Clear Memory And Space Occupied In WhatsApp (Android And iOS)
If WhatsApp Takes Up A Lot Of Your Phone Memory, In This Article, We Will Teach You Ways To Reduce The Volume Consumed By These Messengers.
WhatsApp is the number one communication platform for most Iranian users and other users in the world these days. Naturally, we see the highest volume of message exchange in it. These messengers play not only a communicative role but also a social media role for many people.
Many WhatsApp groups share a variety of audio and video media daily. This volume of data exchanges between individuals, especially in groups, creates a problem called “memory depletion,” Many users have struggled with this problem.
Therefore, it is not surprising to see these messengers in the list of factors occupying the storage space of the phone of the majority of users. It can be considered the main factor in filling a large part of the memory of smartphones.
WhatsApp’s lack of reliance on the cloud also doubles the problem. Users on cloud-based messaging such as Telegram can decide to evacuate all of the space involved and access their essential chats and data without worry.
But this is not the case with WhatsApp. The reliance of these messengers on the phone’s storage space requires you to monitor the amount of memory occupied periodically and delete unnecessary data. WhatsApp also backs up chats automatically, which may increase the space occupied by the app.
This tutorial will teach you how to clear chats from unnecessary data and remove and prevent WhatsApp periodic backups.
Clear occupied WhatsApp memory.
WhatsApp has a built-in section for users to view large files and the amount of space occupied by each chat in this application, through which you can free up a lot of dynamic memory. To reach this section:
- On iPhones:
Tap Settings in the bottom bar, go to Storage and data and tap Manage Storage.
- On Android phones:
On the Home screen, tap Settings by tapping the three-dot option in the top bar, scroll to Storage and data and tap Manage Storage.
1. At the top of the screen is a diagram of your phone’s memory, including free space and the amount occupied by WhatsApp and other programs and files.
2. In the middle, you will see the following two sections that help free up a large amount of dynamic memory.
- Forwarded many times: By clicking on this section, you will see a list of files sent in different chats, from the most extensive file to the smallest. By deleting one of the files in this section, all copies of it will delete from various discussions.
- More significant than 5 MB: By entering this section, you will see a list of files larger than five MB, from the most extensive file to the smallest.
You can view all the items in these two sections by tapping on each one in a larger size or playing content such as documents or videos. You do not need to delete any of them by holding down your finger and selecting the Trash option at the top.
If you want to delete all files larger than 5 MB or messages with at least two copies in different chats, select the Select all option, tap the trash can icon, and delete the displayed message.
3. In the next section, the chats will be shown to you separately by the volume occupied by each, and by tapping on each conversation, you can view the shared files in the order of their size and delete them, as in the two sections above. Selecting all can also delete all files in a chat (except messages).
View and delete the data of each chat based on the file type
Sometimes you are looking for a specific file, and there are so many files in a conversation that you will not find. In such cases, you can enter the desired conversation, tap on the contact or group’s name, and select Media, links, and docs. All shared content is divided into three categories: MEDIA (photos and videos), DOCS (files), and LINKS (links).
To delete files, go to the DOCS tab, tap the search option above, and find the file by searching for its name or type (extension). For example, to delete all the photos or videos that have been uploaded as a file, search for the extension (for example, mp4 or jpg), select the deleted items, and tap the trash option in the top bar.
Note that the Also delete media recited in this chat from the phone gallery check box is enabled to free up space. Otherwise, the selected item will only be removed from the conversation but remain in memory. Finally, select Delete or Delete for me.
Cleaning chats
Follow these steps if you want to delete all the contents of a chat; Note that this action, in addition to deleting photos, videos, or any other file, also completely deletes the chat conversations.
- On iPhones
On the WhatsApp home screen, swipe left or right on the chat. Tap More and then select Clear conversation. In the following message, if you want to delete all items except starred messages, select the Delete all except starred option; otherwise, select the Delete all messages option.
To clear the contents of all existing chats, go to Settings and then the Chats section at the bottom of the page. Touch Clear All Chats at the bottom of the page. You will then be asked to enter the number you registered on WhatsApp once.
- On Android phones
On the main page of the chat, select the three-dot option in the top bar and go to More. Tap Clear chat. Check also delete media received in this chat from the phone gallery, and if you want to delete starred messages, check the Delete starred messages option as well. Finally, select Clear conversation.
To clear the contents of all existing chats, on the Home screen, select the three-dot option in the top bar, enter (Settings) and go to the Chats section.
Select Chat history at the bottom of the page and tap Clear all chats. Check Also delete media received in this chat from the phone gallery, and if you want to delete starred messages, check the Delete starred messages option. Finally, select Clear conversations.
Delete and disable automatic WhatsApp backups
WhatsApp updates chat so you can retrieve conversations when you migrate to another phone or if it is deleted. These messengers back up messages in two ways; Local and cloudy. Unlike WhatsApp cloud backups, which can be turned off or auto-backup intervals changed, this is impossible for local backups stored in the phone memory.
Although these backups are replaced with a newer version every once in a while, this does not cause the storage space to fill up quickly. Still, if they are bulky since multiple backups are produced and stored in memory for several days, it is preferred for users who do not need backups. It makes sense to disable backups if they have a more private memory.
Delete and disable automatic WhatsApp backups on Android phones
There is currently no option to turn off local backups, but a trick can use to prevent this on Android phones. for this job:
- Enter the file manager of your phone.
- Navigate to the WhatsApp folder in the internal Storage; If your phone is running Android 11 or higher, the WhatsApp folder is in the Android/media/com.WhatsApp path, and in Android below 11, it is in the main internal storage path.
- After entering the WhatsApp folder, select and delete the Database folder where the backup files are generated.
- Create a new folder here.
- Compress the new folder by selecting Compress or Add to zip.
- Once the folder is compressed, rename it to Databases and remove the ZIP extension from the bottom of the name.
WhatsApp automatically backs up after this. Finally, you can delete the created folder as well.
Delete and disable automatic WhatsApp backups on iPhones
In the iOS version of WhatsApp, backups of chats are only in the cloud, so in the first step, you need to disable cloud backup via iCloud, then delete the previous backups from iCloud:
- On the WhatsApp home screen, tap Settings in the bottom bar. Go to the Chats section and then Chats backup, enter the Auto Backup section and select Off.
- Open iPhone settings. Tap your Apple ID banner. Select iCloud. Find WhatsApp and turn it off.
- At the top of this page, where it shows the amount of space occupied by iCloud, tap Manage Storage; on the next screen, select WhatsApp, and from the next screen, select Delete Data.
After completing these steps, WhatsApp backup will be disabled, and the backed-up data will delete from your iCloud.
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