The appearance of the WhatsApp error message with the title “Download failed” prevents viewing the audio and video files shared by another user, which gives rise to repeated complaints. A failed download, as its name indicates, can be caused by various circumstances related to the Internet connection, but also by insufficient storage space on the phone or a failure in the WhatsApp server.
Here are the best methods to solve this problem with your WhatsApp account. We recommend running them one by one until you find the solution.
Check your internet connection
Make sure you have your smartphone connected to the internet. Open an Internet page to check.
Update the WhatsApp application
Open the Google Play store or the App Store depending on whether your phone is Android or iPhone. Then, search for WhatsApp and click on the Update button (if it is available).
Clear the WhatsApp cache
On iPhone:
Go to Settings > General. Then, tap on iPhone Storage and select WhatsApp. Next, tap on Delete App. Then reinstall the app.
On Android:
Go to Settings > Applications and tap on WhatsApp. Select Storage and then tap Clear Cache.
Free up storage space on WhatsApp
On iPhone:
Open WhatsApp and go to Settings > Storage and data. Then tap on Manage Storage.
Access the sections Review and delete items and Forwarded Many Times, and delete the files that you consider unnecessary.
On Android:
Open WhatsApp and in the Chats tab, tap on More options. Then, tap on Settings. Then go to Storage and data > Manage storage.
Enter the sections Review and delete items and Forwarded many times, and delete the files that you consider unnecessary.
Check that the date and time of the phone are correctly configured
On iPhone
Go to Settings > General > Date & Time. Then turn on the switch for the Set automatically option.
On Android
Go to Settings > System. Then tap on Date & Time. Make sure the Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone boxes are checked.