Title: s404 Orphaned Attachment Scanner Author: surviving404 Published: June 19, 2026 Last modified: June 19, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/assets/banner-772x250.png? rev=3578299) ![](https://ps.w.org/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev =3578299) # s404 Orphaned Attachment Scanner By [surviving404](https://profiles.wordpress.org/surviving404/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner.1.1.4.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/) ## Description **s404 Orphaned Attachment Scanner** helps you find and remove media files that are sitting in your WordPress Media Library but are not used anywhere in your installation— not in posts, pages, widgets, theme customizer, ACF fields, WooCommerce products, page-builder data, or any active plugin’s settings. #### Features * **Batched AJAX scan** — never times out on large libraries * **9 detection layers** — post content, post meta, featured images, widgets, theme customizer, ACF, WooCommerce, page builders (Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, Bricks…), ALL active plugin wp_options * **Filesystem scan** — checks theme files and optionally the entire WP installation for hard-coded references * **Format filtering** — scan only images, video, audio, documents, or specific formats (JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG…) * **Age threshold** — only flag files older than N days, protecting freshly uploaded assets * **Trash & Permanent Delete** — move items to Trash for safety (requires `define(' MEDIA_TRASH', true);` in your `wp-config.php` to enable the media bin) * **Deletion log** — every action is recorded with timestamp and username in your local history * **Bulk actions** — select, trash, delete, exclude, or export to CSV * **Exclusion list** — permanently hide specific IDs, MIME types, or path patterns from scan results * **Scheduled scans** — WP-Cron with daily/weekly/monthly frequency and optional email report * **Developer hooks** — `s404as_is_attachment_used` filter, `s404as_before_delete`/` s404as_after_delete` actions #### Usage 1. Go to **Tools S404OrphanedAttachmentScanner** 2. Optionally select format filters 3. Click **Start Scan** 4. Review results — preview thumbnails, file sizes, MIME types 5. Select items and use bulk actions, or use per-row buttons 6. Export a CSV for your records before deleting ## Screenshots [⌊Dashboard — scan controls with format filters⌉⌊Dashboard — scan controls with format filters⌉[ Dashboard — scan controls with format filters [⌊Results table — sorted by file size with bulk actions⌉⌊Results table — sorted by file size with bulk actions⌉[ Results table — sorted by file size with bulk actions ## Installation 1. Upload the `s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/` 2. Activate through **Plugins Installed Plugins** 3. Navigate to **Tools S404OrphanedAttachmentScanner** ## FAQ ### Will this delete anything automatically? No. The plugin never deletes anything automatically. All destructive actions require explicit user confirmation. ### What is the “Filesystem” detector? It searches your active theme’s PHP/HTML/JS/CSS files for any hard-coded references to an image’s filename or URL. You can also enable full-installation scanning (all files under ABSPATH) in Settings. ### Can I protect specific images from being flagged? Yes — add their attachment IDs to the Exclusions list in Settings, or click the “ Exclude” button on any result row. ### Does it work with WooCommerce / ACF / Elementor? Yes. The relevant detectors activate automatically when those plugins are present. ### Why is the “Trash” button not working or missing in Media Library? By default, WordPress disables the recycle bin for media files. To enable it and make the “Move to Trash” button functional, add this line to your `wp-config.php` file: define( ‘MEDIA_TRASH’, true ); ### What PHP version is required? PHP 7.4 or higher. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “s404 Orphaned Attachment Scanner” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ surviving404 ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/surviving404/) [Translate “s404 Orphaned Attachment Scanner” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.0.0 * Initial release ## Meta * Version **1.1.4** * Last updated **2 weeks ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 6.3 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.1** * PHP version ** 8.2 or higher ** * Tags * [attachment](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/attachment/)[cleaner](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/cleaner/) [images](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/images/)[media](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/media/) [orphaned](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/orphaned/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ surviving404 ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/surviving404/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/s404-orphaned-attachment-scanner/)