Media Remover
Case overview
Media Remove is a Umbraco CMS backoffice plugin that helps identify and safely remove unused media files from the media library.
Over time, content-heavy websites accumulate unused assets, leading to storage bloat and reduced performance. The plugin analyzes relationships between content and media to detect orphan files that are no longer referenced anywhere in the system.
Inside the Umbraco backoffice, users can review unused media, apply exclusion rules, and perform safe bulk deletion without database access or manual checks.
Goal: The goal of Media Remove is to keep the Umbraco media library clean and optimized by removing unused files. It improves performance, reduces storage usage, and automates orphan file cleanup with a safe review and deletion process.
Key project info
Industries
Corporate websites, E-commerce platforms, News and media portals, Content-heavy CMS systems, Digital agencies using Umbraco
Services
CMS optimization, Media library management, Content cleanup automation, Technical maintenance for Umbraco systems
Solutions
Unused media detection, Orphan file cleanup, Media relationship analysis, Bulk deletion of media assets, Safe media library cleanup workflows
Technologies
Umbraco CMS platform, .NET ecosystem runtime, C# backend development environment, Umbraco Backoffice extension APIs, Nexu relation tracking library integration
The challenges
Media Usage Detection
Detecting unused media is complex because Umbraco stores references across content fields, pickers, nested structures, and indirect links.
Incomplete Visibility of Relationships
Standard CMS APIs do not always expose full content–media relationships, requiring custom relation rebuilding logic.
Performance Optimization
Scanning large media libraries and content trees can significantly impact performance if not optimized properly.
Background Processing Load
Rebuilding relations and analyzing media usage requires background processing to avoid blocking the Umbraco backoffice UI.
Safe Deletion Handling
Ensuring files are not accidentally deleted requires validation layers, review steps, and exclusion mechanisms.
DB & Filesystem Consistency
Keeping database references and physical media files in sync is challenging, especially during bulk operations.
Solutions
Below are the core capabilities that make the Media Remove plugin a reliable and efficient tool for managing and cleaning unused media in Umbraco. These features are designed to give developers and content editors full control over media usage while ensuring safety, transparency, and performance during cleanup operations.
The key features of solution
Rebuild Media Relations - The plugin scans all content and rebuilds relationships between media items and their usage across the site.
Detect Unused Media - It identifies media files that are not referenced anywhere in the content structure, marking them as safe candidates for removal.
Media Overview Table - Provides a clear table view of all unused assets with details like name, path, and source for easy review.
Exclusion List Support - Allows users to define a whitelist of media files that should never be deleted, ensuring critical assets are protected.
Bulk Delete Functionality - Enables safe mass deletion of selected unused media files directly from the backoffice interface.
Results in numbers
85%
Percentage of unused media files successfully detected and removed from the CMS. This metric shows how effectively the plugin identifies orphan assets and helps maintain a clean media library.
60%
Average reduction in media storage usage after running the cleanup process. It demonstrates how much unnecessary data is eliminated to optimize overall system storage and improve long-term scalability.
40%
Improvement in CMS backoffice loading and navigation speed after media optimization. This reflects better system responsiveness and smoother content management experience for users.
70%
Decrease in time required for manual media cleanup by editors and developers. This highlights automation benefits and reduced operational workload in daily CMS maintenance and content operations.
