How to clear WeChat data on iPhone?

WeChat is using too much disk storage on your iPhone? The WeChat app for iOS, version 8.0.42, is around 700MB. However the accumulated data can be much bigger than the app itself. You may find the total space WeChat consumes on your iPhone exceed several GBs. To find out the storage usage of WeChat app on iPhone, you can go to Settings >> General >> Usage, you will then open the Storage with a list of all installed iOS apps on iPhone. You can see the total storage space used by WeChat. To find out more details, tap on WeChat to open the WeChat Usage screen where you can find the app size and size of its documents & data.

Back up your data before deleting them

Before you proceed to clear the chats and data in WeChat, we highly recommend you to create a backup of the files and data you want to your iPhone, computer or a cloud storage.

Part 1. How do I clear WeChat data for more storage space on iPhone?

There are different ways you can free up space on iPhone by deleting some or all of the WeChat data. The quickest way to to delete WeChat app from iPhone and reinstall it again later, this however will not only remove the app but also all of its data from iPhone. If you want to keep the chats, messages, photos, videos or any other data sent or received through Wechat, do not delete the app. You can selectively delete any message, photos, videos, voice recordings, message threads in Wechat to reclaim more space on iPhone. This however is boring and time-consuming.

The proper and easy way to clear data storage of WeChat on iPhone, is to make use of its built-in Manage Storage feature. To manage storage of WeChat on iPhone, you can run WeChat, go to Me >> Settings >> General >> Storage.

Clear, manage WeChat storage on iPhone – WeChat, Weixin version 8.0.42

Method 1. Delete cache files in WeChat

Once you are there, you will find the Weixin Data (WeChat data), the phone storage occupied by WeChat. And you have the option to clear WeChat cache & storage. Tap on Clear Storage button to delete its cache files, the temporary data generated when using WeChat (Weixin), such as those data for Channels, Mini Programs, Moments, Floating Windows, and this won’t affect the normal use of WeChat. Tap on the Clear button at the bottom right corner again to confirm and remove all selected cache files from iPhone storage.

Method 2. Delete images, videos and files in chats

Also on the WeChat Storage screen, you will find the storage of WeChat chat history. Touch Manage button to open the Manage Chat History screen where you can see the chat list with detailed storage usage of each conversation. Here you can choose and remove images, videos, files, messages in WeChat chats.

wechat manage chat history - clear wechat chats and storage on iPhone
WeChat clear, manage chat history on iPhone – WeChat, Weixin version 8.0.42

If you want to know what kind of data will be deleted, touch the Info icon besides each chat. You will find they are mainly the photos, videos, sight videos, files shared in WeChat chats. These media files eat up your space very quickly. You can save your favorite photos and videos from WeChat to iPhone Camera Roll from here before deleting them. If like, you can also manually select multiple media items here and delete them at once so as to keep those photos or videos you like.

Select the chat and tap on Clear button at the lower right corner to clear data of the selected chat. A warning prompt pops up telling you that this will remove all images, videos and files in the selected chats and range. Press the Remove button twice to proceed and reclaim its space on iPhone.

Method 3. Remove text and voice messages in chats

We have deleted those photos, videos and files from selected conversations above. But the text messages and voice messages remain. Head to the Manage Chat History screen in WeChat, select the same chat or conversion, then choose Clear, this time, WeChat will tell you no images, videos and files can be removed in the selected range or chat since you have already deleted them, however the chat history remains in the selected chats or range, including the text messages, voice messages and stickers.

WeChat manage chat history on iPhone - delete text, voice messages
WeChat manage chat history on iPhone, delete text, voice messages – WeChat, Weixin version 8.0.42

Tap on the link at the bottom which is titled ‘Delete remaining chat history in the selected range‘, then confirm the operation by touching the Delete button twice. This will delete all your chat history, including those text and voice messages, from the selected chats or range in WeChat and those deleted data can’t be recovered.

Method 4. Clear all chats in WeChat

Except the above above methods to manage and clear WeChat storage, there is another option which can help us batch delete all chat history including messages, photos, videos, stickers and files in WeChat. When you have made the decision to delete all chats from WeChat, go to Me > Settings > General, then scroll down to the Chat History section, tap on Clear All Chats.

Clear all chats in WeChat on iPhone
Clear all chats in WeChat on iPhone – WeChat, Weixin version 8.0.42

You will see the warning prompt saying that chat history can’t be recovered once cleared. If you are sure you want to clear all your personal and group chat history, tap on the Clear All button to confirm. This will clear all message history from WeChat on iPhone. Deleted the data this way can help you quickly get rid of all chats and files sent or received in chats and you won’t lose any contacts or moments. The contacts & moments will still be intact.

Part 2. Prevent WeChat from saving Unnecessary files

In addition to freeing up phone storage space by cleaning up WeChat chats, there are some steps you can take to reduce or eliminate the generation of junk files at the source.

In WeChat on iPhone, go to Me > Settings > General > Chat > Photos, Videos, Files & Calls. Here you can disable the auto-download of photos, videos and files viewed on other devices to your iPhone, turn off the auto-save of the photos and videos captured in WeChat to your photo library or album.

disable auto-download, auto-save photos, videos, files in wechat on iPhone
disable auto-download, auto-save photos, videos, files in wechat on iPhone – WeChat, Weixin version 8.0.42

Now you know how to clean up WeChat chat records to free up storage space, also eliminate the generation of junk files from the source on iPhone. I hope these methods can help you clean up WeChat and free up storage space. If you find this article helpful, please don’t forget to save or share it.

12 thoughts on “How to clear WeChat data on iPhone?”

  1. Hi there,
    Please if anyone can explain how to delete a message or photo on Moments of Wechat?
    Thanks,
    William

  2. Hey guys please reply to this I have a problem. I have deleted everything and cached too. But it still has a lot of storage.

    1. make sure you have backed up all important WeChat messages and files from iphone to computer, you can then go to delete the WeChat app from iPhone, and re-install it from App Store.

    2. Hi saw your message today but I don’t have a computer, and I don’t want to uninstall and reinstall it back that often.Plus, I don’t have enough money to buy a computer and nobody will be willing to give one to me.

      1. How much space is being used by the weChat app and its data on your iPHone? you can find it out from iPhone Settings > General > Usage >WeChat. you should see the app version, app size and size for the documents & data saved in WeChat app from there.
        Also follow steps in above guide to navigate to View WeChat Storage > Chat List>, here you can find with detailed storage usage of each chat. you can choose to either delete the whole chat history of any selected conversation, or delete those heavy media files in a conversation.
        To select and delete media files in a WeChat conversation, switch to the Chats tab from the bottom, open the Chat you like to clear up its media files, if it is a group conversation, touch the group icon at the top right corner, scroll down the screen to find Chat Files, then select and delete unwanted photos, videos from there.

  3. Hello! Very good explanation but my wechat app closes before allowing me to delete. It’s too full and automatically closes…

    1. Do you have many photos, videos saved on the phone? if so, you can try to connect your iphone to computer, export some photos or videos from iphone to computer for backup, then go to delete them from iPhone camera roll, this can help you free up some storage space on iPhone quickly.
      After that you should be able to get into WeChat to clear up the chat history and files.

      1. while im using wechat on my iphone,suddenly its automatically save cod and deleting cache and i can’t use my wechat on my iphone,what can i do?

        1. so you can’t launch it on the phone any more? have you tried to delete wechat from iPhone and re-download it from App Store?

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