AI-powered unused detection
Scans posts, pages, widgets, menus and theme files, then scores every attachment 0–100% so you know exactly how safe it is to remove.
Free WordPress plugin
Delete the media nothing on your site is using.
Media Wipe scans your posts, pages, widgets, menus and theme files, scores how safe every attachment is to remove, and keeps a recycle bin and an audit log behind each deletion.
View on WordPress.org- v1.7.0
- WordPress 5.0+
- PHP 7.4+
- GPLv2
- No external calls
Features
Everything you need to take back your disk space
Four deletion workflows, a safety net under all of them, and an interface that does not fall apart when your library has thousands of files.
Confidence scoring
High, Medium and Low badges on every result. "Select High Confidence Only" picks the 90%+ files in a single click.
Recycle Bin
Soft-delete instead of destroy. Files sit in the bin for a retention window you choose (7–90 days) and restore in one click.
Deletion history & audit log
Every action recorded with timestamp, user and IP address. Filter by activity or security events, and export the log for compliance.
Professional data tables
Search by name, filter by type or upload date, paginate, and bulk-select with a partial state when only some rows are picked. Thumbnail previews and file type badges throughout.
Delete All, carefully
A full library wipe exists when you need it, gated behind multi-step confirmation and an explicit backup acknowledgement.
Media dashboard
Total files, disk usage and a breakdown by images, video, documents and audio, plus quick actions for every workflow.
Built for mobile
Fully responsive admin screens with touch-friendly controls and horizontally scrolling tables. Clean up from your phone.
Inside the plugin
Five screens, one clear workflow
Every Media Wipe screen lives under a single admin menu, so scanning, reviewing, restoring and auditing never send you hunting through WordPress settings.
Know what you are working with
Three tiles up top for total files, storage used and whatever is sitting in the recycle bin, then a breakdown across images, video, documents and audio, with the three main actions one click away.
AI scan with confidence scores
Skip recent uploads, featured images, whole file types or specific folders before you scan. Results come back with a 0 to 100% confidence score, and "High confidence" selects the safe set instantly.
Browse and pick precisely
A full table over your library: search by file name, narrow by upload date or file type, and page through results while a running count of what you have selected follows you down the screen.
Deletions you can take back
Turn on the bin and deletions become reversible. Pick a retention period, watch the countdown on each file, restore in one click, or empty the trash when you are certain.
A record of every deletion
Activity and security events with timestamp, user and IP address. Filters carry their own counts, so you can see at a glance whether anything security-related has happened.
How it works
Scan, review, delete safely
Three steps, and a reversible outcome at the end of them.
- 01
Scan
Configure safety options, such as excluding recent uploads or featured images, then start the AI scan. Progress streams in real time.
- 02
Review
Every unused file comes back with a thumbnail, size, upload date and a confidence score. Sort, search and select what you trust.
- 03
Delete safely
Confirm, and files move to the Recycle Bin rather than vanishing. Restore anything within your retention window; the audit log keeps the receipts.
Safety
Bulk deletion is dangerous. So we built guardrails.
Media Wipe removes files permanently. That is the point. Every layer below exists so it only ever removes the files you meant.
Multi-step confirmation
Destructive actions require explicit confirmation, including a backup acknowledgement before a full library wipe.
Recycle Bin as a safety net
Deletions are soft by default. Auto-purge runs on WP-Cron only after your chosen retention period expires.
Nonce & CSRF protection
Every AJAX endpoint is nonce-verified and capability-checked, so no one without the right role can trigger a deletion.
Rate limiting
Bulk operations are throttled and batched, which protects both your database and your memory limit on large libraries.
Full audit trail
Timestamp, user and IP for every deletion. Logging is opt-in, stored locally, and exportable when you need proof.
Nothing leaves your site
No external API calls and no telemetry. Scanning and logging happen entirely inside your own WordPress database.
Comparison
The WordPress media library, and then some
Measured against what WordPress gives you out of the box. We are not going to guess at what other plugins do. Every claim on the right is a Media Wipe feature you can verify in the screenshots above.
| Capability | Built-in media library | Media Wipe |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk-delete many files at once | One page at a time | Included |
| Find files nothing links to | Not available | AI scan with confidence score |
| Search, filter and paginate results | Basic media list | Included |
| Selection that survives pagination | Not available | Included |
| Undo a deletion | Not available | Recycle Bin, 7–90 days |
| Record of who deleted what, and when | Not available | Audit log with IP |
| Confirmation before destructive actions | Single prompt | Multi-step + backup check |
| Works on large libraries | Times out | Batched, memory-efficient |
Changelog
Shipping steadily since January 2025
Six months of releases, from the first audit log to a full React rebuild of every admin screen.
- v1.7.0Sep 2026Current
Single-Page Admin, Redesigned Form Controls & Accessibility Fixes
Moving between the five admin screens no longer reloads the page, proper date field on Delete Selected.
- v1.6.1Sep 2026
Branding & accessibility
Redesigned branding, keyboard focus and dialog labelling fixes, legacy code removed, navigation display corrected.
- v1.6.0Jun 2026
React + Tailwind rebuild
Every admin screen rebuilt on React with a reusable component library and a consistent design system.
- v1.5.0Apr 2026
Material Design 3 overhaul
Unified notification system, refreshed visuals, and critical fixes to the Delete All workflow.
- v1.4.0Apr 2026
Recycle Bin
Soft-delete with configurable retention, bulk restore, permanent delete and auto-purge via WP-Cron.
- v1.2.1Jul 2025
AI detection engine
Confidence scoring, multiple scanning modes and real-time progress tracking for unused media.
- v1.1.0Jul 2025
Dashboard & audit logging
Statistics dashboard, multi-step confirmations, document preview, audit logging and a settings page.
FAQ
Questions worth asking before you delete anything
Is it safe to delete media with this plugin?
Deletion is guarded by several layers: multi-step confirmation, an explicit backup acknowledgement for destructive actions, and a Recycle Bin that holds files for your chosen retention period. That said, always take a full backup before a bulk cleanup, because once a file is permanently removed it cannot be recovered.
How accurate is the AI unused-media detection?
The scanner checks posts, pages, widgets, menus and theme files for references to each attachment, then assigns a confidence score. Files scored 90% and above are very safe to delete. Medium and low scores are worth reviewing manually, which is why the "High confidence" button exists: it lets you act on the safe set without touching the rest.
Can I recover files after deleting them?
Yes, while they are in the Recycle Bin. Enable it and deletions become soft, so files stay recoverable for the retention window you set (7 to 90 days) and restore with one click. After auto-purge runs, or if you delete permanently, files cannot be recovered.
Does the plugin send any of my data elsewhere?
No. There are no external API calls and no telemetry. Activity logging is opt-in, and every log entry is stored locally in your own WordPress database.
Will it work on a large media library?
Yes. Scanning and deletion run in memory-efficient batches over AJAX with real-time progress, and bulk operations are rate limited so they do not overwhelm your server.
Does it support WordPress multisite?
Not yet. Media Wipe currently targets single-site installs, and multisite network support is on the roadmap.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Media Wipe is free and GPL-licensed on the WordPress.org plugin directory, with no paid tier and no upsells.
Still stuck? Ask in the support forum. Questions are usually answered within a day or two.
Reclaim your disk space this afternoon
Install from your WordPress dashboard, run one scan, and see exactly how much of your media library nothing is using. Free forever, no account, no upsell.
Or search Media Wipe under Plugins → Add New in your dashboard.