WhatsApp is taking up storage on my Mac
WhatsApp for Mac saves the photos, videos, voice messages and documents from your chats on the Mac. In busy groups that adds up to many gigabytes, and none of it shows as WhatsApp in your Applications folder.
The short answer: the media is in ~/Library/Group Containers/group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.shared/Message/Media. Reduce it inside WhatsApp, in Settings › Storage, not by deleting files in Finder: WhatsApp keeps its own record of every file, and chats would show broken media.
Where does WhatsApp store files on a Mac?
The current WhatsApp app keeps everything in its Group Container:
~/Library/Group Containers/group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.shared: your chats and their database.…/Message/Mediainside it: photos, videos, voice messages and documents, in a folder per chat, named with the chat's number or ID.
The older WhatsApp desktop app kept its data in ~/Library/Application Support/WhatsApp. If you still have that folder, its Cache, Code Cache and GPUCache folders are caches the app rebuilds.
How big is WhatsApp on my Mac?
du -sh ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.shared/Message/MediamacOS may ask whether Terminal can access data from other apps; allow it, or give Terminal Full Disk Access in System Settings › Privacy & Security. In System Settings › General › Storage, this space is counted in System Data, not under WhatsApp.
How do I reduce WhatsApp storage on a Mac?
- In WhatsApp, open Settings › Storage and choose Manage storage. It lists your chats by size and the largest files, so you can review and delete media.
- In WhatsApp's settings, turn off Media auto-download for videos and documents, so new media downloads only when you open it.
- In a group you don't need the media of, clear the chat.
Can I just delete the Media folder?
Better not. WhatsApp still lists those files in its database, so the chats show missing photos and videos. Removing them inside WhatsApp keeps the two in step.