WhatsApp offers a good number of options, many of which are privacy options that determine who can see what in your account. However, there is one setting that can do two things: save space on your phone and protect your security. Two for one.
This is the option of automatic downloadwhich, although it can save us a few extra clicks, turns our WhatsApp into a bottomless pit for everything they send you in private chats and, even worse, in groups. This bottomless pit, in addition to taking up space, can pose security problems.
This WhatsApp setting interests you
No matter how much storage space your phone has, sooner or later it will fill up. If you actively use WhatsApp and are part of multiple groups, WhatsApp could end up occupying gigabytes. In fact, by default, the application automatically downloads everything it sends you, if you are connected to WiFi.
The problem is that many of these files, photos and videos may not be of interest to you, especially if you are part of a lot of groups that you rarely check and in which many photos or videos are usually sent. The easiest way to limit this is to make adjustments. Automatic downloadin WhatsApp settings.
This setting is found in the Storage and data section and allows you to choose what will be automatically downloaded (photos, videos, audio and documents) in three cases: with mobile data, with WiFi and data roaming. The normal thing is to keep the automatic download with WiFi and not in the other two cases, even if it is not a good idea for two reasons.
On the one hand, you save space
The most important reason is that WhatsApp will download everything you send to the chats and groups you belong to, which It builds up and doesn’t go away on its own.. While WhatsApp offers you some tools to free up space, the process is quite manual and deleting everything that was downloaded extra can be time-consuming.
Instead, it is better to prevent and disable automatic downloading, manually touch each photo or video that appears in a chat, when you want to see it. If they don’t send you many photos or videos that interest you, it can be a lesser evil since in return there will be tons of other sendings that will not end up lost in your mobile storage.
On the other hand, you save yourself problems.
We can’t ignore another benefit of disabling automatic file downloads: security. The fact that WhatsApp automatically disables everything it sends you is an open door to malware. If it’s downloaded automatically, you’re more likely to open and install the malicious app than if it isn’t.
Even if you don’t open the malicious file at that moment, if someone sends you a malicious APK on WhatsApp, it will be downloaded and saved on your mobile storage until the end of time (or until you delete it), which means that in the future, you forget what it is and end up installing it. It’s better to be selective, especially with automatic downloading of documentsThis is where all the files arrive.
Cover Image | Generated with AI by Eduardo Marín
In Xataka Android | Have they entered my WhatsApp? Five signs that your account has been hacked
