Cleaning up Media Library

  • kleesbutterfly · Member ·

    Hi, I’m trying to clean up my media library. I want to remove all the images that I’ve uploaded once but didn’t use in a post or page (but forgot to remove them from the library later). I want to save storing space.
    How can I find out which images I used in my posts or pages? I found out that “unattached” doesn’t mean that I didn’t use them.
    I’ve read that one can’t un-attach images that were used in posts or pages, so I tried to filter out the unused ones that way. But in the bulk actions menu there is no “unattach” for all images, so this way doesn’t work.
    So, how can I found out which images I did use in my posts or pages and which not, so that I can delete the unused ones?
    Thanks for your help!

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • timethief · Member ·

    If you delete an image from your Media Library you delete it off of WordPress.COM servers.The result is broken image links in the posts and pages that you embedded the images in because they no longer exist in the Media Library when a browser calls for them to be displayed.

  • raincoaster · Member ·

    There is no easy way to find which images have been used in posts and which have not.

  • timethief · Member ·

    P.S.Unattached images also includes headers, backgrounds and even screenshots.

  • timethief · Member ·

    I also forgot to say that Unattached means they don’t show in a post or page, but you could have used them for a header image or background or used in another place such as the sidebar widget.

    See what Staff said here https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/unattached-images-actually-attached?replies=3#post-989551

  • kleesbutterfly · Member ·

    Thank you for your replies! I know that unattached doesn’t mean that I haven’t used them on WordPress, and that when I delete photos from the media library which I have used somewhere, they will disappear.
    That’s why I am so careful deleting photos.
    But when raincoster says there is no easy way to recognise in the media library if a photo is used somewhere or not (no matter if in a post, page or as a header etc), this does probably mean I have to go to my posts and look every single pic up if I have used it there or not? (so there is no way to recognise within the media library if a pic was used or not?)

  • kleesbutterfly · Member ·

    Ok, I’ve read the link now, I see there’s no easy way to see if an image was used or not (yet I didn’t understand fully the staff member’s answer). Even if a photo was used in a gallery or slideshow, this means it was used in the post (no matter if it’s used as a single photo or in a gallery).
    The staff member pointed out that an image’s URL from the media library might have been used somewhere else than on WordPress, that’s why there’s no way to tell if an image was used or not.
    But I want to make a suggestion: Isn’t it possible to create a filter that indicates if an image was used on WordPress itself? This would be helpful. So is it possible to move this thread to the suggestions section of the forum?

  • raincoaster · Member ·

    Just start a new thread in the Ideas forum and link to this.

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