How to Clean Up Your WordPress Media Library (3 Easy Ways)

Every time you upload a media file, WordPress creates several copies. The extra files aren’t used anywhere on your website and can take up a lot of storage space on your hosting server.

We have been running a blog for a long time and have uploaded thousands of media files to WordPress. So, we know first-hand that cleaning up your media library can help optimize your site’s efficiency and performance. It can also help to keep your images organized.

In this article, we will walk you through three easy methods to clean up your WordPress media library. Our step-by-step instructions are super easy to follow, even if you are new to WordPress.

Why Clean Up WordPress Media Library?

When you upload an image, WordPress creates multiple image sizes by default. Some WordPress themes and plugins may also request additional image sizes.

These copies take up disk space on your web hosting server. They also increase the size of your WordPress backups, so it takes longer to back up, transfer, and restore your website. Depending on your hosting plan, you may even have to pay for extra storage.

You may be able to free up storage, create backups more quickly, and save money by cleaning up your media library and removing unused images.

Just be aware that cleaning up unused media files means deleting them forever. You can’t undo this, so make sure you create a complete WordPress backup before going any further.

With that done, let’s see how you can clean up the WordPress media library. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use:

Method 1: Clean Up the WordPress Media Library Using Search & Replace Everything (Recommended)

The easiest way to find and remove unnecessary media files on your WordPress site is by using Search & Replace Everything.

Search & Replace Everything by WPCode is a powerful plugin that lets you easily find and replace both text and images across your WordPress site directly from your dashboard. 

It also comes with an Unused Media Remover feature to help you quickly scan your entire WordPress database and remove any unnecessary images.

First, you need to install and activate the Search & Replace Everything plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Tools » WP Search & Replace page from the WordPress dashboard.

From there, click on the ‘Remove Unused Media’ tab, and then hit the ‘Begin Scan’ button.

The plugin will then thoroughly scan your site’s entire database to make sure no files are missed.

The scan may take a few moments, but you can monitor its progress through the status bar.

Once the scan is finished, you will see a list of unused media files that the plugin has found.

This list includes details like the image thumbnail, title, path, database occurrences, and size.

To remove the files, you can check the box next to each file you want to delete and click the ‘Delete Selected’ button at the bottom of the page.

Or, you can simply click the ‘Delete ALL’ button to delete all the files at once.

Method 2: Clean Up the WordPress Media Library Using Media Cleaner (Basic Cleanup)

You can also find and remove unnecessary media files on your WordPress site by using Media Cleaner. This free plugin focuses specifically on scanning your media library for unused files, unlike Search & Replace Everything, which scans your entire database.

First, you need to install and activate the Media Cleaner plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to Meow Apps » Media Cleaner to analyze your WordPress media library.

To start, we want to scan for image files that aren’t used by checking the box next to ‘Content.’

Then, go ahead and click on ‘Access Media Cleaner Dashboard.’

On the next screen, click on ‘Scan.’

After a few moments, Media Cleaner will show all the files it recommends you remove from the media library. It also displays the reason why it wants to remove each file from your WordPress blog.

Simply go ahead and check the box next to each file that you want to permanently delete.

When you are ready, click ‘Delete’ to remove these files from your WordPress website.

Method 3: Avoid Future Duplicate Images Using Media Deduper (Preventative Solution)

If you simply want to remove unnecessary media files from your library, then Search & Replace Everything is a great choice. However, if you want to avoid duplicate images in the future, then we recommend using Media Deduper instead.

This plugin automatically scans media files as you upload them to the media library and then flags any duplicates. However, the plugin does need to build an index of all your media files, so it takes a bit longer to set up.

First, you need to install and activate the Media Deduper plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Media » Manage Duplicates page from the WordPress dashboard and then click on the ‘Index Media’ button to analyze your media library.

This can take a while, depending on the speed of your internet connection and the size of your media library.

When it’s finished, click on the ‘Manager Duplicates Now’ button that appears.

Media Deduper will now show all the unused and duplicate files that you may want to remove.

You can permanently delete any of these images, but we recommend using the Smart Delete feature instead.

If a post is using a duplicate file as a featured image, then Smart Delete will re-assign a different copy of that image before deleting the duplicate. From the visitor’s point of view, the post will still be using exactly the same featured image.

To use Smart Delete, simply open the dropdown menu and select ‘Smart Delete.’

After that, check the box next to each image you want to remove and then click on the ‘Apply’ button. Media Deduper will go ahead and remove all these files.

The plugin will now monitor all the media you upload to WordPress. If it detects any duplicate files, then it will add them to the Media » Manage Duplicates screen automatically.

With that in mind, make sure you visit this screen occasionally to review and remove any unnecessary files.

Optimizing Your Media Files

Once you’ve deleted the duplicate images on your website, you should optimize the rest of your media files.

Many new website owners directly upload images from their phones and cameras. These high-quality images are often too big and take up a lot of storage space. This can make your backups bigger and affect WordPress speed and performance.

To fix this problem, we recommend resizing images. For more tips, see our step-by-step guide on optimizing mages for web performance before uploading them to your website. You can also use a WordPress image compression plugin to automatically optimize your media files without losing quality.

Video Tutorial

If you don’t like following written instructions, you can watch our video tutorial on how to clean up your WordPress media library instead:

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We hope this article helped you learn how to clean up the WordPress media library. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to set a default featured image in WordPress and our list of ways to prevent image theft in WordPress.

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