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WTe₂ is provoking immense interest owing to its extraordinary properties, such as large positive magnetoresistance, pressure-driven superconductivity and possible type-II Weyl semimetal state. Here we report results of high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and electrical transport measurements on WTe₂. Both the XRD and Raman results reveal a structural transition upon compression, starting at 6.0 GPa and completing above 15.5 GPa. We have determined that the high-pressure lattice symmetry is monoclinic 1T' with space group of P2₁/m. This transition is related to a lateral sliding of adjacent Te-W-Te layers and results in a collapse of the unit cell volume bymore » ~20.5%. The structural transition also casts a pressure range with the broadened superconducting transition, where the zero resistance disappears.« less