Benjamin Bode

WordPress automatically creates multiple copies of every image you upload in different sizes (thumbnail, medium, large, and more). Over time, this wastes a significant amount of disk space, especially on large sites with thousands of images.
Imadero scans your media library, finds all auto-generated thumbnails, and removes them safely. It also updates all references in your posts, pages, and metadata to use the original image instead.
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Scan your media library to find all auto-generated thumbnails</li>
<li>Preview how many files and how much disk space can be freed before deleting anything</li>
<li>Delete all thumbnails in batches (safe for large sites)</li>
<li>Rewrite all database references (posts, meta, options) to use the original image</li>
<li>Prevent WordPress from generating thumbnails on future uploads</li>
<li>Handles serialized data safely (works with Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, and other page builders)</li>
<li>Handles Gutenberg block attributes (sizeSlug, CSS classes)</li>
<li>Removes WordPress -scaled images and restores the original</li>
<li>Batch processing prevents timeouts on large installations</li>
<li>Works with WooCommerce product images</li>
</ul>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
<ol>
<li>Go to Tools > Imadero in your WordPress admin</li>
<li>Click Start Scan to find all auto-generated thumbnails</li>
<li>Review the results: number of thumbnails and disk space used</li>
<li>Click Delete Thumbnails to remove them and update database references</li>
<li>Optionally enable Disable automatic thumbnail generation to prevent future thumbnails</li>
</ol>
<h4>Important Notes</h4>
<ul>
<li>Always create a backup before running the cleanup</li>
<li>The deletion process cannot be undone</li>
<li>WordPress will automatically fall back to the original image where thumbnails were used</li>
<li>The plugin works per site on Multisite installations</li>
</ul>

Imadero

Remove auto-generated image thumbnails to free up disk space and keep your media library clean.

Eli Hanna

CoffeeWP Media Cleanup helps you reclaim disk space and tidy up your WordPress media library without risking data loss. Every destructive action moves files to an internal trash so you can recover anything you did not mean to delete.
A guided three-step wizard walks you through the work:
<ol>
<li>Pre-scan settings — review detected page-builder compatibility, pick which thumbnail sizes WordPress should generate, and choose a batch size that fits your server.</li>
<li>Scan — walk your uploads tree and detect which files are unused, broken, or missing.</li>
<li>Results — see what is unused, what is broken, what is missing, which thumbnails are stale, and run targeted clean actions on selected rows or across the whole result set.</li>
</ol>
Clean actions:
<ul>
<li>Delete unused media (file moves to trash; attachment record soft-deleted).</li>
<li>Delete missing files (clears DB rows whose backing file is gone).</li>
<li>Delete broken-link records (clears attachment posts whose files never existed).</li>
<li>Delete orphan thumbnails (removes derivative files with no attachment parent).</li>
<li>Regenerate missing thumbnails (re-runs WordPress’s image-size pipeline).</li>
<li>Add orphan files to the Media Library (creates attachment records for unattached files).</li>
</ul>
Trash + restore:
A dedicated Trash view lists every file the plugin has moved out. Restore any item with one click, permanently delete individual rows, or empty the trash. Optional auto-delete after N days. Trashed files live under <code>wp-content/uploads/cwpm/trash/</code> and are protected from being overwritten by new uploads (filename collisions are detected and avoided).
Activity log:
Every clean action writes to a daily log file at <code>wp-content/uploads/cwpm/logs/</code>. The Logs view shows each file with size and download link. Optional auto-delete after 30 days.
Designed to be safe:
<ul>
<li>Soft-delete by default — no file is ever permanently removed except via the explicit “Empty trash” or “Permanent delete” controls.</li>
<li>Per-row checkboxes and a typed-confirmation disclaimer modal gate the destructive actions.</li>
</ul>
<h3>External Services</h3>
This plugin does not connect to any external services. No data leaves your WordPress install.
<h3>Third-Party Libraries</h3>
The plugin bundles these GPL-compatible libraries (LICENSE files shipped alongside each):
<ul>
<li>Color Punch (MIT) — internal CSS / JS UI framework. Shipped at <code>assets/vendor/color-punch/</code>.</li>
<li>Font Awesome Free (CC BY 4.0 icons + SIL OFL 1.1 fonts + MIT code) — icon font. Shipped at <code>assets/vendor/font-awesome/</code>. Upstream: https://fontawesome.com/</li>
<li>Rubik, Outfit, Fira Code fonts (SIL OFL 1.1) — bundled with Color Punch under <code>assets/vendor/color-punch/fonts/</code>.</li>
<li>Catppuccin color palette (MIT) — applied via Color Punch theme variants. Upstream: https://github.com/catppuccin/catppuccin</li>
</ul>
<h3>Data + Storage</h3>
Custom database tables (created on activation, dropped only on uninstall when you enable “Delete data on uninstall”):
<ul>
<li><code>{prefix}_cwpm_scan_results</code> — per-file scan output (rel_path, attachment_id, usage flags, thumbnail status).</li>
<li><code>{prefix}_cwpm_trash</code> — trashed-file ledger (rel_path, original_path, file_name, file_size, trashed_at).</li>
<li><code>{prefix}_cwpm_file_hashes</code> — md5 hashes computed during scan; reserved for future identity-matching features.</li>
</ul>
On-disk storage (under <code>wp-content/uploads/cwpm/</code>):
<ul>
<li><code>wp-content/uploads/cwpm/trash/</code> — files moved by the trash system. Recoverable until you Permanent-Delete or Empty-Trash.</li>
<li><code>wp-content/uploads/cwpm/logs/</code> — daily activity logs (one file per day, e.g. <code>cwpm-2026-05-13.log</code>).</li>
</ul>
Both folders contain <code>.htaccess</code> + <code>index.php</code> stubs to prevent direct web access.
Options + transients: all keys start with <code>cwpm_</code>. Stored in <code>wp_options</code>. Per-user preferences (theme, table density) stored in <code>wp_usermeta</code> with the same prefix.
Custom post type: <code>cwpm-trash</code> — used as a soft-delete state for attachment posts. The attachment record stays in <code>wp_posts</code> but is hidden from the Media Library until restored.

CoffeeWP Media Cleanup – Scan and Remove Unused Media and Orphan Thumbnails

Step-by-step wizard to clean unused media, orphan thumbnails, and broken attachments — safely, with one-click restore.

Imadero vs CoffeeWP Media Cleanup – Scan and Remove Unused Media and Orphan Thumbnails