WhatsApp: How to Make Images and Videos Take Up Less Space

Saving storage space with WhatsApp can almost be a mission impossible. Why? If WhatsApp is your primary messaging app, then there is a good chance that you get most of your videos and images thought it.

Don’t get me started on the number of images and video you might get from all the groups you’re surely in. For some reason, someone thought that you wanted to see all 100 pictures of how their flower is blossoming. This is what you can do if you’re going to continue using WhatsApp without having to worry about your internal storage.

Prevent WhatsApp from Downloading All Media Received

If you don’t want all those flower pictures on your Android’s internal storage, there is something you can do about it. By going into WhatsApp’s setting, you can prevent all kinds of media from downloading or only allowing specific ones.

To set this up, open WhatsApp and tap on the three dots at the top right. Select Settings and then Data and storage usage. Under the section Media auto-download, you will see what the app will download when you are using your mobile data on when you are on WiFi.

Whether you select the WiFi or mobile data options, you will get the same results. Add a checkmark to the type of files you always want the app to download.

For example, if you only want WhatsApp to downloads apps when you are connected to WiFi, tap on the box to the left of the option to add the checkmark. When you’ve checked the type of files you want to be downloaded automatically, tap on OK to save your changes.

Prevent Recently Sent Content from Being Downloaded (Specific Contacts)

Tap on the offending contacts’ profile picture that always sends way too many pictures.

When that person’s profile picture expands, tap on the i located all the way to the right. Select the Media Visibility option, it will be the third one down. After tapping on this option, you will see three options: Default (Yes), Yes, and No.

Choose No, and from that point on, every time that specific contact sends you something, you will see it on WhatsApp, but it won’t appear on your device’s gallery. If you do receive something you want to save, tap on it and it will start to download.

How to See What Type of Content Takes Up the Most Space

Let’s say you are not sure what type of content takes up the most significant amount of space on your device. There is a way to find out what a specific contact sends you more of. To find out tap on the three dots again and select Data and storage usage. Wait a few seconds to give the storage usage option to calculate the amount of space the files are taking up.

Once the results appear, select the Storage usage option, and the contact the sends you the most amount of content will be the first one on the list. Select the offending contact, and the content you are sent is divided into different categories such as text messages, contacts, locations, photos, stickers, GIFs, and videos.

If you want to keep everything you get, but they are just too big in size, you can always try compressing them. By typing compress files in Google Play, you will see various apps you can try that can help your WhatsApp content take up less space in your Android device.

Conclusion

Now, it’s easier than ever to send and receive all types of media files. The downside to that is that there are times when you just get too much and your internal storage suffers. How do you save space on your Android device? Leave a comment and let me know.