How to clear WhatsApp cache on iPhone and Android

All mobile and desktop apps collect cache in the background to improve load times and overall performance. WhatsApp is no exception as it collects cache files on Android and iPhone to quickly open your popular chats. But when the cache gets corrupted, you face problems in sending messages, media and other normal functions in the app. You need to clear WhatsApp cache on your phone.

Aside from fixing WhatsApp errors on iPhone and Android, clearing cache will also free up internal storage on your phone. This is one of the most effective ways to free up space on your iPhone and Android phones without deleting apps. Before we show you how to clear WhatsApp cache on iPhone and Android, let’s talk about it for a moment.

WhatsApp cache explained

The cache is a collection of small files that WhatsApp stores on your phone to improve app performance. Because of the cache, WhatsApp doesn’t have to load everything onto your phone from scratch. It can use offline cache files to load the messages quickly, view images and display thumbnails to save time and internet data.

Over time, WhatsApp accumulates a huge amount of cache on your phone. It can take up a lot of storage space on your phones and it can become slow or crash frequently if the cache data is corrupted. It is always advisable to check and clear the cache of your frequently used apps.

Clear WhatsApp cache on Android

Android OS (operating system) shows cached data from WhatsApp’s app info menu. While you can always browse the Settings app, the App Info menu is the quickest and most time-saving way to clear a specific app’s cache. Follow the steps below to check and clear WhatsApp cache on your Android phone.

Step 1: Find the WhatsApp app icon on your Android and long press on it.

Step 2: Tap the “i” button to open the app info menu.

Step 3: Select “Storage and Data”.

Step 4: Check the amount of cache collected by WhatsApp and clear it.

WhatsApp power users can easily free up hundreds of MB of storage space by clearing the cache.

You can also access the same WhatsApp info menu from Android settings. You can use the following trick to check all installed app data from a single menu.

Step 1: Swipe up from the home screen of your Android phone.

Step 2: Find the Settings app with a familiar gear icon.

Step 3: Select Apps and tap on “All Apps” in the following menu.

Step 4: Find a list of installed apps. Scroll to WhatsApp.

Step 5: A familiar app info menu will open. Clear the cache from the Storage and Data menu.

If the device is running low on storage space, do the same for your most used apps on Android.

Clear WhatsApp cache on iPhone

iOS doesn’t allow you to clear the cache of individual apps. Because of this, you need to delete WhatsApp documents and data from the settings menu. You can check the total WhatsApp data storage on your phone from the iPhone storage menu in Settings. Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1: Open Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2: Scroll to General.

Step 3: Open “iPhone Storage”.

Step 4: You can view a detailed storage breakdown on your iPhone. Find WhatsApp in the list. You can check if WhatsApp consumes about 10 GB of data on our iPhone. Tap on it.

Step 5: iOS offers two ways to deal with the cache.

Outsource apps: The option frees up storage space used by WhatsApp. However, documents and data are retained. Reinstalling WhatsApp from the App Store will restore your data.

Delete app: It will erase WhatsApp and all related data from your iPhone.

Before using the Delete App option, make sure to back up your WhatsApp data to iCloud or your desktop (via iTunes). If you have trouble restoring WhatsApp backup to your iPhone, read our dedicated post to fix the problem.

Step 6: Select Delete app and confirm your decision.

Step 7: Reinstall WhatsApp from App Store and restore WhatsApp backup to your iPhone.

Check out our troubleshooting guide to fix WhatsApp backup restore issues and glitches.

What happens when you clear WhatsApp cache

If you clear your WhatsApp cache, the system will not delete your personal chat data. It only removes temporary files stored in your phone’s RAM and storage. Your existing data like messages, photos, videos, group chats, call logs and voice clips will remain on Android. After clearing the WhatsApp cache, you will notice a longer startup time as the app is reloading everything from scratch.

Deal with WhatsApp cache on phone

Clearing WhatsApp cache has two advantages. They free up ample internal storage space on your phone and also deal with WhatsApp misconduct on your phone. iPhone users need to create a WhatsApp backup before removing app data. Do not proceed without first making a backup.