[Support request] How To Check For Duplicate Images

[Ryan]

It is my understanding that WordPress makes backup copies of images. How can I check to make sure that images that are not being used are deleted? I would prefer to do this manually instead of using a plugin.

[Leo]

Hi there,

It is my understanding that WordPress makes backup copies of images.

Hmm I’m not sure if that’s the case?

I would recommend opening a support topic with WordPress’ support team for a definite answer as this isn’t a theme-related issue.

[Ryan]

So what is the best way to check to see if I have files/images that I am not using and can be deleted?

[Leo]

I usually just go through the media library manually.

[Ryan]

That is what I had been doing. So when you do this, it will delete any backup copies made? My main issue is with loading speed and I want to reduce as many third party requests as possible.

[Leo]

So when you do this, it will delete any backup copies made?

I’m not aware of any backup copies for files in the media library.

If you need to dig deeper into this and get a definite answer, please check with WordPress’ support team.

The theme itself does not handle the media library at all.

[Ryan]

This has been brought up before in other forums. But I’m still not sure how to handle it manually.

https://generatepress.com/forums/topic/why-wordpress-is-generating-additional-image-copies/

[Elvin]

Hi Ryan,

So what is the best way to check to see if I have files/images that I am not using and can be deleted?

You can use plugins like WP-Optimize, Media cleaner or WPS cleaner for this.

There are plugins that scan through the page and media library to see if any of the images in it are used as an attachment to any parts of the site and lets you have the option to delete them.

[Ryan]

So as I stated in the very first post of this thread, I am looking to do this without a plugin. I really try to avoid installing plugins every time I need something done as it reduces the sites loading time.

Leo said he wasn’t aware that backup copies were made which is weird because I hear people complain about it all of the time in these forums. I am just looking for a simple manual way to do it without a plugin. Other than cleaning up my media library, what else can I do?

[Ryan]

No response in over a week. Really awesome customer support from this forum.

[Elvin]

No response in over a week. Really awesome customer support from this forum.

The notification for the last reply must’ve been lost in the system. We sincerely apologize for this one.

So as I stated in the very first post of this thread, I am looking to do this without a plugin. I really try to avoid installing plugins every time I need something done as it reduces the sites loading time.

This is going to be tricky because this isn’t exactly within the scope of functionality of the theme as this directly deals w/ media file management which is a WordPress core function.

The development effort required to create and verify if a snippet works 100% safely or w/ minor passable issues is pretty much already done by plugin developers and its community’s beta testers. This is actually why we recommend plugins for this specific one.

Also, if the worry is about taking a performance hit on site performance testing tools:

This is a backend process so it shouldn’t affect the site’s front-end performance. And you can always uninstall the cleanup plugin once you’re done with it. It’s like shelving a broom once you’re done sweeping. :d

Leo said he wasn’t aware that backup copies were made which is weird because I hear people complain about it all of the time in these forums. I am just looking for a simple manual way to do it without a plugin. Other than cleaning up my media library, what else can I do?

To clarify, if want you meant w/ backup copies is actual duplicate entries of image appearing on the media library then that is unusual because the theme nor WordPress does NOT do this automatically.

If what you mean was the SRCSET images being generated from an uploaded image, then Leo’s definitely aware of that. Perhaps this was a simple misunderstanding w/ the terms.

If the issue is specifically about SRCSET WordPress generates:

This entirely depends on what are the registered image sizes on your site. You can disable/remove registered image sizes and then Delete > Regenerate using a plugin like Regenerate Thumbnails (which is again, a backend process. doesn’t affect front-end. You can always ununstall once you’re done w/ it.)

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