Do I need a cloud service or paid credits?
No. All processing runs on your own server. There are no conversion fees, usage credits, or third-party watermarks.
Will it optimize images I already uploaded?
New uploads are optimized with the current settings as soon as the plugin is active. Images already in the Media Library keep their current files until you recompress them (or enable automatic re-compression). Recompression is also the way to generate WebP / AVIF for images that were uploaded before those options were enabled.
Should I recompress it?
Not required for day-to-day use. Recompress when you want existing uploads to follow new quality settings, or when you want WebP / AVIF created for images that do not have them yet.
What is the difference between recompression and automatic optimization?
Recompression rebuilds resized images (and optional WebP / AVIF) from the original upload using your quality settings. Automatic optimization is an optional background process that further lowers quality step by step while watching visual quality (SSIM), and it can raise the level again if images look too blocky or soft. You can use recompression alone. Automatic optimization is enabled by default when the setting has not been saved yet; a previously saved Enable or Disable choice is kept.
Both can increase server load when many images are processed at once — especially bulk recompression — so run large jobs in smaller batches on shared hosting.
What is automatic optimization?
It lowers the quality level of each resized image until the target visual quality is reached, using SSIM (structural similarity) as an objective quality metric. When SSIM alone might allow too much compression, a secondary check based on edge detection looks for block noise and similar artifacts and raises the quality level if needed. This process runs automatically in the background, one image after another.
On shared or low-resource hosts, lower the auto-optimize concurrency if the server becomes busy.
Does automatic optimization support WebP uploads?
Yes. When you upload a WebP image, it can be optimized as well.
What do I need on the server for WebP and AVIF?
WebP can be generated when your PHP image library supports it (Imagick and/or GD with WebP), or when the optional cwebp-based extension is available. AVIF needs a library that can encode AVIF (Imagick with AVIF support, and/or GD with imageavif ). The plugin settings screen shows whether WebP and AVIF are available on your server. JPEG and PNG compression work with the usual WordPress image editors even when next-gen formats are unavailable.
Do I need to rewrite image URLs for WebP or AVIF?
No. Content can keep the usual JPEG / PNG URLs. On compatible servers, the plugin places an .htaccess file under /wp-content/uploads so browsers that send Accept: image/avif or image/webp receive those files when they exist. AVIF is preferred over WebP when both are available.
Will WebP / AVIF delivery work with a CDN or nginx?
On typical WordPress hosting, Apache serves uploads and honors .htaccess , so you usually do not need extra setup. Shared hosting almost always falls into this case. Many setups that put nginx in front as a reverse proxy still proxy static uploads to Apache, so the same .htaccess rules often continue to work. You mainly need custom rules if the site is pure nginx (no Apache .htaccess ) or if a CDN caches the JPEG / PNG response without respecting the Accept / Vary headers. In those environments, configure equivalent content negotiation on the CDN or web server.
Can I use this with WooCommerce?
Yes. You can set different quality levels per image size, so catalog thumbnails can stay light while larger product images remain sharper.
The image sharpness of WebP is not good.
Raise the quality level of WebP. Test the file size and image quality to decide the quality level.
If WebP still looks soft at a practical file size, enable AVIF as well when your server supports it. AVIF often keeps finer detail at a smaller size than WebP, and supporting browsers will receive AVIF preferentially.
Does the image lose quality if I change the quality level many times and recompress it?
No. When recompressing, the plugin resizes and compresses from the original upload, so quality does not degrade across generations.
Can EXIF data be deleted individually for each item?
No. You can only choose to strip all EXIF data or keep it.
Can I delete EXIF from uploaded images?
Yes. Recompression applies the current EXIF setting. EXIF that has already been removed cannot be restored.
Does disabling the plugin stop the automatic delivery of WebP / AVIF?
Yes. On deactivation, the plugin removes its .htaccess rules. If you keep an equivalent .htaccess in /wp-content/uploads , delivery can continue after the plugin is deactivated.
Do this plugin’s settings override the ‘jpeg_quality’ filter?
Yes. The quality levels set in this plugin take precedence over WordPress’s jpeg_quality filter.
How do I uninstall the plugin?
Deactivate it, then delete it from the Plugins screen. Deactivation removes the .htaccess rules used for WebP / AVIF delivery. Optimized image files remain in your uploads folder. Plugin settings stored in the database are not removed automatically; use Reset Settings before uninstalling if you want to clear them.
Recompressing with a higher quality does not improve the image.
Your browser may still be showing a cached file. Try a hard refresh or clear the browser cache. This plugin can also append a cache-clearing query string when an image file changes. If the original upload itself is low quality, recompression cannot make it sharper than that original.
What does “Delete Original Large Images” do?
When a very large photo (for example from a smartphone) is uploaded and WordPress creates a -scaled image, this option deletes the unused original full-size file. That original is not referenced anywhere, so removing it helps free server storage.
