WPCreatix

Media Sweep: The Ultimate WordPress Media Library Cleaner
Media Sweep is a powerful WordPress plugin designed to help you reclaim valuable server space by identifying and safely removing unused media files from your WordPress site. Whether you’re dealing with orphaned attachments, forgotten uploads, or files left behind by themes and plugins, Media Sweep provides a comprehensive solution to keep your media library clean and organized.
Perfect for bloggers, agencies, e-commerce sites, and any WordPress website looking to optimize storage space and improve site performance.
🚀 Key Benefits:
✅ Reclaim Server Space – Remove unused files and free up valuable storage 
✅ Improve Site Performance – Faster backups and reduced server load 
✅ Safe & Reversible – Files moved to trash folder, not permanently deleted 
✅ Smart Detection – Advanced algorithms identify truly unused files 
✅ Batch Operations – Process multiple files efficiently 
✅ Detailed Analytics – Comprehensive scan reports and file insights
<h3>🎯 Core Features</h3>
<h3>🔍 Dual Scan Modes</h3>
Media Library Scan 
* Scans all media attachments in your WordPress library 
* Checks for usage in posts, pages, and custom fields 
* Detects thumbnail and size variations 
* Identifies gallery shortcodes and blocks 
* Fast and efficient for large media libraries 
* Recommended for most WordPress sites
File System Scan 
* Deep scan of your uploads directory 
* Finds orphaned files not in the media library 
* Detects cache and temporary files 
* Identifies theme and plugin generated files 
* Comprehensive but may take longer to complete 
* Best for sites with file management plugins
<h3>📊 Smart File Detection</h3>
<ul>
<li>Usage Analysis – Checks posts, pages, custom fields, and widgets</li>
<li>Database Scanning – Searches content for file references</li>
<li>Shortcode Detection – Identifies gallery and media shortcodes</li>
<li>Block Analysis – Scans Gutenberg blocks for media usage</li>
<li>Plugin Integration – Detects files used by popular plugins</li>
<li>Theme Assets – Identifies theme-related media files</li>
</ul>
<h3>🗂️ Advanced File Management</h3>
<ul>
<li>Status Classification – Files categorized as In Use, Unused, or Orphaned</li>
<li>Bulk Actions – Select and process multiple files at once</li>
<li>Smart Filtering – Filter by file type, status, date, and directory</li>
<li>Search Functionality – Quickly find specific files</li>
<li>Preview Mode – View files before taking action</li>
<li>Detailed File Info – Size, type, usage locations, and more</li>
</ul>
<h3>🛡️ Safety Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Trash System – Files moved to secure trash folder, not deleted</li>
<li>Restore Capability – Easily restore accidentally removed files</li>
<li>Backup Integration – Works with popular backup plugins</li>
<li>Progress Monitoring – Real-time scan progress with pause/resume</li>
<li>System Resources – Intelligent resource management prevents timeouts</li>
<li>Rollback Protection – Safe operations with detailed logging</li>
</ul>
<h3>📈 Comprehensive Analytics</h3>
<ul>
<li>Scan History – Track all previous scans and results</li>
<li>Storage Statistics – See exactly how much space you’ve reclaimed</li>
<li>File Breakdown – Detailed analysis by file type and status</li>
<li>Usage Patterns – Understand your media library usage</li>
<li>Performance Metrics – Scan duration and processing statistics</li>
</ul>
<h3>🚀 Easy 3-Step Process</h3>
Step 1: Choose Scan Type 
* Select Media Library or File System scan based on your needs 
* Configure advanced options for thorough analysis
Step 2: Run the Scan 
* Watch real-time progress as Media Sweep analyzes your files 
* Pause and resume scans as needed without losing progress
Step 3: Review & Clean 
* Browse detected files with detailed information 
* Use bulk actions to efficiently process multiple files 
* Restore files from trash if needed
<h3>🔧 Advanced Configuration</h3>
<ul>
<li>Scan Options – Deep scan, thumbnail inclusion, custom field checking</li>
<li>File Type Filters – Focus on specific file types (images, documents, etc.)</li>
<li>Directory Exclusions – Skip specific folders during scans</li>
<li>Performance Settings – Adjust batch sizes and resource limits</li>
<li>Automation Rules – Set up automatic cleanup schedules (planned for future versions)</li>
</ul>
<h3>💡 Perfect For</h3>
<ul>
<li>Content Creators – Bloggers and publishers with large media libraries</li>
<li>Web Agencies – Managing multiple client sites efficiently</li>
<li>E-commerce Sites – Cleaning up product images and assets</li>
<li>Membership Sites – Optimizing user-generated content</li>
<li>Portfolio Sites – Managing large image collections</li>
<li>News Sites – Handling high-volume media uploads</li>
</ul>
<h3>Support</h3>
Need help with Media Sweep? We’re here to assist!
<ul>
<li>Support Forum: <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/media-sweep/" rel="ugc">WordPress.org support forum</a></li>
<li>Feature Requests: <a href="https://wpcreatix.com/contact/" rel="nofollow ugc">Submit ideas and suggestions</a></li>
<li>Bug Reports: <a href="https://wpcreatix.com/contact/" rel="nofollow ugc">Report issues for quick resolution</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
Media Sweep respects your privacy and does not collect or transmit any personal data. All file analysis and cleanup operations are performed locally on your server. No external services are contacted during plugin operation.
<h3>Credits</h3>
Media Sweep is crafted with ❤️ by the <a href="https://wpcreatix.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">WPCreatix</a> team. We’re passionate about creating tools that help WordPress users optimize and maintain their websites efficiently.
Special thanks to the WordPress community for their continuous feedback and support in making this plugin better.

Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner


I installed Media Sweep expecting it to identify and help clean unused media files, but the plugin does not actually do that.



What it really does is just list media files. It does not clearly detect which files are unused or show reliable information about where a file is being used. You still have to manually inspect each item and guess whether it’s safe to delete.



If I have to manually verify every single file myself, then this plugin provides no real value. At that point, it’s no better than browsing the uploads folder directly.



For sites with a large media library, this becomes a huge waste of time. A media cleaner should:




Clearly mark used vs unused files



Show where a file is referenced (post/page/custom field)



Offer safe, confident cleanup options




Unfortunately, Media Sweep does none of this. The name and description are misleading, and the plugin does not solve the actual problem it claims to address.



Not recommended if you’re looking for a real unused media cleaner.


Very misleading – no real “unused media” cleaning

Clean up your WordPress Media Library by finding and removing unused files. Safely scan, preview, and sweep away orphaned media to keep your site fast …

Jordy Meow

Media Cleaner is a powerful plugin that helps you clean up your WordPress media library by deleting unused media entries and files, as well as fixing broken entries. With an internal trash feature, you can preview and confirm changes before permanently deleting anything. Plus, Media Cleaner uses smart analysis to ensure compatibility with specific plugins and themes.
Use it alongside <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/database-cleaner/" rel="ugc">Database Cleaner</a> for the ultimate clean-up experience.
Media Cleaner is like a ninja assassin for your Media Library – it’ll stealthily take out all the unnecessary media and broken entries that are cluttering up the place. Just make sure you have a solid backup plan in place before you let this bad boy loose.
To learn more about compatibility, features, and the Pro version, check out the <a href="https://meowapps.com/media-cleaner/tutorial/" rel="nofollow ugc">tutorial</a> on the <a href="https://meowapps.com/media-cleaner/" rel="nofollow ugc">official website</a>.
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qmDSgWZWnSw?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
<h3>COMPATIBILITY</h3>
This plugin is compatible with all media types, including retina and WebP versions. It has been tested on a wide range of WordPress versions, including the latest version with Gutenberg, as well as on various themes with a large community of users. It also supports WooCommerce. For users with more complex plugins for handling website content, the Pro version may be necessary for optimal compatibility. We are constantly working to increase compatibility with other plugins.
<h3>PRO VERSION</h3>
<a href="https://meowapps.com/media-cleaner/" rel="nofollow ugc">Media Cleaner Pro</a> adds extra features to the free version of Media Cleaner:
<ul>
<li>Filesystem Analysis: Scans your physical /uploads directory and matches it against the Media Library.</li>
<li>Extra support for complex plugins, such as ACF, Metabox, Divi Builder, Fusion Builder (Avada), WPBakery Page Builder, Visual Composer, Elementor, Beaver Builder, Brizy Builder, Oxygen Builder, Slider Revolution, Justified Image Grid, Avia Framework, and many more!</li>
<li>Live Site Scan: Analyzes the online version of your website, potentially improving accuracy in some cases.</li>
<li>WP-CLI support: Allows you to run the plugin at a higher speed or automatically with direct server access (via SSH).</li>
</ul>

Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress!

It certainly did help me clean up my media library!

Great plugin!

This plugin works great. I love the ability to trash images, run a broken link check to verify, and restore any images still needed, or permanently delete. I used Screaming Frog to run a broken link check after trashing the unused images with Media Cleaner, and no false positives were found. I was then able to confidentially delete all the unused images. The site's storage was reduced from 7 GB to 2.91 GB - which is a huge help when the hosting plan has a 10GB storage limit. I'm using it on another site today, and will continue to recommend it to clients who have out of control Media Libraries.

Update: I used Media Cleaner on another site and it found 14GB of unused media which took the site storage from 15GB to 1GB.

Totally worked - reduced site storage size from 7 GB to 2.91 GB


Much of my work in my consultancy is to take in new clients and help fix up any mess or configuration issues.



Many websites, particularly e-commerce shops gets a ton of products in and out and after a few years the media library can get pretty massive.



Using this media cleaner plugin has helped me clean up gigabytes of unused media files on many websites.



This helps to make backups much faster, and my customers have an easier time finding the right images. Thank you.


Huge timesaver


It works perfectly. Thank you so much. 


Nice plugin

Are you looking to clean up 85000 images after you removed 50000 posts from a website?
This is the solution, it will just take a while, but it is something that there are no options, :-)

The best solution


This plugin is full of little popups begging you not to give it a bad review if it just happens to not be very good at what it's supposed to do. Well sorry guys, but this is a terrible plugin. It's a nice idea to scan media you're using and media you're not and delete the latter, but the problem is there are so many ways you can be using media that it's just not sensitive to, and so it's a hard to imaging a single site where it won't throw the baby out with the bathwater, with disastrous effects, deleting lots of media that you're using or linking to. For example, it deletes PDFs links via custom fields. It deletes images when they are the background of an element. Of course you need to backup before you use it - and it rightly warns you to do so - but you shouldn't have to assume a plugin will destroy your site and be making plans for when it inevitably does. Backups are meant for emergencies. The work involved in fixing a site afterwards is intense.


They beg you not to give a bad review


A unused media feature is something that has greatly been needed in the WordPress core for a long time now. The unattached is pretty useless and ends up deleted used media throughout the WordPress installation. Jordy and his team have so far been super responsive and we're very impressed in the code of the plugin being WordPress plugin developers ourselves. This is a tool that we're glad to add to our toolkit while building sites for clients. Great work and we're excited to see what new features you bring in the future. 


Filling a much needed gap in WordPress


Helped me to cleanup my WordPress install easily. Thank you !I would love to see a GeneratePress/Generateblocks integration to detect images used as CSS background 💖


Excellent plugin

Clean your WordPress! Eliminate unused and broken media files. For a faster, and better website.

Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner vs Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress!