Thumbnail Manager

1. 01Install the plugin through the WordPress Plugins screen, or upload it to /wp-content/plugins/thumbnail-manager/ .
2. 02Activate Thumbnail Manager.
3. 03Go to Tools > Thumbnail Manager .
4. 04Run Recommendations and review the result for your theme and plugins.
5. 05Configure future Thumbnail Sizes before regenerating or cleaning files.
6. 06Back up the uploads directory before approving cleanup on a production site.

Can I regenerate thumbnails after changing image sizes?

Yes. Only Missing creates absent sub-sizes and honors the sizes currently enabled in Thumbnail Sizes . Force Regenerate rebuilds the selected attachments more comprehensively from an available original image source and follows the same enabled-size policy.

Regenerate can process all media, current-year images, one uploads folder, or specific image attachments. Choose the narrowest useful scope before starting a large job.

Can it clean unused generated thumbnails?

Yes. Prune Files first builds a manifest for review. Nothing is deleted until the scan finishes and an administrator explicitly approves that manifest.

Will it delete original images?

No. Original full-size uploads are protected. Cleanup candidates must also pass path, ownership, source, and manifest checks.

Can I scan several upload folders?

Yes, in Prune Files . Search for and select multiple years or months. Selecting an entire year automatically covers its month folders.

Is it suitable for a large Media Library?

Yes. Recommendations, regeneration, scanning, manifest creation, and deletion use persistent jobs and bounded batches that can resume after interruption.

What happens if I close the page during a job?

The job state remains in the database. Reload the admin page to resume it. Cancelling stops future batches while retaining an audit record.

Can Prune Files delete old disk-only thumbnails?

Only when they can be verified conservatively. You can opt in to verified legacy thumbnails for currently disabled sizes, and separately opt in to verified historical thumbnails from sizes that are no longer registered. Unmapped filename matches, ambiguous files, sidecars, edit/backup-like siblings, and other files without sufficient ownership evidence are preserved by default.

Is it safe for WooCommerce sites?

The plugin recognizes WooCommerce-related sizes in Recommendations, but storefront requirements vary. Verify the sizes used by your store before disabling or pruning them.

Does disabling a size unregister it from a theme or plugin?

No. It changes which registered sizes WordPress generates for future uploads and regeneration. The original registration remains in place.

What data remains after deactivation or plugin deletion?

Deactivation clears Thumbnail Manager’s scheduled cleanup task but retains settings, job history, recovery evidence, and media-reference data. Deleting the plugin files intentionally retains the same database state and does not delete attachment metadata, uploads, generated thumbnails, or recovery files. This retained state may be reused after reinstall, subject to the plugin’s normal expiry, ownership, and authorization checks. Remove retained database data separately only if your site’s privacy and recovery requirements allow it.