WhatsApp is so important to many users that, as soon as it starts to slow down or show signs of blocking, panic immediately starts to understand what's wrong and why our messages are being invited or received so slowly. We don't have to worry! Like any phone app, WhatApp can also suffer from small slowdowns or blockages, just know what to do in the case so as to intervene quickly and restore the operation of the app in a few seconds.
In this guide we will show you what to do if we find ourselves with slow WhatsApp on the phone, so as to return it to work in any case (even if it is blocked or has not received any messages for a few minutes).
The steps described in the guide can be applied both to the version of WhatsApp for Android and to the version for iPhone.
READ ALSO: What to do if Whatsapp does not work, does not send or receive and does not connect
WhatsApp becomes slow
By following all the steps recommended in the following chapters, we will solve over 90% of the slowness or blockage problems that we may encounter when we use WhatsApp on our smartphone.Check the network connection
Probably the problem is not even with the WhatsApp app itself, but with the Internet connection of our phone, which may be too slow to allow the exchange of messages. To find out we start the browser on our device and connect to the Fast.com site, so as to launch a fast speed test. If we get a speed lower than 2 Mega, WhatsApp (but also the other apps on the phone) will be strongly slowed down in the management of messages and in sending / receiving multimedia content (photos, videos, GIFs etc.).
If the Wi-Fi is too slow, we try to turn off this connection and use only the data connection, especially if we have LTE coverage . Conversely, if it is the data connection to go too slow (maybe because we are in an area with poor coverage or with 2G / 3G signal), we are looking for a fast Wi-Fi network nearby, perhaps using the App to find free Wifi and free wireless networks on the map .
We want to use an app to perform the network speed test "> App to do speedtest from smartphone.
Check for updates
The problem of slowing down WhatsApp is not always the fault of the network to which we are connected: just skipping one or two updates of the app to run into slowdowns, especially if we receive new content not managed by the old versions of the messaging app.To quickly remedy, therefore, we update the app, opening the Google Play Store (on Android) or the App Store (on iPhone) and looking for the WhatsApp app, so as to immediately view the presence of any updates.
In the presentation screen of the app, just press Update to update WhatsApp. On Android we can update the app manually, by loading the WhatsApp APK and installing it on the phone, as seen in our guide Download APK of Android apps and receive updates without Google Play .
Close and reopen the app
If none of the previous methods worked, we can also simply try closing and reopening the app, so as to restart the process and solve some temporary cache problems. To close the app on Android, simply press and hold the Home button or swipe from the bottom to the center of the screen (holding it down for 2 seconds), so you can view all the open apps and close the WhatsApp app (with a swipe to the right or to the left).If we have an iPhone, all we have to do is press twice on the Home button or swipe from the bottom to the center of the screen (holding at the last for 2 seconds), then swipe up from the WhatsApp app.
Once the app is closed, simply reopen it by pressing the WhatsApp icon on the homescreen, in the Android drawer or inside the iPhone folder where we placed it.
Clear the app cache
For the biggest problems of WhatsApp we will have to proceed with the clearing of the app cache, so as to remove the data that slows it down.On Android let's go to the Settings -> Applications path, press on the WhatsApp app then use the Clear cache button or the Empty cache item .
On the iPhone, we can't just clear an app cache, we can only uninstall the whole app. Still on the subject of cache and recovery of the space occupied by WhatsApp, we can also read our guide on how to free up space in Whatsapp and clean archive use .
Uninstall the app and reinstall it
As a last resort, we can try to remove the app from the phone and reinstall it, so as to solve any latent problems that cannot be resolved with the methods seen so far. Before uninstalling the app we make a backup of our WhatsApp chats, then we proceed to remove the app based on the system in use. On Android we open the Play Store, search for " WhatsApp " in the search bar then press the Uninstall button.On the iPhone, on the other hand, we will have to hold down the app icon, select Change the Home screen then press the X- shaped icon next to the WhatsApp app; alternatively we can open the Settings app, go to the General menu, open the iPhone Space menu, press on the WhatsApp item and finally press on the Delete app item.
After deleting the app, we can reinstall it by opening the respective Stores and looking for WhatsApp again, so as to proceed with its installation and restore the previously performed backup.
Conclusions
If WhatsApp is slow, hangs or does not send messages correctly, just keep in mind the procedures described in the chapters above to quickly restore the functionality of the most famous messaging app in the world, so you can immediately chat with our friends or relatives.We remind you that the slowdowns may also be due to the device running out of space, especially if we share many photos and videos; in this case we advise you to read our guides on how to free up Android space on internal memory and SD card and how to free up space on iPhone if insufficient .
READ ALSO: Improve Whatsapp with apps that add features to the chat
