Having issues uploading or sharing your WhatsApp status? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many WhatsApp users face problems with their status from time to time.
It can be frustrating when you want to post an update but WhatsApp gives you an error or your status gets stuck while uploading.
In this detailed guide, we will walk you through the top reasons why your WhatsApp status may not be working and show you step-by-step instructions to troubleshoot and fix the problem on both Android and iPhone devices.
Why Your WhatsApp Status May Not Be Uploading or Working
Before we jump into the troubleshooting, it helps to understand why WhatsApp status uploading problems happen in the first place. Here are some of the most common reasons:
Unstable Internet Connection
One of the main reasons your status update might fail is an unstable internet connection. Uploading statuses requires a consistent Wi-Fi or mobile data connection.
Interruptions, lag, disconnections or network congestion could all prevent your status from going through or cause it to get stuck mid-upload.
WhatsApp Server Issues
Problems on WhatsApp’s servers themselves can also cause status uploading problems. Though rare, WhatsApp does experience occasional server outages that affect functionality. When servers are down or overloaded, all kinds of activities on WhatsApp may fail or freeze up.
Insufficient Phone Storage
Your phone needing storage space has become an all too common issue in today’s memory-hungry digital world. Uploading statuses to WhatsApp requires available storage capacity on your phone.
App Glitches
Like any app, WhatsApp can suffer the occasional glitch that disrupts normal functioning. App crashes, frozen screens, upload failures – these annoying tech hiccups happen despite developers best efforts to create a seamless user experience.
Closing and reopening WhatsApp or rebooting your phone might be enough to knock out a temporary glitch interfering with status uploads. For more stubborn app issues, updates, reinstalls or clearing app cache/data may get WhatsApp working properly again.
Unsupported Media Formats
WhatsApp is pretty flexible but does have limitations on the file types and sizes it allows for statuses. Images must be in BMP, JPEG, or PNG format while videos have to be encoded as MP4 files.
WhatsApp also restricts status media to a maximum of 30 seconds length for videos and under 100MB for images.
If your media file exceeds WhatsApp’s specifications, you will encounter upload errors or failure notifications.
Check that your image/video conforms to WhatsApp’s format, duration and size restrictions. If not, convert or re-encode it in a compatible format before uploading again.
Third Party Interference
Other apps on your phone, especially security, privacy or performance apps (anti-virus, VPN, battery savers etc.) could indirectly prevent WhatsApp from functioning correctly – including status uploads.
These apps may block WhatsApp’s data connections, restrict OS access needed for uploads or have performance/battery settings that interfere with WhatsApp tasking.
If you rule out all other common troubleshooting fixes, try disabling any runtime security apps as a process of elimination.
Permissions Disabled
Access to your phone’s storage is an obvious requirement for WhatsApp status media uploading.
Yet if you disable storage permissions for WhatsApp at the OS level, it will block the app from being able to save and upload status files.
Double-check that WhatsApp has storage permissions enabled in your phone’s app settings if facing status uploading difficulty.
How to Fix WhatsApp Status not Uploading or Working
Without further ado, let’s run through the top troubleshooting steps to get your WhatsApp status functioning again, whether on iPhone or Android.
We’ll go very in-depth on each method to resolve even tricky status uploading issues.
1. Verify Your Internet Connection
The first thing to always check – is my internet working properly? Unstable internet means upload failures, period.
Verify you have a strong, high-speed internet connection on your phone before trying to upload a WhatsApp status.
On Android:
- Pull down from the top of your screen to open Quick Settings then tap the Wi-Fi or Mobile Data icon. This will display your connection details in the panel underneath.
- Check the signal strength icon shows at least 3 solid bars.
- Make sure “Connected” is displayed under the network name.
- Tap on your network name to open the full Wi-Fi settings menu. Run a manual network speed test here.
- Switch networks by turning Airplane Mode on/off or manually connecting to another available network in range to re-establish your internet connectivity.
- For Mobile Data networks, disable LTE and switch between 3G/4G networks or make sure Data Roaming is disabled if connection issues persist.
On iPhone:
- Open Settings > Wi-Fi and check your network has a blue check mark displaying you are Connected.
- Tap the (i) next to the connected network to verify signal strength is Good or higher.
- Scroll to the bottom and switch Set as Primary Network on/off.
- Go back and choose Forget this Network. Re-enter password to reconnect the Wi-Fi afresh.
- Swipe up from bottom edge to access Control Panel. Toggle on/off Airplane mode to disconnect/reconnect cellular data. Disable LTE and switch between 4G/5G here.
Running a speed test never hurts to confirm your network has enough bandwidth to handle media uploads either!
2. Check WhatsApp Server Status
Before getting too deep in troubleshooting your phone, be sure WhatsApp server operations themselves are not having issues.
While not exceedingly common, WhatsApp does periodically experience service outages and degradation that can affect performance like status uploads across all users globally.
Websites such as Down Detector will give you real-time outage reports on the status of WhatsApp, whether it is down or not.
Large spikes in outage reports on these sites suggest disruption in WhatsApp services. Note the location, scale, and specifics of the reported issue.
If it aligns with the problem you are experiencing, wait patiently for WhatsApp engineers to implement a fix – not much you can troubleshoot locally if global servers are down!
However, if outage reports are low/non-existent, you can rule out external server problems and instead focus on troubleshooting something about your device or account.
3. Close and Reopen WhatsApp
Before getting more advanced in troubleshooting, try the old faithful reboot by simply closing and reopening WhatsApp. Like turning a router off and back on, resetting apps can knock out temporary glitches that disrupt normal functioning.
On Android & iPhone:
- If WhatsApp is open in the background, fully close the app either through your device’s app manager or by swiping it away from the recent apps menu
- Wait at least 10-15 seconds with the app fully closed before restarting it
- Relaunch WhatsApp – your upload issues may very well be resolved!
If not, proceed to the next steps below for additional troubleshooting methods to resuscitate your WhatsApp media uploads.
4. Update WhatsApp to Fix the Status not Uploading Issue
Having the latest version of WhatsApp is always recommended for access to the newest features as well as the most updated performance fixes.
WhatsApp regularly pushes updates that patch bugs, improve resource management and optimize app speed.
So if you have an outdated version of WhatsApp that has not auto-updated in a while, status uploading reliability can suffer without recent fixes and stability changes under the hood.
Updating WhatsApp only takes a minute and will also rule out any version discrepancies as the culprit.
On Android:
- Open the Play Store app
- Tap ≡ icon in the top left then choose My Apps & Games
- Scroll through the list and locate WhatsApp
- If an Update button displays, tap it to update to the latest version.
On iPhone:
- Go to App Store then tap your profile icon in the top right
- Scroll down through pending updates and spotlight search for WhatsApp
- If WhatsApp is listed under Available Updates, tap the “Update” button to update it.
- Otherwise will show Open next to WhatsApp verifying it is already updated
Once successfully updated, exit out and restart WhatsApp entirely before attempting to upload your status again.
5. Force Stop WhatsApp
If simply closing and reopening WhatsApp earlier did not help resolve the status upload problems, more aggressively forcing the app to fully stop on Android could do the trick.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications > See all # apps
- Scroll down and select WhatsApp
- Tap “Force Stop.”
- A warning prompt explains the consequences, and tap OK to confirm the force stop.
- Optionally tap Storage & Cache > Clear Cache while in the WhatsApp app info screen
- Press the home button to close Settings then reopen WhatsApp as normal
By directly halting all WhatsApp processes rather than just closing it normally, the full reset can remediate unusual issues disrupting expected functioning.
6. Clear WhatsApp Cache
Every Android app stores temporary cached data from usage sessions. Over time, the build-up of outdated cache files can cause performance lag and operational errors.
For WhatsApp in particular, a corrupted cache can show as a failure in uploading statuses.
Wiping WhatsApp’s cache forces it to rebuild the temporary data from scratch thus cleaning out problematic remnants left behind from past sessions.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications
- Tap WhatsApp then tap Storage & cache.
- Press the Clear cache button at the bottom.
- Confirm clearing cache by pressing OK
- Restart WhatsApp afterwards – uploads should now succeed!
On iPhone:
There is no universal cache clearing method for iOS apps. However you can achieve a similar reset effect by offloading and reinstalling WhatsApp:
- Go to Settings on your iPhone or iOS device.
- Tap on “General” to access the general settings.
- Select “iPhone Storage.”
- Tap WhatsApp then tap the Offload App button.
- Tap on “Offload Data” again to confirm.
- Redownload WhatsApp freshly from App Store when desired to use it.
- Media, settings and conversations stay backed up so you lose no data
Offloading flushes WhatsApp data remnants away then starts it with a clean slate when reinstalled.
7. Disable Battery Saver Modes
Battery saver modes have become commonplace on modern smartphones. While helpful for extending battery life, they can negatively impact app performance in the process.
Features that reduce background app data, throttle CPU speeds or limit location pinging can directly disrupt normal WhatsApp functioning.
If your phone has any kind of battery optimization enabled, try temporarily disabling it and see if status uploads complete successfully.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Saver
- Toggle off all optimization features related to app data/speed reduction
- Tap Overflow icon (3 dots) > Advanced > Exception app list
- Select Add apps manually then check box next to WhatsApp to exclude it from optimizations
On iPhone:
- Open Settings > Battery > Battery Health
- Scroll down and ensure Optimized Battery Charging is disabled
- Under highest battery usage, check performance level of WhatsApp
- If throttled, delete app then reinstall to reset handicapping
Exempting WhatsApp from battery saving restrictions can get your status uploads reliably working again. You can always re-enable optimizations afterward.
8. Reduce Status Size
Large media files will always be prone to upload issues simply due to the greater bandwidth resources required.
Before posting a status, check your image resolution or video length is not exceedingly high. Over 20MB photo or longer than 10-15 sec video could lead to failure.
Try uploading a smaller version of the same image or compressing your video down to 720p resolution instead of 4K source quality. There are online tools such as veed.io that make it easy to optimize media specifically for uploading to apps like WhatsApp.
Reducing dimensions and file size also makes the compression processing faster on WhatsApp’s end – improving the chance of successful status upload!
9. Reinstall WhatsApp
If nothing else has resolved your status uploading difficulties so far, the nuclear option of completely uninstalling then reinstalling WhatsApp is worth attempting.
This wipe clears out all cached data and local files, forcing WhatsApp into a 100% clean state when you redownload it.
Any corrupted app file remnants or conflicting settings can be eliminated through this removal and fresh install process.
The upside is you lose none of your messages, contacts or account details since everything important remains backed up externally.
On Android & iPhone:
- First ensure WhatsApp media auto backup enabled in Chat Settings
- Delete WhatsApp either from homescreen or via Settings > Apps
- Redownload latest version of WhatsApp from Play Store / App Store
- Upon setup prompt, tap Restore when asked to restore conversations & media
- WhatsApp resurrected like new! Try status upload again smoothly
If the simple fixes did not get your WhatsApp status working again, this full reconfiguration should hopefully iron out even obscure issues hindering normal functioning.
10. Check Media Format Compatibility
WhatsApp allows most common image and video formats to be shared but does have its limitations, namely:
- Images: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP (under 100MB)
- Video: MP4, 3GP (under 30 seconds)
Trying to upload a status using anything outside those file types and size restrictions will fail instantly.
Double check your media is encoded properly before getting frustrated your status does not successfully post.
On your phone:
- Locate the image/video in your gallery that failed uploading
- Press & hold it to pull up sharing options
- Select Details to view technical attributes
- Note the file type near top of details screen
- If format incompatible per above, will need to convert before WhatsApp accepts
You can change an incompatible MOV or AVI video into shareable MP4 format using converter sites like cloudconvert.com.
Likewise, use img2go.com to convert images into WhatsApp friendly JPEG or PNG file types before uploading to status.
11. Check App Permissions & Access
Part of app stability includes not just software coding but also being granted proper permissions and access to device hardware/OS integration.
Regardless functionality depth, apps need certain permissions and access privileges to tap into OS resources critical for full operation.
WhatsApp obviously requires the ability to access your image gallery, connect to internet data, link up contacts etc. So issues like status upload failures could arise from having certain key permissions disabled for WhatsApp, whether intentional or inadvertent.
Double check nothing vital has been revoked from WhatsApp which would explain the misbehavior.
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > WhatsApp
- Tap Permissions to view full list
- Ensure all permission toggles here are enabled:
- Storage
- Microphone
- Camera
- Contacts
- Location
- SMS
- Phone
- Additional permissions if shown
On iPhone:
- Go to Settings > Privacy
- Scroll down and tap Photos, then ensure WhatsApp has a green checkmark switched on
- Return back and toggle on WhatsApp access individually for:
- Camera
- Microphone
- Contacts
- Location Services
- Cellular Data
- Local Network
- Motion & Fitness
WhatsApp needs broad access to properly facilitate full app media services. If a certain permission was disabled, restore it then check if status uploads succeed moving forward.
12. Contact WhatsApp Support
Alright if you have tried everything outlined already systematically with no luck getting your WhatsApp status uploads functioning again, time to go straight to the source for additional help.
Gather up these details to provide the most actionable information when contacting WhatsApp troubleshooting support:
- Specify problem encountered: Status uploading fails or gets stuck midway
- WhatsApp version #
- Phone model/brand and Android/iOS version
- Screenshots of any error message received
- List steps attempted already without resolving issue
- Recent changes prior to issue occurring
Armed with those details, contact WhatsApp support through:
In App Chat:
- Open WhatsApp > Tap More Options
- Tap on “Help” then proceed to choose “Contact Us”.
WhatsApp engineers can investigate further why your account or device setup is not allowing status media uploads to complete.
They may suggest advanced troubleshooting or attempt fixes on the server side related to your issue.
Conclusion
Having trouble getting your WhatsApp working can certainly be frustrating.
But methodically going through connectivity tests, app resets, third-party interference checks and ultimately device cache wipes should help resolve even the most stubborn status uploading issues whether Android or iPhone.
And as a last resort if still no luck, WhatsApp support can dig deeper and suggest further client-side or server-side troubleshooting steps specific to your situation.
Hopefully, these detailed instructions for how to fix WhatsApp status not uploading or working will once again get your account’s status functionality up to par!
