Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress!

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 32% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A declining trend compresses what a buyer would pay.

1. ★★★★★ Tharusha Kavishan

   1mo ago

   have not installed plugin but i like cover page image

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ pmsocial

   2mo ago

   I had almost 1400 pictures on my online newspaper. The Media Cleaner removed over 500 images that were not in use. Easy to use and a very valuable asset to have on my website.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ joiidigitalservices

   2mo ago

   Media Cleaner has to be my favoute plugin. For years I’ve struggled with trying to optimise our websites without having to take out a loan or undertake a 3 year degree to try and figure out how to do it. This plugin is everything I like in a plugin – it’s easy to use and best all of – its totally free and for that reason alone (I’m sure there are many other reasons) … well deserving of a 5-Star rating. Well done! This topic was modified 1 month ago by joiidigitalservices.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ srilankansam

   3mo ago

   I started using Media Cleaner plugin for wordpress and it had made my work many times easier, so I save a lot of time. Thank you!

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ kaiyoma

   3mo ago

   This plugin found all sorts of orphaned image issues that I had no idea about, after I did a large data migration. Really, really useful, and another great job by Jordy.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ tserepka

   3mo ago

   Easy click & go, the thing does work fine.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ gasbas74

   3mo ago

   I need to delete over 46,000 images, 80% of our repository?? 🙁 Although I’ve noticed multiple copies of a file that otherwise doesn’t show up in our media library (for obvious reasons, it’s a WordPress thing), I couldn’t believe the number. That said, I made a backup, went ahead with the cleanup, and, guess what, half our website broke down. No choice but to revert to the previous version. For me, the plugin is useless.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ fifthbeam

   3mo ago

   I have a site that was redesigned over a year ago. At the time, we had roughly 2.5GB of files on the server, and we knew a large portion of them were no longer being used after major sections of the site were removed. Media Cleaner removed 1.4GB of dead images, videos, and leftover files from our server. FifthBeam Out of the 10,625 files Media Cleaner identified, only 6 were false positives. Even better, 3 or 4 of those were caused by “.webp” being appended to otherwise correct filenames. That level of accuracy is seriously impressive. If you run a media-heavy WordPress site, unused files add up fast. Media Cleaner saved us a massive amount of time, storage space, and frustration. Highly recommended.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 7.2.4 Fix: Stopped a single oversized media reference from aborting the whole scan. Update: Moved the unsupported plugins warning into the free version box as a compact note next to the Pro button. 7.2.4
2. — Version 7.2.3 Fix: Trash recovery no longer requires a scan — recovered files are always available regardless of scan state. Add: Dashboard now shows a cleanup status message explaining when a fresh scan is needed. Update: Trash butto 7.2.3
3. — Version 7.2.2 Add: MCP tools so an AI assistant can scan, review and clean up through AI Engine Add: Parser for background images stored in core block attributes Update: Reworked the references view into four meaningful columns with m 7.2.2
4. — Version 7.2.1 Fix: Hotfix — Restored shortcode analysis and lenient upload URL matching to fix false positives introduced in 7.2.0. 🎵 Discuss with others about Media Cleaner on the Discord . 🌴 Keep us motivated with a little review 7.2.1
5. — Version 7.2.0 Add: Resumable, checkpointed scan runs with staged results that publish only after complete analysis. Add: Private quarantine storage, file identity validation, and idempotent cleanup operations. Fix: Graceful handling o 7.2.0
6. — Version 7.1.1 Update: Full Cornerstone Parser coverage with URL references and improved data parsing. Update: Refactored URL detection to work with relative URLs. Add: Confirmation prompt before deleting the Cleaner database. Fix: Spe 7.1.1

2 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

1. Medium · 4.1 Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress! <= 7.0.3 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Server-Side Request Forgery ↗
   2026-07-27 CVE-2026-4912 Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) Affects <= 7.0.3 Patched in 7.0.6
2. Medium · 5.3 Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress! <= 6.7.2 - Unauthenticated Information Exposure ↗
   2024-04-29 CVE-2024-33922 Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File Affects <= 6.7.2 Patched in 6.7.3

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

Translated into 26 languages, 3 at 90% or more

Plus 2 more locales with partial translations.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2025-04-17 80K+ → 90K+ up after 310 days in tier
2. 2024-06-11 70K+ → 80K+ up after 1 days in tier
3. 2024-06-10 80K+ → 70K+ down after 4 days in tier
4. 2024-06-06 70K+ → 80K+ up after 449 days in tier
5. 2023-03-15 60K+ → 70K+ up after 148 days in tier
6. 2022-10-18 50K+ → 60K+ up

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

• Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 4 shared tags B
• Clean Image Filenames 30K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags B
• Media Library Downloader 4K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags A
• Polaroid Gallery 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags D
• Media Library Assistant 70K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A
• Media Library Categories 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A

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Drop a live Pulse card for Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress! into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Media Cleaner: Clean your WordPress!: 90K+ active installs, 4.6★ (765 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-25. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/media-cleaner