Whatsapp currently sits as the most popular messaging app in the world next to Facebook Messenger. Since Facebook’s acquisition in 2014, Whatsapp has transcended the status of just being a texting or messaging app. Over 1.5 billion of its monthly users can now enjoy voice calling, voice messaging, video calling, video and file sharing and WhatsApp statuses.

It has become so feature-heavy that it is nearly disingenuous to label this as anything else other than a social media platform (although most messaging apps fall under this umbrella now). One of the most popular features of the majority of social media applications are stories. The WhatsApp equivalent of this is statuses.

Related: The Complete Guide to Keeping Your Privacy While Using WhatsApp

What are WhatsApp statuses?

On WhatsApp’s main interface for Android you get three chief headings for each section of the app: Chats, Status and Calls. Statuses are similar to Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook stories. A user uploads a picture, video or text which WhatsApp keeps up for twenty-four hours or until the user decides to delete it.

Why would you want to save WhatsApp statuses?

Has one of your contacts ever uploaded a video or a particularly funny picture that you want to share? WhatsApp doesn’t make it particularly easy for you to do this. You have to ask a friend to send you the media, screen grab it yourself or download an application that saves statuses for you. This is a waste since WhatsApp already downloads the media onto your phone (and hides it) when you view it (unless of course you’ve told it not to).

How to find and copy WhatsApp statuses

Note: This tutorial was done using WhatsApp version 2.18.293 on Android version 7.1.2.

What you’ll need is a file manager that allows you to see hidden folders on an Android smart phone. If the proprietary file manager running on your smartphone doesn’t allow you to view hidden files, I highly recommend Tetra Filer free or Total Commander, or you can get a list of awesome file managers here.

I used the default “Files” app that is on most Android devices.

1. Open your file manager and navigate to the main storage of your device.

2. Navigate to the WhatsApp folder.

3. If your file manager is showing hidden folders, you should see at least two here (.Shared and .trash). Select and navigate to Media. After this step you should be here: “/storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media” or simply “/WhatsApp/Media.”

4. Finally, select and navigate to the .Status folder. From here you should find all the statuses that WhatsApp has saved on your phone (“/storage/emulated/0/WhatsApp/Media/.Statuses”). I suggest that you copy them to another folder or change their names so WhatsApp doesn’t delete them twenty-four hours later.

With most file managers you can set a shortcut to folders so you don’t have to constantly navigate your way there. I highly recommend this.

Conclusion

If you see a funny meme or a motivational piece of text, you no longer have to ask and then wait for confirmation to save it. You no longer have to screen grab and settle for a choppy or lower-quality version. You can now use it since it is already on your device. This should go without saying, but it’s proper etiquette to ask or at least inform your contact that you will be using their content before you do so.