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<h4>Why This Plugin Is Different</h4>
<p><strong>Most media cleaner plugins help you delete unused images. This plugin fixes a fundamental WordPress problem first.</strong></p>
<p>WordPress has a built-in “Unattached” filter in the Media Library. The idea is simple: it shows you media files that aren’t connected to any post, so you can decide whether to keep or delete them.</p>
<p><strong>The problem?</strong> WordPress only marks media as “attached” if it was uploaded directly through the post editor. Any image added through ACF fields, Gutenberg blocks, page builders, widgets, theme options, or shortcodes shows as “Unattached” — even though it’s actively being used on your site.</p>
<p><strong>This makes WordPress’s native “Unattached” filter completely unreliable.</strong></p>
<h4>How Unattached Media Manager Fixes This</h4>
<p>This plugin scans your entire site, finds every place where media files are actually being used, and properly attaches them to their parent posts. Once attached:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>WordPress’s “Unattached” filter actually works</strong> — It now shows only truly unused media</li>
<li><strong>You can use WordPress’s native tools</strong> — No need to depend on third-party plugins to manage media</li>
<li><strong>Import/export plugins work correctly</strong> — Tools like WP All Import, WP Migrate, Duplicator, and others can now properly identify and migrate media with their associated posts</li>
<li><strong>You can safely uninstall this plugin</strong> — The attachments remain as part of WordPress’s native structure</li>
</ul>
<h4>The Workflow</h4>
<ol>
<li><strong>Scan</strong> — The plugin finds all media usage across your site (content, ACF, blocks, widgets, options, etc.)</li>
<li><strong>Attach</strong> — One-click to properly attach all “used but unattached” media to their parent posts</li>
<li><strong>Review</strong> — Now WordPress’s “Unattached” filter shows only genuinely unused files</li>
<li><strong>Clean Up</strong> — Use WordPress’s native tools OR this plugin’s safe deletion features</li>
<li><strong>Done</strong> — Uninstall if you want; the fixes stay with WordPress</li>
</ol>
<h4>Yes, It Also Deletes Unused Media</h4>
<p>Like other media cleaners, this plugin also helps you safely delete unused media with:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Trash support</strong> — Move to trash first, restore if needed</li>
<li><strong>Permanent delete</strong> — Remove forever when you’re sure</li>
<li><strong>Change history</strong> — Track all attachment changes with one-click revert</li>
</ul>
<p>But the real value is <strong>fixing WordPress’s attachment system</strong> so you don’t need to depend on any plugin long-term.</p>
<h4>Two Processing Modes</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Browser-Driven (Recommended)</strong> — Fast and reliable with real-time progress. Keep the browser tab open until complete.</li>
<li><strong>Background (WP-Cron)</strong> — Processing continues even after closing your browser. Ideal for server cron setups.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Key Features</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Comprehensive Scanning</strong> — Detects media usage in post content, featured images, Gutenberg blocks, ACF fields, Elementor, Meta Box, WooCommerce, SEO plugins, widgets, theme options, and more</li>
<li><strong>Fix Unattached Media</strong> — One-click to properly attach all “used but unattached” media</li>
<li><strong>Media Library Integration</strong> — See usage count directly in your Media Library list view</li>
<li><strong>Safe Deletion</strong> — WordPress trash support with restore capability</li>
<li><strong>Change History</strong> — Full audit trail with one-click revert for any attachment</li>
<li><strong>Pause & Resume</strong> — Stop any operation and continue later</li>
<li><strong>Resource Aware</strong> — Three modes (Low/Auto/High) for shared hosting to dedicated servers</li>
<li><strong>Export Reports</strong> — Download CSV reports of all media usage</li>
<li><strong>Developer Friendly</strong> — Hooks, filters, REST API, and WP-CLI commands</li>
</ul>
<h4>The Problem It Solves</h4>
<p>WordPress marks media as “Unattached” if it wasn’t uploaded directly to a post. But many media files ARE being used — they’re just embedded via:</p>
<ul>
<li>The block editor (Gutenberg)</li>
<li>Page builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder</li>
<li>ACF image/gallery fields</li>
<li>WooCommerce product galleries</li>
<li>Theme customizer settings</li>
<li>Widget areas</li>
<li>Shortcodes</li>
<li>Custom meta boxes</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Unattached Media Manager finds ALL these references and properly attaches the media</strong>, so WordPress correctly reflects which files are actually in use.</p>
<h4>Server-Friendly Design</h4>
<p><strong>This plugin is designed to work on ALL servers, including shared hosting with limited resources:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Never blocks your site</strong> – All heavy operations are processed in batches</li>
<li><strong>Adaptive resource usage</strong> – Automatically detects server limits and adjusts accordingly</li>
<li><strong>Three resource modes:</strong>
<ul>
<li><strong>Low Resources</strong> – 5 items/batch, 2-minute intervals (for shared hosting)</li>
<li><strong>Auto (Recommended)</strong> – 15 items/batch, 1-minute intervals (adjusts automatically)</li>
<li><strong>High Performance</strong> – 50 items/batch, 30-second intervals (for dedicated servers)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Two processing strategies</strong> – Choose browser-driven (fast) or background WP-Cron mode</li>
</ul>
<h4>Supported Content Types</h4>
<p><strong>ALL features below are FREE – no Pro version required!</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Post Content</strong> – Classic editor, Gutenberg blocks, shortcodes, inline styles, data attributes</li>
<li><strong>Featured Images</strong> – Thumbnail assignments</li>
<li><strong>ACF Fields</strong> – Image, gallery, file, repeater, flexible content, and group fields</li>
<li><strong>Gutenberg Blocks</strong> – Core image, gallery, cover, media & text blocks</li>
<li><strong>Elementor</strong> – All widgets, backgrounds, galleries, sliders, and responsive images</li>
<li><strong>Meta Box</strong> – All field types including groups and cloneable fields</li>
<li><strong>WooCommerce</strong> – Product galleries, variation images, downloadable files, category thumbnails</li>
<li><strong>SEO Plugins</strong> – Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, SEOPress (OpenGraph & Twitter images)</li>
<li><strong>Widgets</strong> – Image widgets, text widgets with media, custom HTML</li>
<li><strong>Theme Options</strong> – Customizer settings, theme mods, custom logos</li>
<li><strong>Options Table</strong> – Plugin settings that store media IDs or URLs</li>
<li><strong>Video & Audio</strong> – HTML5 video/audio elements, poster images, source tags</li>
<li><strong>Responsive Images</strong> – srcset attributes and lazy-loading data attributes</li>
</ul>
<h4>For Developers</h4>
<p>Unattached Media Manager is built with extensibility in mind:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Hooks & Filters</strong> – Extend scanning with custom parsers</li>
<li><strong>REST API</strong> – Query media usage programmatically</li>
<li><strong>WP-CLI Commands</strong> – Run scans from the command line (<code>wp aioms scan</code>)</li>
<li><strong>Custom Post Types</strong> – Automatically scans all public post types</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to Use</h3>
<h4>Step 1: Run Your First Scan</h4>
<ol>
<li>Navigate to <strong>Media <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> Media Solution</strong></li>
<li>Click <strong>Start Full Scan</strong></li>
<li>Choose your processing mode (Browser-Driven recommended for most users)</li>
<li>Watch the real-time progress as your media library is scanned</li>
</ol>
<h4>Step 2: Review the Dashboard</h4>
<p>After scanning, you’ll see:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Total Media Files</strong> – All attachments in your library</li>
<li><strong>In Use</strong> – Media files with detected references</li>
<li><strong>Potentially Unused</strong> – Media files with no detected references</li>
<li><strong>Used but Unattached</strong> – Media that’s used but marked as “Unattached” in WordPress</li>
<li><strong>Total References</strong> – Total number of places media is referenced</li>
</ul>
<h4>Step 3: Fix Unattached Media</h4>
<p>If you have “Used but Unattached” media:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click the <strong>Attach All Media Files</strong> button</li>
<li>The operation runs in the background</li>
<li>Each attachment is tracked in Change History for easy reverting</li>
</ol>
<h4>Step 4: Clean Up Unused Media</h4>
<p>Go to the <strong>Unused Media</strong> tab to:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Review</strong> – Check each file before taking action</li>
<li><strong>Move to Trash</strong> – Safely move to WordPress trash (can be restored)</li>
<li><strong>Restore</strong> – Bring items back from trash if needed</li>
<li><strong>Delete Permanently</strong> – Remove forever (cannot be undone)</li>
<li><strong>Empty Trash</strong> – Delete all trashed media at once</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> All bulk operations run in the background. You’ll see a status bar showing progress.</p>
<h4>Step 5: Review Change History</h4>
<p>The <strong>Change History</strong> tab shows:</p>
<ul>
<li>All attachments made by this plugin</li>
<li>When each change occurred</li>
<li>What post each media was attached to</li>
<li>Option to <strong>Revert</strong> any change (detaches the media)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Important Precautions</h3>
<h4>Before Deleting Any Media</h4>
<ol>
<li><strong>Always run a full scan first</strong> – Make sure the index is up to date</li>
<li><strong>Review files manually</strong> – The scanner detects database references, but images might be:
<ul>
<li>Hardcoded in theme PHP files</li>
<li>Used by external websites linking to your images</li>
<li>Referenced in custom code or third-party plugins not yet supported</li>
<li>Used in email templates stored outside WordPress</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Use Trash first</strong> – Move to trash instead of deleting permanently</li>
<li><strong>Wait before emptying trash</strong> – Keep trashed items for a few days to catch any issues</li>
</ol>
<h4>About “Potentially Unused” Media</h4>
<p>Files marked as “Potentially Unused” means:</p>
<ul>
<li>No references were found in the scanned content</li>
<li><strong>This doesn’t guarantee the file is unused</strong></li>
<li>The file might be used in ways not detected:
<ul>
<li>Theme template files (hardcoded)</li>
<li>External sites linking to your images</li>
<li>Custom plugins with non-standard storage</li>
<li>CSS background images defined in stylesheets</li>
<li>JavaScript-loaded images</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Recommended Workflow</h4>
<ol>
<li><strong>Scan</strong> – Run a full scan with all content types enabled</li>
<li><strong>Review</strong> – Look at the Unused Media tab</li>
<li><strong>Research</strong> – For each file, consider where it might be used</li>
<li><strong>Trash</strong> – Move questionable items to trash (not permanent delete)</li>
<li><strong>Monitor</strong> – Check your site for a few days for missing images</li>
<li><strong>Delete</strong> – Only permanently delete after confirming no issues</li>
</ol>
<h4>Server Resources</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Shared Hosting</strong> – Use “Low Resources” mode in settings</li>
<li><strong>If operations timeout</strong> – Switch to Low Resources mode</li>
<li><strong>Large media libraries</strong> – The scan may take longer but will complete</li>
<li><strong>WP Cron must work</strong> – Ensure WordPress cron is running (check with your host)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy Policy</h3>
<p>Unattached Media Manager does not:</p>
<ul>
<li>Collect any personal data</li>
<li>Send any data to external servers</li>
<li>Use any third-party services</li>
<li>Track users or usage</li>
</ul>
<p>All data is stored locally in your WordPress database in custom tables that are removed when you uninstall the plugin.</p>
<h3>Uninstallation</h3>
<p>When you uninstall (delete) the plugin:</p>
<ul>
<li>All custom database tables are removed</li>
<li>All plugin options are deleted</li>
<li>All plugin transients are cleared</li>
<li>All scheduled cron events are removed</li>
<li>Post meta created by the plugin is deleted</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> Attachment relationships (post_parent) that were set by this plugin are NOT removed, as these are now part of WordPress’s native media library structure. If you need to revert these, use the Change History tab before uninstalling.</p>
<h3>Credits</h3>
<ul>
<li>Built with love for the WordPress community</li>
<li>Icons from WordPress Dashicons</li>
<li>Inspired by the need to keep media libraries clean and organized</li>
</ul>


Unattached Media Manager

Fix the WordPress Unattached media filter. Automatically attach used media files to their posts so you can safely clean up your library.

Alexis Olivero

oliverodev

<p><strong>Is your WordPress media library full of files nobody is using?</strong> Over time, images, documents, and other uploads accumulate without ever being referenced in posts, pages, or theme settings. OliveroDev Media Audit scans every corner of your site and tells you exactly which files are safe to delete — so you can recover disk space without breaking anything.</p>
<p><strong>Smart detection that actually works.</strong> Most media cleaner plugins miss references stored in page builders, widgets, or serialized data. OliveroDev Media Audit checks post content, post meta, term meta, user meta, theme mods, widget options, and more — all in a single optimized scan — to reduce false positives and keep your site intact.</p>
<h4>What you get for FREE</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Media library scan</strong> — Identify unused images, documents, videos, and audio files in your WordPress uploads.</li>
<li><strong>Dashboard overview</strong> — See used vs. unused file counts and the total storage you can recover at a glance.</li>
<li><strong>Safe, controlled cleanup</strong> — Review every file before deleting. No surprises, no bulk wipes you didn’t authorize.</li>
<li><strong>Batch scanning</strong> — Scans run in configurable batches to avoid server timeouts, even on large libraries.</li>
<li><strong>Automatic background scans</strong> — Schedule recurring WP-Cron scans (hourly, daily, weekly) to keep your library clean over time.</li>
<li><strong>File type filtering</strong> — Focus on images, documents, videos, audio, or archives depending on what you need to clean.</li>
<li><strong>Image format support</strong> — JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and SVG all covered.</li>
<li><strong>Zero configuration required</strong> — Install, run a scan, and start recovering space.</li>
</ul>
<h4>How it works</h4>
<ol>
<li>Go to <strong>Tools <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span> OliveroDev Media Audit</strong> in your WordPress admin.</li>
<li>Click <strong>Start New Scan</strong>. The plugin checks every attachment in your library against all content on your site.</li>
<li>Review the results. Files marked <strong>Unused</strong> are not referenced anywhere on your site.</li>
<li>Delete unused files individually — or switch to the <strong>Unused Files</strong> tab to work through the full cleanup list.</li>
</ol>
<h4>What it checks</h4>
<p>The detection engine searches for media references in:</p>
<ul>
<li>Posts, pages, and custom post types (including draft and private)</li>
<li>Post meta and serialized data (including Gutenberg block attributes)</li>
<li>Theme options and customizer settings (logo, header image, background image)</li>
<li>Widget data and sidebar configurations</li>
<li>Term meta and user meta</li>
<li>WordPress options table</li>
<li>Featured images (post thumbnails)</li>
<li>Site icon setting</li>
<li>All registered image sizes (thumbnails, medium, large)</li>
</ul>
<h4>PRO: Go deeper</h4>
<p>The <strong>PRO add-on</strong> (available separately) unlocks integrations with the most popular WordPress tools:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Deep Detection</strong> for Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), Divi Builder, Elementor, WooCommerce product images, and more.</li>
<li><strong>Storage Analysis</strong> with visual charts — see MB/GB breakdown by file type, identify your heaviest content.</li>
<li><strong>Intelligent Trash System</strong> — move files to trash before permanent deletion for an extra safety layer.</li>
<li><strong>One-click Bulk Cleanup</strong> — delete all unused files in a single operation.</li>
<li><strong>Extended file type support</strong> — full coverage for documents (PDF, DOC, XLS), video, audio, and archive files.</li>
<li><strong>Advanced automation</strong> — fine-grained scheduling and cleanup triggers.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://checkout.freemius.com/product/23055/" rel="nofollow ugc">Get PRO <span aria-hidden="true" class="wp-exclude-emoji">→</span></a></p>
<h4>Who is this plugin for?</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Site owners</strong> who want to free up hosting disk space without hiring a developer.</li>
<li><strong>Agencies</strong> managing multiple WordPress sites that accumulate unused uploads over time.</li>
<li><strong>Developers</strong> who need a reliable way to audit a client’s media library before a migration.</li>
<li><strong>WooCommerce stores</strong> where product images are frequently updated or deleted from the catalog.</li>
<li><strong>Bloggers and content creators</strong> who upload many images and want to keep their library organized.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Privacy</h4>
<p>This plugin does not collect any personal data, make external HTTP requests, or send usage statistics anywhere. All scanning happens locally on your server.</p>


OliveroDev Media Audit – Media Library Cleaner & Optimizer

Find and delete unused media files in your WordPress media library. Smart scanning, safe cleanup, and storage optimization — completely free.

Unattached Media Manager vs OliveroDev Media Audit – Media Library Cleaner & Optimizer