Updated 2 min read Applies to All-in-One Utilities Pro

Unused media

Find Media Library items nothing on the site seems to use, and delete them with care.

Documentation for All-in-One Utilities Pro

On this page
  1. What counts as used
  2. Scan and review
  3. Delete

Unused Media finds Media Library items that nothing on the site seems to use, so you can free up space.

The Unused Media screen
Media → Unused Media.

What counts as used

An item is used if it’s a featured image, appears in any post or page, or is referenced in a custom field, a setting or a theme option. Everything else is listed as possibly unused.

Scan and review

  1. Go to Media → Unused Media.
  2. Click Scan again to check the current library. The cards show how many items were checked, how many look unused and how much space they take.
  3. Look through the list. Each item shows a preview, the file name, upload date, what it was uploaded to, and its size.
  4. Click Download as CSV to keep a list.

Delete

Tick items, then click Delete selected in the bar at the bottom, or use the bin icon on one row.

Check before you delete

A file can still be in use where no scan can look: named in theme files or CSS, linked from other websites or emails, or loaded by a plugin from its own table. Preview each one, and keep a backup. Deleting is permanent: WordPress has no Trash for media.

See also Database backup and restore and Filename cleanup.

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