Key Takeaways

• You can change the default media upload quality on WhatsApp to either Standard or HD.
• Sending HD photos and videos does not maintain their original quality but compresses them less compared to standard quality.
• The HD option in WhatsApp will be grayed out if you select a low-resolution screenshot or video.

By default, WhatsApp sends all your photos and videos in standard quality, which can lower their overall quality. The good news is that you can change the photo upload quality in WhatsApp to ensure that your media files are shared with less compression.

How to Send Photos and Videos in HD Quality on WhatsApp

The latest version of WhatsApp includes the ability to send photos and videos in HD quality. To use this feature, make sure you update WhatsApp from the Play Store (for Android) or the App Store (for iPhone).

After updating the app, you can use these steps to send photos and videos in HD quality on WhatsApp:

1. Open WhatsApp and head to the chat where you want to send the photo or video.
2. Tap the plus icon in the bottom left corner.
3. Select Photos and then choose the photo or video you wish to send.
4. Tap the HD icon at the top and select HD quality.
5. Hit the send button in the bottom right corner.

The HD option is only available for photos and videos that are originally in high definition. If you select a low-resolution photo or video, the HD option will be grayed out.

Photos or videos shared in higher quality will show an “HD” mark in the bottom left of your chat. You can also use the HD option for view-once media on WhatsApp. Keep in mind that this may increase WhatsApp’s data usage and media files may take longer than usual to send, depending on your internet connection.

How to Make WhatsApp Send Photos and Videos in HD by Default

Although WhatsApp makes it easy to share photos and videos in HD quality, doing this manually every time can be tiring. The good news is that you can configure WhatsApp to send all your photos and videos in HD quality by default. Here’s how:

1. Open WhatsApp on your phone.
2. On Android, tap the three dots in the top-right corner and select Settings. If you have an iPhone, tap Settings in the lower-right corner.
3. Go to Storage and Data.
4. Tap Media upload quality and select HD quality from the following menu.

Once you do this, all your high-resolution photos and videos will be sent in HD quality by default. Of course, you can always switch back to standard quality by deselecting the HD option when sending media if needed.

What Difference Does HD Quality Make?

You might expect the original picture resolution to be preserved once you set WhatsApp to send it in HD quality. However, that’s not the case—the media is simply compressed less.

When you send a video in HD quality on WhatsApp, the resolution is capped at 720p, regardless of whether the original video is in 1080p or 4K. In other words, WhatsApp still compresses the video. However, it’s better than sending it in standard quality, which drops the resolution to around 480p.

This compression also applies to photos sent in HD quality. When I tried sending a photo with a resolution of 3000 x 4000 and a size of 3.96 MB in HD quality, WhatsApp maintained the resolution but reduced the size to 1.3 MB.

So, if you are looking to preserve quality while sending pictures on WhatsApp, your best option is to share them as documents.

That’s all you need to know about setting upload quality in WhatsApp. The HD quality option should appear on your Android or iPhone once you update the app. If it doesn’t show up immediately, you may need to wait a while for the feature to become available on your device.