How to Clear WhatsApp Storage on iPhone (and Stop Saving Photos)

WhatsApp says Save to Photos is on by default, so photos and videos you receive can be saved to your Photos library as well as kept in WhatsApp.

Stop WhatsApp saving photos to your iPhone

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   Step 1: Open Chats settings

   In WhatsApp, tap Settings or your profile picture, then Chats.

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   Step 2: Turn it off

   Turn off Save to Photos.

WhatsApp notes that this doesn’t change choices you’ve already made for specific chats or groups. To set one chat on its own, open it, tap the contact or group name, tap Save to Photos and choose Never. The other options are Default, which follows your main setting, and Always.

Limit media auto-download

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   Step 1: Open storage settings

   Tap Settings or your profile picture, then Storage and data.

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   Step 2: Choose for each type

   Under Media auto-download, tap photos, voice messages, videos or documents and choose Never, Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and cellular.

Free up WhatsApp storage

To see how much space WhatsApp takes, tap your profile picture, then Storage and data › Manage storage; the amount is shown at the top. You can also open a chat, tap its name and tap Manage storage to see that chat’s media from largest to smallest.

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   Step 1: Review media

   Tap your profile picture, then Chats › Chat backup › Manage your storage › Review and delete media, and pick a chat. Sort by Largest to start with the biggest files.

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   Step 2: Delete

   Tap Select, choose items or Select all, then tap the delete button. If the selection includes starred items, you can keep them with Delete all except starred.

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   Step 3: Or clear a whole chat’s media

   On the Chats tab, touch and hold a chat, tap Clear chat, choose Clear all media, pick the media types and tap Clear media.

Delete the copies already in Photos

WhatsApp notes that items you delete in WhatsApp might still be saved on your device, and that you need to delete every copy to free up the space. If Save to Photos was on, copies of the media you received may also be in your Photos library; delete them there too. Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted first: see Recently Deleted on iPhone.

CleanX

Find photos in WhatsApp albums with CleanX

CleanX’s Chat Photos finds albums in your Photos library whose name includes a chat app (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Viber, Instagram, Messenger) and groups their photos; videos and photos outside these albums aren’t included. Select a whole group at once or swipe through it one photo at a time: left to the trash, right to keep. Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted.

• Photos from albums whose name includes a chat app, grouped by album
• Select all, or swipe to keep or trash
• Scanning is free; deleting needs CleanX Pro

See everything CleanX does →

Before you delete WhatsApp media

• Backups are separate: WhatsApp says a deleted item stays in your backup until your next backup.
• Others keep their copies: deleting media in WhatsApp removes it only for you.
• For the rest of your iPhone, see how to free up space on iPhone.