Is it safe to delete WhatsApp chats and media?
WhatsApp's chat history and the photos, videos, voice messages and documents from your chats on this Mac.
Review first
It's your own data, or hard to recreate. Decide item by item.
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What it is
WhatsApp for Mac keeps its message database and the media you send and receive in this shared folder. It grows with every photo, video and document in your chats, and busy group chats can add several gigabytes. WhatsApp manages the folder itself, so remove media from within WhatsApp rather than in Finder.
If it's removed
Media you delete is no longer available in that chat on this Mac. Removing the folder itself would remove your WhatsApp chat history from this Mac.
What to do instead
In WhatsApp, open a chat, click the chat's name, then click Media, Links, and Docs. Click Select, choose the items you no longer need, and choose Delete for me.
The free analyzer finds it and explains it, with these steps. The app doesn't remove it for you.
Sources
Last checked on 26 Sep 2026. Every entry is written and checked by hand; the app and the command-line tool use the same words.