Replace External Images
Easily import externally hosted images found in post content into your media library and replace them with local copies.
Plugin info
Maintenance & Compatibility
Maintenance score
Maintained • Last updated 150 days ago
Is Replace External Images abandoned?
Likely maintained (last update 150 days ago).
Compatibility
Similar & Alternatives
Explore plugins with similar tags, and compare key metrics like downloads, ratings, updates, support, and WP/PHP compatibility.
Description
“Replace External Images” lets you import externally hosted images used in post content directly into your WordPress media library — either one by one or now with the new bulk import feature across multiple posts at once.
The plugin automatically replaces external URLs in the content with local media URLs, shows a live progress view, supports any image host, and updates featured images where needed.
Ideal for:
– site migrations
– pasted content from other sources
– cleaning up hotlinked images
– processing many posts in one go with the bulk importer
Full documentation available here: Replace External Images Docs
Installation
- Go to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to “Plugins > Add New”.
- Search for “Replace External Images”.
- Click “Install Now” and then “Activate”.
Alternatively:
- Download the plugin as a ZIP file.
- Go to “Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin”.
- Select the ZIP file, click “Install Now”, then “Activate”.
Once activated:
- Open a post that contains externally linked images.
- Click “Replace External Images” in the Tools section.
- Watch the live progress bar and wait for completion.
Frequently Asked Questions
No — it only imports external images and skips media already in the library.
They are updated to local media paths after import.
Not automatically. Please make a backup before running the importer if you need to restore content later.
Some image sources actively block hotlinking or automated downloads by returning a different content type (e.g. text/plain instead of image/jpeg).
This plugin detects such cases and skips the import gracefully — no image is saved, and the log explains why.
If a post has no featured image, the plugin will automatically set the first successfully imported image as the featured image.
Review feed
Screenshots
A post with an externally hosted image. The "Replace External Images" panel appears in the editor sidebar. One click imports the image into the media library and updates the post to use the local version.
Successful import confirmation with summary and return link.
Works in both Classic Editor and Gutenberg, including multi-image posts.
Respecting protected content — import fails cleanly for non-image or restricted resources.
Changelog
1.1.0
- NEW: Bulk import for external images across multiple posts
1.0.0
- Initial public release
- Live importer for external images
- Works on individual post basis
- Tested up to WordPress 6.8.1 and PHP 8.2