WhatsApp is in a sorry state on Windows 11 after it dropped the native code for WebView2, a Chromium-based web wrapper. After the update, WhatsApp’s RAM usage skyrocketed to 2GB. However, it turns out that if you install an older version of WhatsApp, you can still use the native version, as long as it works (and does not expire).
WhatsApp requires significantly more resources than a regular app and offers no advantage over using WhatsApp web. It’s rolling out to everyone, and it’s bad news. Not everybody hates the new WhatsApp, but some of us do, particularly because of high RAM usage.
To use the old WhatsApp again, you need to download the version from November 2025.
Note: Before we begin, it’s important to know that you’re trying to download an old version of WhatsApp, and it could stop working at any moment:
- Go to Settings > System > Adavnced and enable the Developer Mode toggle.
- Download the 2.2546.3.0 package from Mega drive and extract it using 7-Zip software. Also, download the MSIX Packaging Tool app from the Microsoft Store.
- Right-click on the 2.2546.3.0 package, choose the 7-Zip option from the context menu, and extract the package contents to a folder.
- Open the extracted MSIX package file with the tool you downloaded from the Microsoft Store.
- Change the Package name to wha.wa and then change the Version to 10.20000.300.0.
- Select the Do not sign packages option and then click on Save. The tool will create a new package file on your system, and the next step is to register it.
- But before that extract the new MSIX package with 7-Zip once again and locate the AppManifest.xml file. Right-click on the file and select the copy as path option.
- Type Add-AppxPackage -Register command in an elevated PowerShell window. Paste the copied path after it.For eg, my command is Add-AppxPackage -Register “C:\Wha\AppxManifest.xml” because I placed it in the C drive.
- Run WhatsApp after closing the PowerShell window.
How does the old WhatsApp perform?
It’s a night and day difference between the old and new app. Windows Latest already demonstrated the stark difference in memory consumption between the old and new WhatsApp versions. The new one climbed to 3GB memory consumption during peak activity, while the old one rarely touched the 1GB mark.
I tested it for a long time, communicating with my colleagues, and there wasn’t any spike in resource usage. The app rose to the 400 MB memory usage mark only when I viewed status (mostly videos). Viewing them again kept it under 300 MB.
Messaging activity didn’t touch even half of the above consumption. So, it’s not hard to see why a regular user would want to go back to the old version.
The workaround we mentioned will stop the app from downloading any new updates. However, it won’t last for long, and Meta will likely figure out a way to phase the old app out completely.
