Delete Thumbnails
Delete thumbnails & resized images from your Media Library Delete some or all of WordPress’s resized images (thumbnails, medium, and large, plus extra ones Plugins/Themes make secretly) This can clear thousands of…
Consider an alternative
Delete Thumbnails shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 3.9/5 and was last updated 9 years ago, and scores 33/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- No update in 9 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.8 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Delete Thumbnails stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| delete | >100 |
| images | >100 |
| library | >100 |
| media | >100 |
| thumbnails | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 3.9 from 15 reviews
About Delete Thumbnails
From the official readme · v2.2Description
Delete thumbnails & resized images from your Media Library
- Delete some or all of WordPress’s resized images (thumbnails, medium, and large, plus extra ones Plugins/Themes make secretly)
- This can clear thousands of unwanted files from your uploads directory
- Useful if you’ve had lots of different theme/plugins over the years, and inadvertently accumulated a vast number of resized images that are no longer used by your site
Take careful note
- Deleting is permanent
- You can use this plugin to regenerate your Media Library after (as WordPress will need the default sizes)
Please Note
- 🍺 This is a recently revived and re-written plugin, the bad reviews were correct for the old versions, but not current version. If you experience any issues, please open a support request, I’m happy to help fix any issues and help plugin grow.
Road Map
The current todo list
- [ ] Add css animation/color to nag inputs when clicking disabled button
- [ ] Add
count($this->library)result as ‘exempt’ in main info banner to assure Media Library items are safe - [ ] Add size range filters (ie: delete resized that are within x – y restraints)
- [ ] Make
Viewlink work off of a Lightbox instead of a new browser tab - [ ] Please add any additional requests into the Support tab.
Installation
- Install the plugin from your Plugin browser, or download the plugin and extract the files and upload
delete-thumbnailsto your/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- View the Delete Thumbnails interface under Tools in your WordPress Admin
Changelog
all clear, blue sky
2.2
- July 6, 2017
- Fixed 3 instances of PHP shorttags which’d break plugin on most server setups
2.1
- June 27, 2017
- Removed image header argument (seeing if image was compressed at WordPress’s default 82%) as it only works with resized JPG’s, not PNGs
2.0
- June 25, 2017
- Project revival
- Code overhaul/rewrite
- Added better assets
- Much cleaner and WordPress native looking interface, no more code-line look
- Readme, UI, and inline documentation corrected and improved
- Improved logic of deletion
- Improved logic for form submission with low
max_input_varsvalues in mind - better detection of thumbnails & cross checking media library attachments
1.0
- Sept 29, 2014
- Public Launch
0.1
- July 6, 2014
- Initial Build, private use
Screenshots
For developers
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Best Delete Thumbnails alternatives
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FAQ
Delete Thumbnails: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 5, 2026
Is Delete Thumbnails free?
Yes. Delete Thumbnails is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Delete Thumbnails safe to use in 2026?
Delete Thumbnails shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 3.9/5 and was last updated 9 years ago, and scores 33/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Delete Thumbnails?
Delete Thumbnails is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 8,812 times since it launched in November 2014. It was downloaded 81 times in the last 30 days.
Does Delete Thumbnails work with WordPress 7.1?
Delete Thumbnails is officially tested up to WordPress 4.8.32, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Delete Thumbnails last updated?
The latest version, 2.2, was released on July 6, 2017 (9 years ago).
Who makes Delete Thumbnails?
Delete Thumbnails is developed and maintained by David Sword.
What are the best alternatives to Delete Thumbnails?
The most popular alternatives to Delete Thumbnails are WP Bulk Delete (90K+ installs), Bulk Delete (30K+ installs) and Simple Revisions Delete (10K+ installs).
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