How to Extend File Size Limit in WhatsApp for Android

by Alexandra Hirceaga · Published January 14, 2015 · Updated January 14, 2015

You record videos or take pictures and you want to share them with your friends from your Android smartphone or tablet. But wait! You actually discover you can’t send files larger than 16 MB, as WhatsApp is one of those IM apps that has a size limit for shared files. So what else can you do, besides converting your files, trim them or share them through a cloud service? Well, this question has a simple answer and we are showing you how to extend file size limit in WhatsApp right from your Android device.

Thus, we all know about WhatsApp for Android. It’s one of the most used IM apps, with 700 million monthly active users, as announced at the beginning of this year. Users who send 30 billion messages per day, for free! Sure, this is what makes WhatsApp a huge success, apart from its great features like profile photo, chat history backup, music exchange, email conversation, broadcast message and voice messages. And it’s even rumored WhatsApp might add Skype-like services.

But even so, we still have to face that one problem sometimes becomes displeasing after we worked so hard recording a video or editing a cool photo on out Android smartphone. Or maybe we just want to share files, but whether it’s a photo or a video, the file size limit it’s 16 MB. And this is where we step in and extend the 16 MB limit to up to 2 GB (2048 MB), on Android devices. This will not only let you send pictures, larger videos, but also you’ll be able to share movies.

What will you need, is to edit the specific .xml file on a rooted Android smartphone. The process is approved by Android users, although the application resets to the standard 16 MB when WhatsApp is updates or if your smartphone is rebooted more than one time. But once knowing the process, you can always extend it back to your desired size.

Before making any changes to WhatsApp files, please note this may cause malfunction and errors might appear if not done correctly. So make sure you do this procedure the right way.

Fisrt, your smartphone needs to be rooted, so you can open and edit the xml file. Rooting your smartphone will let you use a root explorer to open and edit the required file.
As a root explorer with text editor, we recommend Root Browser by JRummy App Inc.
WhatsApp should be installed. Make sure you are logged in and that the application is working.
Open the Root Browser app.
Root Browser will prompt for permission, so press Grant.
Open data and press data
Now, browse for com.whatsapp folder and open it, then open the shared_prefs folder, in which you’ll find the whatsapp_preferences.xml file. Long press on it. Afterwards press Open with.
A list will appear of given programs. Select RB Text Editor from the list.
The file will be opened with the text editor.
Now, after you opened the file, search for this line: <int name=“media_limit_mb” value=”16” />
By using the text editor, change the value of 16 to your desired value. Take note that the value must be replaced in MBs and it should be of maximum of 2048 MB.
Save and exit the file.
Afterwards, reboot your smarthphone once and enjoy sharing files.