WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion active users. Over time, the app can take up a significant amount of storage space on your iPhone with message history, media, and backups.
If you find your phone storage getting low, one of the best ways to free up space is by deleting old WhatsApp backups that you no longer need. Here’s what you need to know about managing and removing WhatsApp backups on an iPhone.
What are WhatsApp backups?
WhatsApp gives users the ability to create local backups of their message history, media, and other app data. These backups are stored on your iPhone’s internal storage and can be quite large over time.
Backups are useful if you ever need to restore your chat history after switching phones, performing a factory reset, or if WhatsApp crashes. By default, WhatsApp creates daily backups when the app is open and connected to WiFi. You can also manually back up at any time in the app settings.
Each backup contains your most recent messages, photos, videos and other WhatsApp data. The app saves only the most recent backup by default, replacing older backups as new ones are created.
Why delete old WhatsApp backups?
Over time, you can accumulate many GBs worth of WhatsApp backups that sit unused in your iPhone’s storage. This can start eating up space that could be better used for apps, photos, videos, music and more.
Deleting old backups you no longer need is an easy way to free up storage space on your device. For example, you likely don’t need WhatsApp backups from several months or years ago if you’ve already saved your important chat history.
Getting in the habit of periodically deleting unnecessary WhatsApp backups can help optimize your iPhone’s storage and performance.
How to view WhatsApp backup size
Before deleting any backups, it’s a good idea to check how much space WhatsApp is actually taking up on your device. Here’s how to see your backup sizes:
- Open WhatsApp and tap Settings.
- Select Chats > Chat Backup.
- You’ll see the date of your latest backup and the total size of the backup file.
This will give you an idea of how much space you can potentially free up. WhatsApp may show multiple GBs of backups depending on your usage and history.
How to delete WhatsApp backups on iPhone
Once you’ve identified the backups you want to remove, deleting them is simple. Here are the steps:
- Open WhatsApp and tap Settings.
- Select Chats > Chat Backup.
- Tap Delete All Backups.
- Confirm deleting all backups by tapping Delete All Backups again.
This will immediately remove all WhatsApp backup files from your iPhone’s storage. Only the most recent backup will be retained.
Alternative Method
You can also delete WhatsApp backups without opening the app using your iPhone’s Settings:
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
- Wait for your device storage to be analyzed.
- Tap WhatsApp.
- Tap Edit in the upper right corner.
- Tap Delete Backup, then confirm deleting the backups.
How to disable WhatsApp backups
If you don’t ever need local WhatsApp backups, you can change the app’s settings to stop backups from being created in the first place. This will prevent wasted storage going forward.
To disable backups:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Chats > Chat Backup.
- Toggle the BACKUP TO iCLOUD switch to the OFF position.
With backups disabled, WhatsApp will no longer create daily or manual backups. Make sure you don’t need any chat history before turning off backups.
Manage WhatsApp media storage
In addition to backups, the media content exchanged and saved in WhatsApp chats can also take up a lot of space. Images, videos, documents, and other files are all stored in the app.
To manage media storage:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
- Tap Storage and Data > MEDIA AUTO-DOWNLOAD.
- Adjust auto-download settings for when on cellular data vs Wifi.
- Toggle options OFF to prevent media from downloading automatically.
You can also manually clear out old media from WhatsApp by going to Settings > Storage and Data > Manage Storage. This will let you review and delete specific media forwarded or saved in chats.
Alternative backup options
If you do want to keep WhatsApp backups but don’t have space on your iPhone, consider using other backup destinations like iCloud or Google Drive:
- iCloud – Enable WhatsApp’s iCloud backup option in Settings > Chats > Chat Backup. Backups will sync to your iCloud storage rather than local device storage.
- Google Drive – Link your Google account in WhatsApp to create Google Drive backups. You need to enable backups first.
These alternatives let you store backups in the cloud rather than your iPhone. Just note that you may need to purchase additional iCloud or Google Drive storage if needed.
Conclusion
Keeping your iPhone storage optimized is important for performance and making the most of your device capacity. Removing old and unneeded WhatsApp backups is one of the simplest ways to clear up space.
Now you know how to view backup sizes, delete local backups, disable auto backups, and manage WhatsApp media storage. With a few taps in the app settings, you can free up gigabytes of space!
Try following this guide to clean up your WhatsApp storage. Just be certain to preserve any chat history you may need before deleting backups.
Cleaning your WhatsApp storage is one part of optimizing your iPhone. Be sure to regularly review other apps, photos, videos and music to remove anything else you no longer need!
Here is a table summarizing the key steps covered in this article:
| Goal | Steps |
|---|---|
| View WhatsApp backup size |
|
| Delete all WhatsApp backups |
|
| Disable future backups |
|
| Manage media storage |
|