Nova Media Cleaner – Duplicate Finder, Clean Unused Images & Media Library Optimizer

Nova Media Cleaner is a safety-first media library cleaner and optimizer for WordPress. It finds exact duplicate images, detects unused files sitting in your uploads folder, and repairs media references that point at files that no longer exist, so your Media Library stays small, fast and free of clutter.

Nothing is deleted behind your back. Every scan is read-only. Every deletion starts with a side-by-side comparison and a confirmation step. You always see what is about to change before it changes.

What does it do?

• Finds exact duplicate images using cryptographic hash matching, so two files are only called duplicates when they are identical, byte for byte.
• Finds unused media that is not attached to or referenced by anything on your site.
• Repairs broken media references, including the Elementor SVG icons that quietly render blank after a migration or import.
• Protects your content by remapping references from a removed duplicate to the file you keep, so posts and pages do not end up with broken images.

Who is it for?

Site owners, agencies and developers who manage sites that have grown over the years, been migrated between hosts, been rebuilt with a page builder, or collected thousands of uploads that nobody can account for.

Why Nova? (The Migration/Elementor Problem)

Most media cleaners only answer one question: “which files are duplicated or unused?” Nova Media Cleaner also answers the one that hurts after a migration: “which of my pages point at media that is no longer there?”

Here is what happens. When a site is migrated or its media is re-imported, your files often come back with brand-new Media Library IDs, while your pages, theme settings and widgets still point at the old IDs. Elementor draws an uploaded SVG icon from the stored attachment ID alone and ignores the image address saved beside it. The result: icons and images render as empty space, even though the file is sitting right there in your Media Library.

WordPress shows no warning. Clearing caches does nothing, because nothing is cached wrong.

Broken Media References fixes this:

1. Run the scan. It only reads; nothing is changed.
2. Nova finds pages, theme settings and widgets whose media ID points to a missing item, and tells apart icons that are not showing at all from references that are stale but still visible.
3. For each one it finds the matching file in your library and offers to repoint the reference.
4. You click Repair on a specific item, and only that one reference is touched. Repairs are backed up and can be undone.

If the file is only in the Trash, Nova tells you to restore it. If the file is genuinely gone, Nova tells you a backup is needed instead of guessing.

Free Features

The free plugin is fully functional on its own. No license key, no account and no usage limits are needed for these features:

• Exact duplicate finder – cryptographic hash matching finds files that are identical byte for byte. No false positives from files that merely look alike.
• Unassigned media scanner – detects unused files sitting in wp-content/uploads and shows how many there are and how much storage they use. It checks posts, pages, products, widgets, theme settings, the Customizer, ACF and custom fields, and popular page builders.
• Side-by-side comparison modal – compare a duplicate with the original (file name, dimensions, size, upload date and where it is used) before you take any action.
• Broken Media References and Elementor SVG repair – find media IDs that point to non-existent items and repair them with one click.
• Safe by design – scans are read-only by default, every delete needs confirmation, removed duplicates go to the native WordPress Trash so they stay recoverable, and repairs are backed up and reversible.
• Automatic reference remapping – when a duplicate is removed, links in content, widgets and settings are pointed at the file you keep.
• Usage detection – checks Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, Avada and Beaver Builder data, ACF fields, site logo, favicon and theme options, so files that are in use are protected.
• Built for large libraries – batched scans with a progress bar and a media usage index keep scanning fast and timeout-safe.
• Local fonts, no tracking – the admin interface loads bundled fonts only and sends no data to third parties for the free features.

Pro Features

Nova Media Cleaner Pro is a separate, optional add-on sold at nova-media-cleaner.netlify.app. It builds on the free plugin for agencies and larger sites:

• Perceptual visual similarity matching – find resized, slightly cropped or re-saved copies that are not byte-identical.
• Automated WebP conversion and compression engine – convert and compress images with high-fidelity quality presets, with backups and one-click restore.
• Deep codebase file scanning – inspects your active theme and child theme PHP, template files and plugin assets for hard-coded media references, to prevent false positives before anything is removed.
• Automated background cleanups – scheduled WP-Cron cleanups, so your library stays tidy without manual runs.
• Unassigned media cleanup tools – review and bulk-clean unused files, with staging trash and a configurable retention period.
• SEO media renamer and bulk alt text tools.
• Priority 1-on-1 agency support.

The free plugin never stops working if you do not upgrade. Learn more at nova-media-cleaner.netlify.app.

External Services

This plugin’s Pro License Activation feature connects to the Lemon Squeezy licensing API to activate, validate, and deactivate a Nova Media Cleaner Pro license key. This connection is only made when you (or a site administrator) enter a license key on the Settings > License screen, or automatically once per day afterward to confirm the license is still valid.

Data sent: your license key and a site identifier (your domain name) are sent to Lemon Squeezy.

This service is used exclusively for the optional Pro upgrade and is not required to use the core (free) features of this plugin.

• Service: Lemon Squeezy
• Terms of Service: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/terms
• Privacy Policy: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/privacy