Files – Previously deleted WhatsApp messages which are recoverable will be scanned and fully destroyed.
- Erase WhatsApp Fragments – Apart from data, apps also create incomplete fragments which may conceal private info. iMyFone allows you to erase them.
How to Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data iPhone?
Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch iMyFone iPhone Cleaner.
Step 2: Click “Erase Private Data.” Click Scan. (Or choose “Erase Deleted Files” mode if you want to wipe deleted WhatsApp data.)
Step 3: After the scanning is done, select which data you would like to erase (in this case, your WhatsApp messages, media files, etc.) and click “Erase Now.”Confirm the erasure to begin.
It’s also suggested to run “Erase Private Fragments” or “Erase Deleted Files” for free to see how many fragments or deleted files of WhatsApp, LINE, Snapchat, Chrome, Facebook, Twitter, Line, and more are still left on your iPhone.
iMyFone Umate Pro has been reviewed by top tech media and thought very highly of.
Clear WhatsApp Documents and Data iPhone, Recoverable
You might also want to know how to clear WhatsApp documents and data from your iPhone manually:
To Delete WhatsApp Messages
- Launch WhatsApp on iPhone and go to “Chats” at the bottom.
- Go to the conversation with the message you want to delete.
- Long-tap on the message you want to delete until options pop up.
- Tap “Delete.”
To Delete WhatsApp Chat History
- Launch WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Go to Chats.
- Tap “Delete All Chats.”
Disadvantages of Manual Way
- The problem with deleting this data manually is that it isn’t really gone from your iPhone. The data will continue to be recoverable.
- There is no way to delete WhatsApp messages in bulk, you should make it one by one.
- The whole chat history will be cleared. You can’t clear chats selectively.
Final Thought
If you value your privacy, it just makes sense to use software like iMyFone Umate Pro to delete your WhatsApp documents and data permanently. Umate Pro also has a bunch of other great features, like:
- The ability to permanently delete private fragments from third-party apps: Snapchat, WeChat, Line, Viber, Chrome, Twitter, etc.
- The ability to permanently delete private messages, contact, call history, Safari history, notes, WeChat, photos & videos and any other iOS files.
- A feature that allows you to find and erase files that you previously deleted manually.
- A 1-Click to free up space function – clear junk & temporary files, mass delete photos/large files/apps, losslessly compress photos, etc.
It’s a handy tool for anyone who wants to free up space on iPhone and protect their privacy.
You may want to clear all the messages inside the chat with a specific contact on WhatsApp. You can do that for all the contacts as well. Not sure how? Don’t worry, we are going to show you the steps. Let’s see how to clear chats on WhatsApp.
As mentioned, you can clear the messages with a specific contact, but you can do it for all of the contacts at once. We will show you how to do both.
How to clear chats on WhatsApp with a specific contact
Here is how to clear a chat with a specific contact:
- Open the chat with a contact you want
- Next, tap on the dots located in the top-right corner
- When a drop-down menu shows up, click More
- Next, click Clear chat
- Choose if you want to delete media in the chat by checking or unchecking the box
- Click Clear.
If you are using WhatsApp Web, follow the steps below:
- Open WhatsApp Web
- Next, open the chat with the contact you want
- Click on the three dots in the top-right corner
- Choose if you want to keep starred messages by checking or unchecking the box
- Click Clear.
How to clear all the chats
The second option allows you to clear all the chats with all of your contacts. Here is how to do that:
- Open WhatsApp
- Tap three dots in the top-right corner
- Next, tap Settings
- Now tap Chats
- Tap Chat history
- Finally, tap Clear all chats.
Unfortunately, there is no option to clear all the chats using WhatsApp web, at least not for now. When it comes to WhatsApp Web, you can only clear the chat with a specific contact as shown above. So, if you want to clear all the chats with all of your contacts, you can do it only using the app.
Anton D. Nagy
- Android,
- iOS,
I already went in-depth on why I decided to delete my WhatsApp account and the aftermath. If you missed that Editorial, check it out here and then return to this post.
While this is ultimately everyone’s decision, and that is the only thing I’m advocating for – make the decision that’s best for you – if you decide to pull the trigger, we went ahead and recommended you the best WhatsApp alternatives to migrate to, should you choose to do so.
Today we’re going to show you how to delete your WhatsApp account, as well as some pre-requisites that I personally recommend before you do so.
Oh, and a friendly word of warning: deleting the WhatsApp app from your iPhone or Android smartphone won’t delete your account. It will still be active, only that messages or calls won’t be able to reach you. They will, as soon as you reinstall the app. That doesn’t change the fact that your (and your contacts’) data is still accessible to WhatsApp and Facebook.
Before you delete your WhatsApp account
You can skip these steps if you want, but I recommend you do not.
Download your WhatsApp data
First things first, I recommend you go inside WhatsApp, Settings, hit Account, and Request Account Info. This process might take a couple of business days as WhatsApp needs to compile everything it has on you and deliver your report.
Once a couple of days pass by you’ll get a notification that your report is ready. Hit Download, save the “My Account Info.zip” file and take a look inside. That’s everything WhatsApp claims to have on you. Inside, among many other things, you’ll find an HTML file with your display picture, phone number, email address, device activity, status, and all of your contacts’ phone numbers.
There are also bits about your carrier, device, registration date, and status for your Terms of Service. The zip also contains a JSON file you can read, with pretty much the same data as the HTML file.
Please note: because of GDPR, the data available in the EU might differ from the data delivered in other regions.
Save your WhatsApp media and conversations
While you wait for your report to be generated, I highly suggest you go through your conversations and save every piece of media (photo, video, voice message, etc.) that you might have not yet saved. This is for safety purposes, as the app you’re migrating to might not have WhatsApp data import capabilities.
You can also screenshot conversations if you feel like there’s something worth holding on to visually. If you only care about the plain text version of your conversation, you can hit the three dots on Android (or the name of your contact in the conversation on iOS), and select Export chat from the menu. Then it’s up to you whether you want to include media in that particular chat or not.
And you’re done! Ready for the big step.
How to delete WhatsApp account on iPhone
Deleting your WhatsApp account on your iPhone (or iOS device) is a simple process. Follow the steps below if you’re ready to pull the trigger.
Step 1: Launch WhatsApp;
Step 2: Tap Settings on the right end of the bottom button bar;
Step 3: Go to Account;
Step 4: Hit Delete My Account;
Step 5: Enter your phone number, as registered with WhatsApp;
Step 6: Tap the red Delete My Account button.
*The app might ask you to select a reason for your choice to delete your WhatsApp account. Do that!
How to delete WhatsApp account on Android
If you are using an Android device and you want to delete your WhatsApp account, the process is pretty straightforward. Just follow the steps below.
Step 1: Launch WhatsApp;
Step 2: Hit the menu button (the three dots) on the top right;
Step 3: Select Settings;
Step 4: Go to Account;
Step 5: Tap Delete My Account;
Step 6: Enter your phone number as registered with WhatsApp;
Step 7: Hit Delete My Account.
*The app might ask you to select a reason for your choice to delete your WhatsApp account. Do that!
What happens after you delete your WhatsApp account
According to WhatsApp, deleting your account will trigger the following actions: obviously, your account will be deleted; your message history will be erased; you will be removed from all groups you have previously joined; your Google Drive and/or iCloud chat backups will also be deleted.
Beware that it might take 90 days from the moment you delete your account for the process to finalize. You won’t be able to regain access to your account. Also, note that the messages you sent will not be deleted from the receiving party’s end.
WhatsApp may hold on to certain bits related to you. You can read about those by accessing this link.
More on security
If you’re passionate about your privacy and data security (which you should be), make sure you don’t miss a couple of great reads from our colleague Adam Lein. I recommend you read this and stop being naive about some of these apps, and also check out what Adam considers to be a viable option as an alternative to any and all of these services.
Anton D. Nagy
Anton is the Editor-in-Chief of Pocketnow. As publication leader, he aims to bring Pocketnow even closer to you. His vision is mainly focused on, and oriented towards, the audience. Anton’s ambition, adopted by the entire team, is to transform Pocketnow into a reference media outlet.
It seems everyone’s WhatsApp nowadays is suffocating under the weight of a long list of chats and groups. However it’s not just your WhatsApp that has to deal with the side-effects occasioned by all these conversations.
Your phone is also taking a hit storage-wise with all the hundreds of photos, gifs and videos that are constantly being shared each day.
Fortunately for us, WhatsApp does actually provide us with means to curtail the accumulation of such media on our smartphones without having to take matters into our own hands. This involves either deleting or clearing chats. There however seems to be confusion between what these two do.
The difference is this:
- Clearing a chat – will delete all the messages, group conversations and any media in that chat but it will NOT remove that chat from your list of chats or exit you from a group.
- Deleting a chat – will delete all the messages, group conversations and the media but that chat will no longer be available in your chat list. For groups, you’ll be required to exit them before you can delete them.
In both options, you’re given the choice to delete the media as well. As such we can use either of these methods to delete all the media for a specific chat.
However if you need to remain in a group you should only use the clear chat option. With individual chats you can use either since you can start a new conversation any time as long as that person is in your contact list.
Let’s take a look on how to use either of these methods to delete all the media in WhatsApp for Android.
1. Deleting All WhatsApp Media by Clearing Chats
1. On the WhatsApp chat list page, open the individual chat or group whose media you want to delete.
2. Once inside the chat, press your menu button or tap on the three vertical dots on the top right of the screen to reveal the menu.
3. From here, go to More then tap on the Clear chat option.
![]() |
Clear Chat |
4. You’ll get a prompt asking you to confirm the clearing. Just below this message leave the “Delete media from my phone” option checked then tap on the CLEAR button.
![]() |
Delete Media from your Phone |
Doing that will clear all the messages along with all the media of that particular chat. All media will also be deleted from your phone’s storage.
2. Deleting All WhatsApp Media by Deleting Chats
Individual Chats
1. On the WhatsApp chat list page, long press on the chat you want to delete then tap on the delete icon at the top.
![]() |
Delete Chat |
2. You’ll get a prompt asking you to confirm the deletion. Below it leave the option “Delete media from my phone” checked then tap on the DELETE button.
Confirm Deletion |
Group Chats
As mentioned earlier, to delete a group will require you to exit that group first.
1. On the WhatsApp chat list page, long press the group whose media you want to delete then tap on the three vertical dots to reveal the menu. Tap on the Exit group option.
![]() |
Leaving the Group |
2. You’ll then get a confirmation prompt. Tap on the EXIT button to leave the group.
![]() |
Tap on Exit |
3. Doing that will display a message that you’ve left from that group. Long press on the chat again then at the top tap on the delete icon.
![]() |
Delete Group Chat |
4. You’ll get a prompt asking you to confirm the deletion. Below it leave the option “Delete media from my phone” checked then tap on the DELETE button.
![]() |
Confirm Group Chat Deletion |
Is the Deletion Permanent?
This does NOT delete the media permanently. The media is only deleted for you (and in your phone) and therefore will still be available to the contacts you were chatting with or other members if it was a group.
Still, it’s not possible to redownload old messages or the deleted media even if you just cleared the chats.
I Want to Delete All the WhatsApp Media But Keep the Conversations
It’s possible to delete all the media for specific chats and keep their messages or group conversations. You also don’t have to exit a group to delete their media. To do this we however we don’t use the clear or delete options.
Instead you have to go to the settings and manage the storage use for specific chats. This brings me to the other possibility:
I Want to Delete Only a Specific Media Type
You may also want to delete a specific media type of a particular individual or group chat instead of having to delete everything.
Perhaps you want to delete the videos but keep your images and animated gifs. Or perhaps you want to delete everything save for documents or audio messages. Likewise, this is possible by deleting the media through the Data and storage usage settings as I’ve outlined here.
Author
Kelvin Muriuki is a web content developer that’s passionate about keeping the internet a useful place. He is the founder and editor of Journey Bytes, a tech blog and web design agency. Feel free to connect with him regarding the content appearing on this page or on web and content development.
A chat app or instant messenger is a must for all mobile phone users, like QQ, WeChat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Line, or any others. They are all great free chat apps. WhatsApp is a very popular IM for Android mobile users, like Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, ZTE, Sony, Motorola, Nexus and so on. Today we will talk about how to clear WhatsApp data to reclaim more storage space on Android phones. It is because we find Whatsapp eats up storage very quickly for heavy users, especially when you like to post videos in WhatsApp on mobile, or share photos through WhatsApp on the phone.
WhatsApp data backup tips
Generally speaking you should back up your data before you deleting them from your mobile phone so as to avoid data loss. You can save your photos, videos or other media files from Whatsapp to your mobile phone manually or enable the media auto-download to automatically save incoming media files to your phone storage. When you have accidentally delete the wrong messages, chats, or media files, you can refer to this guide to recover deleted WhatsApp messages on Android phone. This method however may not be able to help you retrieve all chat history, attached photos, videos or other files when the deleted data has been overwritten by new data.
How to Delete WhatsApp Chats on Android mobile phone?
Run WhatsApp on your Android phone, go to the Chats screen, tap and hold on a chat to show more options like email chat, archive chat, mark as unread, etc. Touch Delete chat to to remove selected chat in WhatsApp for Android and delete all messages in this chat or conversation.
How to Delete All WhatsApp Chats or Messages on Android mobile phone?
Run WhatsApp for Android on your phone, then press the menu button on your handset to show the main Whatsapp menu and select Settings to open WhatsApp Settings screen like below.
Tap on Chats and calls from above to open WhatsApp Chats and calls settings screen.
Go to Chats Settings >> Chat history, you will then find options to manage WhatsApp chat history on Android phones, including email chats, archive chats, clear all chats, delete all chats in Whatsapp for Android.
Many Android users are not sure of the difference between delete Whatsapp chats and clear WhatsApp chats above. To delete all chats in Whatsapp for Android, you will delete all chats and messages inside of them from Whatsapp on Android mobile phones. This is actually to remove all chat history in Whatsapp. You will delete all files sent and received through WhatsApp as well, unless you have saved them to your Gallery on the phone.
In WhatsApp for Android, there is another option you can clear WhatsApp data named ‘Clear all chats‘. It is to clear messages in all chats in Whatsapp for Android. You can batch delete all messages sent and received in WhatsApp. This will delete all WhatsApp messages on Android mobile phone. You can also choose to delete all Whatsapp messages that are older than 30 days or delete all Whatsapp messages older than 6 months. If you have saved media files from WhatsApp to your Gallery app, such as photos and videos through WhatsApp chats, you need to manually delete them in the Gallery app or file managers on your Android mobile phone. You can also find more specific instruction from this guide to clear WhatsApp media files on Android phones.