Remove Extra Media
Use Remove Extra Media to remove extra media attachments from your selected post types.
Consider an alternative
Remove Extra Media shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 11 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.3 (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 Remove Extra Media stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| media | >100 |
| posts | >100 |
| remove | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Remove Extra Media
From the official readme · v1.1.1Description
Use Remove Extra Media to remove extra media attachments from your selected post types.
In my use case, my testimonials widgets post types in some cases, for whatever reason, had up to 7 extra media attachments related to them. I wanted a quick way to clear those excess out. Considering that the only image or media attachment a testimonial should have was the featured, I simply removed all the others.
This tool works by removing the attachment relationship as this saves the media file in case it’s used by other attachments. Using wp_delete_attachment would delete the media file, which is something to avoid.
Primary Features
- API
- Ajax based processing screen
- Media isn’t deleted, only unattached from post type entry
- Settings export/import
- Settings screen
- Variable allowed media count
Settings Options
General
- Post Type – Post type to remove excess media from.
- Media Limit – Number of media items to limit selected post types to. Count includes featured image.
Testing
- Debug Mode – Bypass Ajax controller to handle posts_to_import directly for testing purposes.
- Posts to Import – A CSV list of post ids to import, like ‘1,2,3’.
- Skip Importing Posts – A CSV list of post ids to not import, like ‘1,2,3’.
- Import Limit – Useful for testing import on a limited amount of posts. 0 or blank means unlimited.
Compatibility & Reset
- Export Settings – These are your current settings in a serialized format. Copy the contents to make a backup of your settings.
- Import Settings – Paste new serialized settings here to overwrite your current configuration.
- Remove Plugin Data on Deletion? – Delete all Remove Extra Media data and options from database on plugin deletion
- Reset to Defaults? – Check this box to reset options to their defaults
Notes
TBD
API
- Read the Remove Extra Media API.
Localization
You can translate this plugin into your own language if it’s not done so already. The localization file remove-extra-media.pot can be found in the languages folder of this plugin. After translation, please send the localized file for plugin inclusion.
- Serbian by Ognjen Djuraskovic
- Spanish by Ognjen Djuraskovic
Installation
Requirements
- TBD
Install Methods
- Through WordPress Admin > Plugins > Add New, Search for “Remove Extra Media”
- Find “Remove Extra Media”
- Click “Install Now” of “Remove Extra Media”
- Download
remove-extra-media.ziplocally- Through WordPress Admin > Plugins > Add New
- Click Upload
- “Choose File”
remove-extra-media.zip - Click “Install Now”
- Download and unzip
remove-extra-media.ziplocally- Using FTP, upload directory
remove-extra-mediato your website’s/wp-content/plugins/directory
- Using FTP, upload directory
Activation Options
- Activate the “Remove Extra Media” plugin after uploading
- Activate the “Remove Extra Media” plugin through WordPress Admin > Plugins
Usage
- Configure through WordPress Admin > Settings > Remove Extra Media
- Process posts and such via WordPress Admin > Tools > Remove Extra Media
Upgrading
- Through WordPress
- Via WordPress Admin > Dashboard > Updates, click “Check Again”
- Select plugins for update, click “Update Plugins”
- Using FTP
- Download and unzip
remove-extra-media.ziplocally - Upload directory
remove-extra-mediato your website’s/wp-content/plugins/directory - Be sure to overwrite your existing
remove-extra-mediafolder contents
- Download and unzip
Screenshots
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Remove Extra Media alternatives
All media plugins →
FAQ
Remove Extra Media: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 10, 2026
Is Remove Extra Media free?
Yes. Remove Extra Media is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Remove Extra Media safe to use in 2026?
Remove Extra Media shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Remove Extra Media?
Remove Extra Media is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 2,473 times since it launched in September 2013. It was downloaded 54 times in the last 30 days.
Does Remove Extra Media work with WordPress 7.1?
Remove Extra Media is officially tested up to WordPress 4.3.0, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Remove Extra Media last updated?
The latest version, 1.1.1, was released on June 18, 2015 (11 years ago).
Who makes Remove Extra Media?
Remove Extra Media is developed and maintained by Michael Cannon.
What are the best alternatives to Remove Extra Media?
The most popular alternatives to Remove Extra Media are Safe SVG (1M+ installs), FileBird (200K+ installs) and Media Cleaner: Delete Unuse… (90K+ installs).
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