WhatsApp status saves automatically in your phone’s internal storage. By accessing the WhatsApp folder in your phone’s file manager, you can view, download and save photos and videos posted as status updates. The steps may vary based on your Android version and file manager app.
Locate WhatsApp folder
First, you need to locate the WhatsApp folder in your phone’s internal storage. Here are the general locations to find it:
- Android 10 and above – Internal Storage > Android > media > com.whatsapp
- Android 9 and below – Internal Storage > WhatsApp
If you are using a file manager app like Files by Google, ES File Explorer, Astro File Manager etc., open the app and navigate to the folders mentioned above. You will find the WhatsApp folder there.
Open WhatsApp Status folder
Once inside the WhatsApp folder, look for a folder named ‘Status’ or ‘Statuses’. Open it. Here you will find subfolders with long alphanumeric names.
These folders contain the status photos, videos and GIFs downloaded from your WhatsApp contacts’ status updates. Each subfolder represents a specific contact.
Identify folder of a contact
To view the status of a specific contact, you need to identify their folder. The name of the subfolder is not the contact’s name or number. Instead, it is randomly generated.
To identify a contact’s folder –
- Open the Status folder in file manager.
- Open the first few subfolders one by one while checking the photos or videos inside.
- When you find media from the contact whose status you want to view, note the folder name.
This is the folder where this contact’s current and previous status updates are stored.
View and save status
Once you’ve located the specific contact’s status folder, open it and browse all the photos, videos and GIFs saved.
To view a status –
- Tap on any photo or video to open it.
- Swipe left/right to view other status files of that contact just like you view WhatsApp status.
To save a status –
- Long press on the status media you want to save.
- Select the ‘Save’ option in the menu.
- The file will be saved to your phone’s Gallery.
Save contact’s statuses
If you want to save all statuses of a contact instead of individual files, you can copy the contact’s entire status folder –
- Long press the subfolder with the contact’s name.
- Select ‘Copy’ option.
- Navigate to destination folder, for example Gallery.
- Paste the copied folder here.
This will copy all the status media from that WhatsApp contact to the destination folder.
View old statuses
WhatsApp retains the last 24 hours of status updates. But in file manager, you can dig up and view much older statuses of your contacts.
Each status media is saved in the contact’s folder with a file name containing a timestamp. For example –
- IMG-20220101-WA0000.jpg
- VID-20221224-WA0001.mp4
The timestamp represents the date and time the status was posted on WhatsApp. Photos are prefixed with ‘IMG’ and Videos with ‘VID’.
To view old statuses of a contact –
- Open the contact’s status folder in file manager.
- Sort files by name (toggle ‘sort’ option).
- Open files sequentially to view statuses from oldest to newest.
This lets you dig up and view statuses from way back when required.
Delete old statuses
If you wish to delete old statuses –
- Long press on status files to select them.
- Tap delete icon to remove selected files.
You can also sort files by date modified to easily find and delete older statuses.
View deleted contact’s status
Even if you delete a contact from WhatsApp, their status folder still remains saved in your phone’s storage.
So you can view status updates of deleted contacts using file manager –
- Locate the folder with alphanumeric name for the deleted contact.
- Open the folder and view status photos and videos.
This lets you retrieve statuses of deleted contacts as well if needed.
Troubleshooting tips
Here are some troubleshooting tips if you are unable to find statuses in file manager:
- Update WhatsApp to latest version.
- Check for WhatsApp folder in both internal and external storage.
- Reboot your phone and try again.
- Manually search for ‘WhatsApp’ and ‘Status’ folders.
- Check app permission for storage access.
- Free up space if phone storage is full.
Advantages of using file manager
Here are some benefits of using your phone’s file manager to access WhatsApp statuses instead of WhatsApp directly:
- View older statuses – File manager gives access to status updates even older than 24 hours.
- View deleted contact’s status – File manager still retains status folder even if contact is deleted from WhatsApp.
- Save statuses – Easily save any status photo, video or GIF using file manager.
- Hide viewed status – File manager allows discreet viewing as it does not mark statuses as ‘viewed’.
- No data usage – Accessing statuses via file manager does not use mobile data.
- No time limit – Statuses can be viewed for as long as you want without 24-hour limit.
So if you need more access and control over WhatsApp statuses beyond what regular WhatsApp allows, using your phone’s file manager is the easiest workaround.