WhatsApp Adds Per-Chat Storage Management in Beta

WhatsApp is testing a convenience-focused tweak to its storage tools: a per-chat Manage Storage entry on the contact or group info screen that shows all media shared in that conversation, displayed in a grid and sortable by options such as Newest, Oldest, and Largest. The interface supports multi-select bulk deletion and the ability to star media, so important items aren’t removed accidentally. The capability is available to a limited set of beta testers on both Android and iOS while WhatsApp evaluates performance and user feedback before a wider rollout. 

The change makes it faster to find and delete large photos, videos, and documents shared in a given conversation without leaving the thread; the company is expanding access gradually while it monitors stability and feedback.

For many users, storage headaches are tied to a handful of chats: a family group that swaps videos, a friend who forwards high-resolution images, or a work group that shares large PDFs. Moving storage controls into each chat reduces the friction of locating the offending files: instead of opening global settings, scrolling through general lists, and guessing which chat contains the heavy files, users can go straight to the conversation in question and clean up there. That lowers the risk of deleting items you still need and speeds up reclaiming space on devices that have limited local storage. 

What the feature does 

• Adds a Manage Storage entry inside a chat’s info page. 
• Displays shared photos, videos, and documents in a grid ordered by size. 
• Let users sort by newest, oldest, or largest and select multiple items for deletion. 
• Allows marking media as starred, so it’s easy to keep important files.
• Currently rolling out to limited beta testers on Android and iOS. 

This is a small but practical UX improvement — the kind of quality-of-life change that reduces micro-friction for everyday users. For enterprise and B2B audiences (where teams routinely exchange large attachments), the per-chat view can make storage audits and housekeeping more precise and less risky. From an editorial perspective, the feature signals WhatsApp’s continued focus on making existing controls more discoverable rather than adding entirely new storage paradigms. 

WhatsApp’s public release timeline is not yet confirmed. The company typically uses staged beta rollouts to monitor for crashes, edge cases (e.g., very large group threads), and platform differences between Android and iOS before enabling features for all users. Expect the feature to expand to more testers first, with a general availability announcement only after WhatsApp is satisfied with stability and feedback.