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WPBeginner» Blog» WordPress Plugins» How to Download Your Entire WordPress Media Library

How to Download Your Entire WordPress Media Library

Last updated on March 20th, 2015 by Editorial Staff
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How to Download Your Entire WordPress Media Library

Do you want to download all images and media files from your WordPress media library? You can use a FTP client, but that’s not easy for beginners. In this article, we will show you how to download your WordPress media library without using FTP.

WordPress media library

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If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.

First thing you need to do is install and activate downML – Download Media Library plugin. Upon activation, you will notice a new menu item in your WordPress admin bar labeled ‘downML’.

You need to click on the menu which will prepare a zip file of your WordPress uploads directory and make it available for download.

When your download is ready, you will see a page with the link to medialibrary.zip file. You can download this file to your computer.

Download page for all your images and media files in one convenient zip file

After downloading the file to your computer, you can extract it to get your entire WordPress media library.

Why & Who Would Want to Download the Media Library?

If you want to store a copy of just your media library in your computer, then this plugin is handy.

You can always use a fully automated WordPress backup solution, and it will backup your entire WordPress site (including plugins, themes, posts, and the media library).

However, most backup plugins do not have an easy way to download just your uploads and media library. This plugin provides a much quicker way to do that.

Another way to download your files is by using an FTP client, but if the user does not have access to the FTP or don’t know how to use it, then this plugin is an easier alternative.

We hope this article helped you download your WordPress media library. You may also want to see our tutorial on how to connect Google Drive to your WordPress media library.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Google+.

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27 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. B Andi says:
    Jan 30, 2019 at 10:16 am

    so why don’t people use the built in import/export tool from WP ? why use a plugin when functionality is already there ?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 30, 2019 at 11:21 am

      The built-in tool does not export the media library, it saves links to where the media is located and when you import the file it will have the option to download the media from where it was previously hosted :)

      Reply
  2. karthik says:
    Jan 5, 2019 at 10:25 am

    “This plugin was closed on October 23, 2018 and is no longer available for download. Reason: Guideline Violation”… please suggest us any other plugin…

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 8, 2019 at 10:15 am

      Thank you for letting us know, we’ll be sure to look into alternatives for downML

      Reply
  3. Ph says:
    Jan 5, 2019 at 9:27 am

    This plugin no longer exists.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jan 8, 2019 at 10:15 am

      Thank you for letting us know, we’ll be sure to look into alternatives for downML

      Reply
  4. Dan Schaller says:
    May 24, 2018 at 10:51 pm

    I also had problems with this plugin. The website for it is no longer alive, and the email contact offered bounced back.

    I have used WP File Manager to do this successfully, although it takes more steps.

    All-in-One WP Migration also lets you choose to only capture media files.

    Reply
  5. Teresa says:
    Jul 13, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    This plugin didn’t work for me. Error said “zip open failed. Exiting”

    Reply
  6. Sara says:
    Jun 21, 2017 at 10:02 am

    Am I not able to do this without purchasing a business plan?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jun 21, 2017 at 7:23 pm

      Hi Sara,

      You are probably using WordPress.com. Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.

      Reply
  7. Amar Sijercic says:
    Jun 1, 2017 at 4:22 am

    I have a huge media library of 680 MB and the downml plugin displays an error. Is there a way to override tis or is there a plugin that can do this?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Jun 1, 2017 at 9:10 am

      Hi Amar,

      What error do you see?

      Reply
  8. Doug Ison says:
    Mar 10, 2017 at 1:37 am

    So how do you import them and have it show up in the database? What plugin do you use for that?

    Reply
  9. Francisco says:
    Feb 8, 2017 at 1:21 am

    Thank you! This was really helpful

    Reply
  10. Blythe says:
    Sep 23, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    It didn’t work. It only selected most of the pictures, but it left quite a few

    Reply
  11. Anissa says:
    Apr 25, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    I tried this but it says my file is too big. Is there a way to select just some of the pictures?

    Reply
  12. Sara says:
    Apr 21, 2016 at 3:44 am

    Hi , My wordpress media library having 771 files while exporting media library using downML plugin error occurs as – Media Library contains 771 files in excess of 174.46 MiB…Now how i export my media files is any other plugins there if anyone know the solution please let me know thanks in advance..

    Reply
    • hyrein says:
      Jul 18, 2016 at 3:29 am

      increase the limit in php.ini

      Reply
  13. mikko says:
    Apr 3, 2016 at 5:11 am

    Does not keep foder structure. Does not support öäå charachters (wordpress with utf-8mb4 sql)
    (down)

    Reply
  14. Elias says:
    Feb 19, 2016 at 9:39 am

    Thank you so much!!! You saved me a ton of time and effort!!!!

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Feb 19, 2016 at 12:11 pm

      We are glad you found it helpful.

      Reply
  15. Ram Bharadwaj says:
    Oct 22, 2015 at 5:33 pm

    How do i download the images included in the Home slider Only?

    Reply
  16. Vlad says:
    Jul 7, 2015 at 4:45 am

    Thanks for the article. Does anyone know if I can download my entire media gallery via ftp, optimise all photos on my PC and then re-upload without messing up the site? I’ve tried using some WP plugins for optimisation of photos, but I’m still not entirely happy with the result, so I’d like to do them on my PC. But then, I’d like to avoid having to edit all posts and pages in order to add the photos again.

    Reply
  17. Kevin Pike says:
    Jun 23, 2015 at 11:19 am

    Just used the downML plugin after reading this post. The good news: it worked… the bad news, the zip folder is just the files i.e. it removes the folder path structure. If you need to quickly move things FTP or a better clone plugin is best.

    Reply
  18. Kyle says:
    Apr 22, 2015 at 4:59 pm

    You can also use wp clone which makes a .zip file. If you only want the media just open the zip file and go to the wp-content folder and then uploads. It will all be in the folders that wordpress puts them in

    Reply
  19. dragons says:
    Mar 10, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    Please do you know of a way to download the Media Library from a WP.COM install?? It is crazy they say to do it manually.

    Reply
  20. Deana says:
    Feb 19, 2015 at 10:18 am

    Thank you, I did’n know about plugin. I always download ML in old way via FTP.

    Reply

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