However, it's not perfect, especially when sharing photos. There are a few workarounds you can try to send full resolution photos , but that involves extra steps. WhatsApp provides an option to change the upload quality of photos within the app. Here is how you can change the setting on your phone.

What is WhatsApp Photo Download Quality

Every time you send someone a photo on WhatsApp, some compression takes place. You can estimate the compression level by choosing the desired photo download quality.

If you have a good internet connection, you can choose to send high quality images all the time. However, if you are using mobile data, you may want to tone down the photo quality to save bandwidth and send images faster.

This option to set the default photo quality on WhatsApp is present on both Android and iOS versions of the app.

How to Change WhatsApp Photo Download Quality on Android

If you have an Android smartphone, here's how you can change the upload quality of your photos on WhatsApp.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your Android smartphone. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the app.

Step 2: Select Settings.

Step 3: Now tap on Storage & Data.

Step 4: The last section of the screen is “Media Download Quality”. Photo download quality is set to Auto (recommended) by default.

Step 5: Tap Photo Download Quality and choose the option that suits you. if you always want to send high quality photos, select Best Quality. If you have limited connectivity or a limited connection, select Data saver.

Step 6: Press OK.

If you want your phone to automatically decide the quality of photos to send based on your internet connection, you can leave the setting on Auto. Note that this still does not guarantee that WhatsApp will share your without quality loss. To send a full-resolution image, you can attach it as a document on Android.

How to Change WhatsApp Photo Download Quality on iPhone

If you're using WhatsApp on an iPhone, here's how to change the photo upload quality setting.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp on your iPhone. Go to the Settings tab at the bottom right of the screen.

Step 2: Tap on Storage & Data.

Step 3: Select the Media Download Quality option at the bottom of the page.

Step 4: Auto (recommended) is the default selection. Change the option according to your preferences. The best quality has the least compression, but requires more bandwidth. Data saver is great when you're low on data or in an area with poor connectivity.

Now that you have changed the image upload quality on WhatsApp, your photos will be sent with minimal compression. However, if you still want to send photos without losing quality, you can send them as files. Here's how you can do it.

How to Send Photos as Files on iPhone

Saving a photo in the Files app and then sending it via WhatsApp results in much better quality images.

Step 1: Open the image you want to send in the Photos app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Tap the Share icon on the bottom left corner of the screen.

Step 3: Select Save to Files option.

Step 4: Choose the folder where you want to save the image.

Step 5: Tap the Save button on the top right corner.

Step 6: Open WhatsApp on your iPhone and go to the chat where you want to send the image.

Step 7: Tap the “+” button next to the chat box.

Step 8: Select Document.

Step 9: You will be redirected to the Files app. Navigate to the folder where you saved the photo in the previous steps.

Step 10: Select the photo you want to send. Tap Send in the top right corner.

Your photo will then be sent in the best possible resolution. This is useful if you want to send high resolution images like wallpapers or images containing small text like scanned documents.

Send high quality photos on WhatsApp

Now you can send photos with less compression on WhatsApp all the time. Of course, the photos will still not be of the original quality. You can send full-resolution photos without any compression if you wish to send them as documents .