WhatsApp: how to delete files and free up space so that your cell phone works better

Since its launch in 2009 , WhatsApp has incorporated features that make it more than just a simple messaging application. However, it is so used that we usually have a lot of content that we do not need, affecting the storage of our cell phone . Fortunately there is a simple option to delete files and free up space.

As is public knowledge, in the app you can create group chats, make video calls, send PDF files, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos and videos of up to 2 gigabytes, and also make backup copies of conversations, all in one privacy framework that Meta company always tries to remind us.

With all of the above, it is quite easy for our cell phone to start storing files and backups that after a while, we no longer need, but that lower the performance of the device. Therefore, we show you how you can delete unnecessary files and chats without leaving the application.

Cleaning WhatsApp is easy

The productivity of cell phones is closely related to the amount of space available, if it reaches low storage levels, it may not work properly. To delete photos, videos or very large files in WhatsApp , we must do the following: open the application and enter the main menu, to do this just click on the 3 points that are located in the upper right corner of the screen.

After performing the first step, you have to go to “ settings ” and then “ storage and data ”, there you will find the option “ Manage storage ”. By clicking , you will find the amount of space that WhatsApp Media Files occupy on your device .

How to delete WhatsApp files?

Already in the “Manage Storage” option, go to the “ Review and delete items ” function, there are all the files that weigh more than 5 megabytes and that probably occupy the majority of the space on our device. To eliminate what we do not need, there are two options:

• Delete all files. To delete everything the app stores, tap “Select All”, and then tap the delete icon (it’s a trash can)
• Delete files individually. Long press the item you want to delete, then you can select more. Finally, tap on the delete icon

An added trick is that you can choose which files to see first in the top right , and you have the ability to sort them by newest, oldest, or largest items.

It should be remembered that if you choose to delete content, it will be deleted from WhatsApp’s multimedia files, so it could still be stored on your device, so after deleting something in the app , it is worth checking the storage of the cell phone so that there is no duplicate.

If for some reason you delete a file by mistake, you can recover it if you have a backup copy: in the main menu go to “ settings ”, then “chats” and finally “backup”. If your device is Android, choose the Google account where you want to save the copy of your chats. Tap “backup” and you’re done. If you have an iPhone, you can turn on automatic and scheduled backups . To do this, click on “Automatic copy”.