Managing Large Attachments in Business Messengers: How to Keep Your iPhone Storage Under Control

Today, most business communication happens through messaging apps. Scheduling meetings, approving edits, and sharing project files - all of this is handled in a single messenger rather than across multiple apps or in-person meetings. But over time, messages and attachments pile up, taking up storage and potentially slowing down your iPhone. To prevent this or fix it if it’s already an issue, you should at least delete attachments you no longer need. To help you manage this, we’ve put together a guide on how to handle large attachments in various business messaging apps and keep your iPhone storage in check.

What are Large Attachments in Messengers?

In digital communication, a file joined to a text message is called an attachment. The evolution of attachments in messaging traces back to 2001 with Sha-Mail, an innovative service where adding a photo to a message through a mobile phone became possible. This feature marked a significant advancement in how we communicate using different messengers.

Attachments can vary widely and include several types of files:

• Photos
• Videos
• Documents (PDFs, Word files, etc.)
• Audio files
• Spreadsheets

Regarding large attachments, the definition can depend on the context.In email and messaging platforms, anything over 25 MB is generally considered to be in the “large” category. However, cloud storage and specialty platforms can manage even gigabyte-sized files with ease.

High-definition images or lengthy video clips are the usual culprits when it comes to large attachments in messengers. Since videos take up more space, this article will concentrate on managing them. However, the methods outlined can also be applied to other file types.

How to Manage Large Attachments in Different Business Messengers

According to 2024 research, the most popular messengers in the United States include Google Messages, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Discord, and Telegram. However, not all of these platforms serve the needs of business communication. That’s why we’ve narrowed our attention to a few key platforms where managing large attachments is most relevant.

We also recognize that the default Messages app on the iPhone is often used for work correspondence, so it’s part of our guide as well. We will begin our discussion with the Messages app, detailing strategies to manage large attachments.

1. Delete Large Attachments in the Messages App

Despite the emergence of numerous messaging platforms, the standard Messages app on the iPhone remains a staple for quick communications, especially in situations where internet access is unavailable, which third-party messengers typically require. Given its default status on iPhones, we begin our guide with the Messages app.

There are three ways to delete large attachments in the Messages app: you can delete the entire conversation, remove attachments within a conversation, or clear them through your iPhone’s storage settings. Since the first two methods are pretty simple and you know exactly how to do it, we’ll focus on deleting attachments through storage settings, which is the most convenient option.

• Start by opening the Settings app on the iPhone.
• Move downward and select "General" to access the menu.
• Locate and choose "iPhone Storage." The system will take a moment to analyze and show the storage details.
• Scroll until you find "Messages" on the list. Select it to view more information.

• Various categories such as photos, videos, GIFs and stickers will appear. Pick a category to manage.
• Examine the attachments within. Press "Edit" in the top right corner to enable selection.
• Mark the attachments intended for removal and press the trash bin icon to delete them permanently.

2. Clear Large Attachments in Google Chat

Google Chat is a widely favored messenger, appreciated for its seamless connection to Google accounts. Unlike traditional messengers tied to phone numbers, it eliminates that need entirely. Inside its chat platform, it provides handy tools like video calls that launch instantly, and event planning happens right within the conversation.

For attachments that take up too much space, there are two clear paths. The chat can be fully removed or the attachment alone can be taken out. For practicality and to avoid losing all conversation history, we will focus on how to delete only the attachment.

• Open the Google Chat app on your device or access it through a web browser.
• Find the chat where the specific attachment is located.
• Go through the conversation and spot the attachment you need to remove.
• Select or hover over the attachment to see available choices.
• Pick the option to remove the attachment. This will ensure only the selected attachment is removed, leaving the chat untouched.
• If a confirmation appears, agree to proceed with the removal.

3. Remove Large Attachments in WhatsApp

WhatsApp comes with its own way of handling attachments. While it may resemble Google Chat in some aspects it stands apart in how it organizes them. Attachments are displayed in one place, sorted into clear categories. This thoughtful arrangement simplifies the task of finding and removing specific files with ease.

• Open the WhatsApp application on your iPhone.
• Locate the chat that holds the attachments needing removal.
• Tap the contact name or profile image at the top of the chat screen. This will bring up detailed information about the conversation.
• Look for the ‘Media, Links and Docs' section within this menu and select it.
• Switch to the ‘Media' tab at the top, displaying all the shared files in that chat.
• Use the ‘Select' option to pick specific videos or large files for deletion.
• Once selected, find the trash can icon at the bottom right and tap it to remove the chosen items.

4. Delete Large Attachments in Telegram

And the last messenger for which we will demonstrate how to delete large attachments is Telegram. In this case, the steps are very similar to the previous method, but we’ve included them to make the article as complete as possible.

• Open the Telegram app on an iPhone and find the chat in need of cleaning.
• At the top of the screen, tap the name of the person or group to reveal extra details about the conversation.
• Look for the section labeled ‘Media' within this detailed view. Enter into it.
• Browse through and note all items displayed. Tap and hold on any file to start selecting, then proceed to choose others as needed.
• Once selection is complete, locate the trash icon near the lower left corner. Tap it, then confirm to remove the chosen files permanently.
• Be sure to check under the ‘Files' tab as well. Sometimes larger content is stored here based on how it was sent.

How to Manage Large Attachments Saved Locally

Large attachments not only accumulate in messenger apps but can also take up space on your iPhone if you save them manually or they’re automatically saved in the Photos app (and many messengers let you configure this). It might seem simple, just go into your photo gallery and delete the videos, right? However, the Photos app lacks an option to organize videos by size. This means manually scrolling through the whole video list becomes necessary to locate and delete specific ones. This process isn’t ideal if you have hundreds of videos and tight work deadlines. To save time, you’ll need an iPhone cleaner app that supports videos (just make sure it does, as some only work with photos).

If you don’t have time to pick the perfect app, trust us and use Clever Cleaner: Free AI CleanUp App. It quickly finds and deletes all the large video attachments on your iPhone. Best of all, it’s completely free, with no hidden subscriptions or paywalls (we looked, and there aren’t any), and it doesn’t include third-party ads.

• Download Clever Cleaner from the App Store or the official site.
• Open it on your iPhone and allow it to access the photo library.
• Find the ‘Heavies' section at the bottom right.
• Tap ‘Sort By' on the top right. This will arrange videos by size, starting with the largest ones.

• Choose a video by tapping it. For multiple videos, select them one by one or tap "Select all" at the top.
• Hit the red ‘Move to Trash' button. This puts the chosen videos in the app trash section for a final review.
• Tap ‘Empty Trash', then slide the ‘Slide to Delete' bar.

• The videos will now move to the recently deleted folder in the Photos app. To erase them completely, empty this folder manually. If untouched, the folder will clear itself after 30 days.

Besides helping you delete large video attachments, Clever Cleaner offers several other handy features to thoroughly clean up your storage. For example:

• It can detect exact duplicates and similar images throughout your photo gallery, group them together, and automatically select the best shot in each set—then you decide which ones to remove.
• App also lets you clear out all unnecessary screenshots in one go.
• Plus, if you want to save space on Live Photos, the app can compress them into still images by removing motion effects and sound, while deleting the original.

If this brief description of the functions does not suffice, you can watch this video that explains them in more detail and demonstrates their effects.

Keep in mind that some downloaded attachments might be saved in Files app instead of the Photos app, depending on your settings. If that’s the case, open the Files app and remove any unnecessary attachments directly from there.

Conclusion

Now you understand how to delete all unnecessary large attachments, whether they reside within messengers or if you have stored them locally on your iPhone. If the list of messengers we discussed does not include the one you typically use for work, do not worry. The steps we described likely apply to your messenger as well, since the processes for managing attachments are quite similar across different platforms.

If you have time, consider doing a full cleanup of your iPhone beyond just deleting attachments. Remove unnecessary items that no longer serve a purpose, such as outdated contact details from past collaborations, finished conversations, completed tasks, old files like reports or slideshows, and apps that remain untouched. Clearing space allows the iPhone to operate with better speed and efficiency.