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

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 …

Lester Chan

This plugin cleans up:
<ul>
<li>Revisions</li>
<li>Auto drafts</li>
<li>Deleted comments</li>
<li>Unapproved comments</li>
<li>Spammed comments</li>
<li>Deleted comments</li>
<li>Orphaned post meta</li>
<li>Orphaned comment meta</li>
<li>Orphaned user meta</li>
<li>Orphaned term meta</li>
<li>Orphan term relationships</li>
<li>Unused terms</li>
<li>Duplicated post meta</li>
<li>Duplicated comment meta</li>
<li>Duplicated user meta</li>
<li>Duplicated term meta</li>
<li>Transient options</li>
<li>Optimizes database tables</li>
<li>oEmbed caches in post meta</li>
</ul>
This plugin uses proper WordPress delete functions as much as possible instead of running direct delete MySQL queries.
Following delete functions are used:
<ul>
<li>wp_delete_post_revision()</li>
<li>wp_delete_post()</li>
<li>wp_delete_comment()</li>
<li>delete_post_meta()</li>
<li>delete_comment_meta()</li>
<li>delete_user_meta()</li>
<li>delete_term_meta()</li>
<li>wp_remove_object_terms()</li>
<li>wp_delete_term()</li>
<li>delete_transient()</li>
<li>delete_site_transient()</li>
</ul>
WP-Sweep WP REST API Endpoints 
* <code>GET /wp-json/sweep/v1/count/<Name></code>. Get the number of items that we will be sweeping. 
* <code>GET /wp-json/sweep/v1/details/<Name></code>. Get the details of the items that we will be sweeping. 
* <code>DELETE /wp-json/sweep/v1/sweep/<Name></code>. Runs sweep for that particular item.
WP-Sweep WP-CLI Commands 
* <code>wp sweep --all</code>. Runs sweep for all items. 
* <code>wp sweep <Name></code>. Runs sweep for that particular item. 
* <code>wp sweep <Name1> <Name2></code>. Run sweep for the selected items.
WP-Sweep Available Items: 
* revisions 
* auto_drafts 
* deleted_posts 
* unapproved_comments 
* spam_comments 
* deleted_comments 
* transient_options 
* orphan_postmeta 
* orphan_commentmeta 
* orphan_usermeta 
* orphan_termmeta 
* orphan_term_relationships 
* unused_terms 
* duplicated_postmeta 
* duplicated_commentmeta 
* duplicated_usermeta 
* duplicated_termmeta 
* optimize_database 
* oembed_postmeta
WP-Sweep is not compatible with the following plugins: 
* <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-fonts/" rel="ugc">Custom Fonts</a> 
* <a href="https://elementor.com/features/popup-builder/" rel="nofollow ugc">Elementor Popup Builder</a> 
* <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/mailpress/" rel="ugc">MailPress</a> 
* <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ml-slider/" rel="ugc">Meta Slider</a> 
* <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/polylang/" rel="ugc">Polylang</a> 
* <a href="https://revolution.themepunch.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Slider Revolution</a> 
* <a href="https://codecanyon.net/item/viba-portfolio-wordpress-plugin/9561599" rel="nofollow ugc">Viba Portfolio</a> 
* <a href="https://wpml.org/" rel="nofollow ugc">WPML</a>
<h3>Build Status</h3>
<a href="https://codeclimate.com/github/lesterchan/wp-sweep" rel="nofollow ugc"></a> 
<a href="https://codeclimate.com/github/lesterchan/wp-sweep" rel="nofollow ugc"></a>
<h3>Development</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/lesterchan/wp-sweep" title="https://github.com/lesterchan/wp-sweep" rel="nofollow ugc">https://github.com/lesterchan/wp-sweep</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Credits</h3>
<ul>
<li>Plugin icon by <a href="http://www.freepik.com" rel="nofollow ugc">Freepik</a> from <a href="http://www.flaticon.com" rel="nofollow ugc">Flaticon</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Donations</h3>
I spent most of my free time creating, updating, maintaining and supporting these plugins, if you really love my plugins and could spare me a couple of bucks, I will really appreciate it. If not feel free to use it without any obligations.

WP-Sweep


WP-Sweep is a simple yet powerful plugin that helps keep your WordPress site running smoothly. It cleans up unnecessary data like post revisions, trashed posts, spam comments, unused terms, and more — all using native WordPress functions, which makes it safer than many alternatives.



We've used WP-Sweep on multiple websites and it's never caused any issues. It's lightweight, user-friendly, and does exactly what it promises. The interface is clear and makes it easy to choose what to clean.



Highly recommended for anyone looking to optimize their WordPress database without the risk of breaking anything.


Great plugin to keep your WordPress database clean and optimized

WP-Sweep allows you to clean up unused, orphaned and duplicated data in your WordPress. It also optimizes your database tables.

Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner vs WP-Sweep