Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More!

The plugin scans the content sources it supports: posts and pages including drafts, Site Editor templates and template parts, synced patterns, the Customizer and site identity settings, widgets, and the builders listed in the compatibility table. A file is reported as unused when no reference to it was found in any of those places. That is a statement about where we looked, not a guarantee about your whole site. A file can still be in use somewhere the free version does not read, for example a custom field defined in your theme's code, or a reference built at page render time by a shortcode or a dynamic tag. The dashboard tells you when it detects a coverage gap like that, with the source and a count. So treat the list as a shortlist to review, not a verdict. Keep a current backup, check anything you are unsure about, and whitelist the files you want to keep.

It can, and it is worth knowing when. The plugin never deletes anything on its own: nothing is removed unless you select it and confirm. The question is whether the list you are choosing from is right. If a file is referenced in a scanned source, a post, a page, a template, a widget, a site logo or a supported builder, it is detected and kept out of the unused list. What the free version cannot follow is media stored outside those sources: custom fields registered in theme or plugin code, and content assembled when the page is rendered rather than saved in the database. Two things protect you. The dashboard reports a detected coverage gap with its source and count, so you know to look closer before deleting. And the whitelist locks any file you want kept, so it stays out of every future scan.

Two things, and you control both. Usage statistics are opt-in. Nothing is sent unless you click "Yes, allow" on the notice inside the plugin. If you do, we send your site URL along with totals: how many media files you have, how much space they use, and how much of that is unused. We do not send filenames, file contents, post content, user details, or email addresses. You can turn it off at any time in Settings. The summary email is sent from your own site to your own admin email address, using WordPress. It is not sent to us and we never see it. It is on by default, once a month, and only when files have actually been uploaded since your last scan. Set Frequency to "Off (no emails)" in Settings to stop it.

The free version detects media placed with Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, Bricks, Visual Composer and OceanWP on your pages and posts. It also reads sliders built with LayerSlider, the slider plugin that ships with the Enfold theme. Pro reads those same builders everywhere else as well: saved templates, theme options, headers and footers, and custom post types. Pro also reads media stored by plugins in their own custom fields and database tables, such as Advanced Custom Fields, WooCommerce, Pods, Custom Field Suite, the SEO plugins and the slider plugins. The free version cannot see media stored that way, which is why it warns you when one of those plugins is active.

The Media Hygiene uses a few scanning modes. The first mode compares the database entries of specific modules with the files. The second mode scans each folder in the wp-content/upload directory. It identifies files that are not listed in the database and considers them to be unused.

The Media Hygiene plugin does not have the ability to look inside backups and/or remove any files from your backups.

While removing unused media files does not directly impact page loading times, removing unused media files can actually improve the performance of your server and indirectly improve loading times. Unused media files take up space on your server and can cause backups to take longer.

Like any software, there is a small risk of data loss or corruption when using the Media Hygiene plugin. However, the developer has taken steps to minimize this risk by thoroughly testing the plugin and including safety features on various hosting platforms (e.g. shared, VPS, and dedicated). Please note: websites hosted on shared platforms have a greater probability of failure due to limited allowable resources dictated by the hosting provider. Additionally, it is always recommended to keep a backup of your website before using any plugin that modifies your directories, just in case something goes wrong.

The frequency at which you run the Media Hygiene plugin depends on how frequently you add media files to your website. There is an email notification feature that allows informs you of the number of files uploaded but not scanned. If your website receives a high volume of traffic and media files are frequently added, it's recommended to set notifications more frequently, such as every week.

The Media Hygiene plugin is designed to work seamlessly with all the most popular WordPress themes and plugins. However, WordPress is a dynamic ecosystem where there are many changes occurring. The developers have tried to accommodate every possibility. To our knowledge, the plugin does not have any known conflicts with other plugins or themes. We strongly recommend backing up the website and/or running the plugin on a staging or development environment. If you do encounter any issues or conflicts, you can contact the developer for support and guidance. The developer will work to resolve the issue as soon as possible and provide a solution.

Yes, the Media Hygiene plugin allows you to preview the media files that will be deleted before they are removed. The plugin's media scanner will provide a list of all the unused media files, including details such as the file name, image, location (URL), and size. You can review the files and whitelist the file to prevent deletion.

Yes, there is customer support available for the Media Hygiene plugin. The developer provides basic support through the WordPress repository, where you can find answers to frequently asked questions and troubleshoot common issues. Pro users will have access to direct support inside the plugin. The support team will respond to inquiries as soon as possible, but response times may vary depending on the nature of the inquiry and the volume of support requests.

Yes, the Media Hygiene plugin allows you to exclude certain media files type from scan that do not display in unused files by adding files to a whitelist in the scan results list or It is for Folder Scan separate from Regular Media Scan.

The Media Hygiene plugin does not have a built-in feature to restore deleted media files. You can restore accidentally deleted media files by using a backup of your website.

Scans are started by you, not on a timer, in both the free version and Pro. What you can schedule is the summary email. Under Settings you can have the plugin email you about new media daily, weekly, every two weeks, monthly or quarterly, or turn it off. The email tells you what has been added since your last scan, so you know when another scan is worth running.

This feature is not available yet but coming.

This feature is not available yet but coming.

No, Media Hygiene will remove the file in its entirety from the WordPress media library. It does not remove metadata only.

The Media Hygiene plugin is designed to be compatible with the latest version of WordPress. The developer regularly updates the plugin to ensure that it continues to work seamlessly with the latest version of WordPress.