How to Download WhatsApp Status Videos?

WhatsApp Status is one of the most popular ways of sharing the content with others nowadays. One of the main reasons why it got popular is that the Status Messages are auto-deleted within 24 hours and they are not visible in others' Photos or Gallery App. So people think that it is more safe to share the content through WhatsApp Status, privacy wise. Same is the case with Instagram Stories, Instagram Posts, Reels, facebook videos etc. People think that privacy settings would prevent others from downloading the content. This is not the case in any form of digital media. If one is able to see it, then definitely one is able to save it. It's as simple as that. While I would be sharing the ways and means to save the content from other apps like Instagram and facebook later, the purpose of this post is to pass on the knowledge on how to save/download the WhatsApp Status messages and videos from others. And this workaround is only for Android, not for iOS. 

While I very rarely set the videos clips as my WhatsApp Status, whenever I do, I invariably get a few messages from my friends to share the videos with them separately. I am sure all of us would be getting such requests. Whenever I get such requests, at times, I do honour the requests manually. At times, I tell them that they can save on their own. But rather than doing this frequently, I thought I should write an article on this topic so that this would act as a reference for others. 

While this workaround works for Photos as well as Videos, most of the queries I get are for sending the videos only, since photos can be saved by taking the screenshot. But once you know this workaround, taking the screenshots and cropping those won't be necessary. 

So let's start on what the workaround is.  In fact instead of one, I would be sharing two workarounds. First one is a bit difficult to use, but more reliable and doesn't need any 3rd party app. Second one is very easy, but needs a 3rd party app (which anyway, most of us already use) and may not work after version upgrades. 

1st workaround (without 3rd party app) 

Sharing the step by step process as under:

• All the smartphones already have one "File Manager" type of App. If not, then you may download "Files by Google" from here. Steps that follow and the screenshots are from this "Files by Google" app only.
• Click on the three lines ☰ at the left hand top.
• Click on Settings.
• Enable "Show Hidden Files" as shown in this image. This is just a one time activity. 

        

• Go back to the Homepage of Files App
• Click on "Browse" button at the bottom centre of your screen. 
• Scroll down to the bottom and click on "Internal Storage"
• Depending on your WhatsApp version, lookout for one of the two paths below:
• WhatsApp >> Media >> .Statuses
• Android >> Media >> com.whatsapp >> WhatsApp >> Media >> .Statuses 
• In both these options, last folder is ".Statuses". This dot at the start of folder name hides this folder from your File Manager App in case "Show Hidden Files" option is not enabled, as mentioned above. 
• In case you are finding it difficult to locate this path after clicking on browse button as mentioned a few steps above, then you may click on three dots at the top right and use sort option to sort on folder name.
• You may open and share the content from this folder, as you want. But WhatsApp auto deletes everything in this ".Statuses" folder after 24 hours. So in case you need to save something, you need to cut any photo or video from this folder and paste the same in a different folder. And you are done. 👍

Path mentioned above may change a little depending on WhatsApp's version upgrades, but logic would by and large remain the same. The 1st path mentioned above is working for the currently updated WhatsApp's stable version 2.21.6.17. But I am a Beta tester for WhatsApp, and my WhatsApp version as on today is 2.21.7.12 and I am required to use the second path mentioned above. In my opinion, once Beta version gets graduated to a stable version, 2nd path would only be relevant for all the users. 

2nd workaround (using 3rd party app)

There are a lot of 3rd part apps, but I would recommend using MX Player. This app a lot of us already use for watching videos and streaming some MX Player OTT content like Marathi webseries "Samantar" and "Aani Kaay Hava" etc.

• Open MX Player
• Click on three lines ☰ at the left hand top to open it's menu
• There you would see the option "WhatsApp Status Saver"

        

• In this folder, you would see Recent and Saved tabs at the top. In the "Recent" tab, WhatsApp status which are still within 24 hours window would be visible. You may open and use the share option to share the same further on any app like WhatsApp, facebook, twitter etc. But even after you share, this would vanish from this folder after 24 hours. In case you need this saved even after 24 hours, there is an option to Save those. Whatever you have saved would be visible in "Saved" tab at the top and the content in this tab would be there even after 24 hours.
•  And you are done. 👍

This workaround depends on the path that WhatsApp uses. As I have said before, the beta version of WhatsApp has changed the path to store status messages. So my MX player is not showing any Status Messages. I have already raised a ticket with MX Support Team. They would be fixing this in the next release of MX Player. 

To conclude, we think that Photos, Videos, Status Messages etc from WhatsApp, which are not visible in our phone's gallery, aren't occupying any space in our mobile. But that's not the case. WhatsApp doesn't work on cloud, and WhatsApp media occupies a huge space in our mobile, causing our mobiles to work slow over the time. So it's better to clear this downloaded content periodically. Else, Telegram is a much better app which works on cloud. So even if you clear all the media from Telegram app, it stays securely in their cloud storage and you may download any photo or video again if you want.