iPhone WhatsApp storage discrepancy

Hi everyone,

I’m having a serious storage issue with WhatsApp on my iPhone. The app shows about 13 GB used in its own “Storage and Data” section, but my iPhone Settings → General → iPhone Storage shows around 25 GB used by WhatsApp.

I already contacted WhatsApp support, but unfortunately, their only advice was to delete and reinstall the app, which would risk losing my data since I don’t use iCloud for backups.

I need to keep all my WhatsApp data with correct timestamps, but also remove whatever hidden cache or system data is taking up the extra 12 GB.

Is there any safe iPhone-side method (Finder, system cleanup, etc.) that could fix this mismatch without losing my WhatsApp history?

Any help or official explanation from Apple about how iOS calculates app storage would be appreciated.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: WhatsApp storage on iPhone shows double the size (25GB vs 13GB in-app) — WhatsApp support unhelpful