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Virtual Media Folders — Media Cleanup

Add-on for Virtual Media Folders that helps you find and manage unused, duplicate, and oversized media in your WordPress library.

  • Unused media detection — deep content scanning across Gutenberg, classic editor, featured images, widgets, and custom meta keys.
  • Duplicate detection — SHA-256 file hashing with primary/copy management and one-click trash of non-primary copies.
  • Oversized file detection — configurable per-type thresholds (images, video, audio, documents).
  • Non-destructive actions — archive to a virtual folder, trash (with restore), or flag for review.
  • Background scanning — powered by Action Scheduler for large media libraries.
  • Admin dashboard — React-based UI with tabs for Scan, Unused, Duplicates, Oversized, Flagged, Trash, and Settings.
  • WP-CLI support — scan, list, archive, trash, flag, and manage duplicates from the command line.
  • Internationalization — fully translatable; ships with Norwegian Bokmål (nb_NO).
RequirementVersion
WordPress6.8+
PHP8.3+
Virtual Media Foldersactive
  1. Download vmfa-media-cleanup.zip
  2. Upload via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  3. Activate via WordPress Admin → Plugins

Plugin updates are handled automatically via GitHub. No need to manually download and install updates.

Navigate to Media → Virtual Folders → Media Cleanup. The dashboard has seven tabs:

TabPurpose
ScanStart/monitor scans, view progress
UnusedMedia not referenced in any post content or featured image
DuplicatesGroups of files sharing the same hash — set primary, trash copies
OversizedFiles exceeding your configured size thresholds
FlaggedItems you’ve manually flagged for later review
TrashTrashed items with restore/permanent-delete options
SettingsThresholds, scan depth, batch size, auto-scan, archive folder
Terminal window
wp vmfa-cleanup scan # Run a full scan
wp vmfa-cleanup scan --async # Run scan in background
wp vmfa-cleanup list --type=unused
wp vmfa-cleanup list --type=duplicate --format=csv
wp vmfa-cleanup stats # Show scan statistics
wp vmfa-cleanup archive --type=unused --yes
wp vmfa-cleanup trash --type=unused --yes
wp vmfa-cleanup flag 42 56 78
wp vmfa-cleanup unflag 42 56
wp vmfa-cleanup duplicates # List duplicate groups
wp vmfa-cleanup rehash # Recompute file hashes

REST API reference, hooks/filters, project structure, and build instructions are in docs/DEVELOPER.md.

GPL-2.0-or-later