Published: June 15, 2026
by Katie Hemmeter
Is your WordPress media library a hot mess? Does it seem like images or documents you’re sure you’ve uploaded have disappeared into cyberspace? Would you like to organize your media library and make it easier to manage?
YOU CAN! Here are some great ways to tame the media library beast.
Dumping Duplication
The first thing you can do is to STOP doing something. Some people don’t know that you can reuse images or files you’ve previously uploaded. But you can! So stop re-uploading the same image every time you use it. Just find the image you uploaded the first time and plop it where you want it. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Of course this rule doesn’t apply if you need an image to be a different size. You’ll definitely have to upload a new, resized version for that to avoid stretching and distortion.
File Organization
If you have a large library with hundreds or thousands of files, you’ll probably benefit from even some basic organization. There are various plugins that can help with that, but the one we use is Filebird. It lets you sort your images into custom folders.
The free version will get you up to 10 folders, which should be enough to do some simple sorting like we’ve done in the image above, and if you have more elaborate organizational needs, you can get the premium version of Filebird which offers additional features and benefits.
File Naming & Details
Maybe you’re not reusing files because they seem impossible to find when you need them. If you ever need to find a file to reuse, maybe a logo or a document to link to, you can search the media library. But that search probably won’t go well if your file has a weird name, a default name, or no name saved in WordPress at all.
Say you need to find a sponsor’s logo but that logo was uploaded as an image file called img-8675309.jpg. If you need that logo again, unless you remember that wonky name it’s going to be hard to find. Do yourself a favor, and before you upload the file to WordPress, make sure it’s named appropriately. (And sized appropriately! Read our image optimization post for how to do that.)
Also, to reduce confusion and extra work later, when you upload a file to WordPress, add its details right away. This way you won’t forget. Instead of “img-7732025582.jpg” for logo, give your file a short, accurate name like the one in the image above, then add a name in the WordPress media attachment details. This is also a good time to add your alt text so it’s ready to go. Many images are used decoratively and do not need alt text, but you can add it just in case. Good alt text describes the image and gives context for those with vision impairments.
Clean Up Old Files
Give those images a spring cleaning, no matter the season. Yes, you can delete files from your WordPress media library if you are no longer using them! Keeping your library clean will not only make it easier to find things, but it will also make web director Katie happy. She hates clutter. Also, removing old files has the added benefit of keeping your WordPress storage less full. This is only necessary if you have a very large site and your hosting account is short on storage space. That 10 year old video file from a one-off event that’s 10MB and is no longer relevant? DELETE IT! BYE FELICIA!!! Got photos of staff members that have since moved on or interns from 2003? No need to keep those. Photos be gone!
There are two reasons you should keep old files. The first is if they are used in a blog post or archived content that you want to keep. Just make sure to go through them carefully if you aren’t sure. The second reason is if you are a government-type entity and are required to have archives or not delete content, you should probably obey that directive. You’ll know if this applies to you.
Final Thoughts
If you don’t want to organize, that’s fine. If you don’t care about clutter or making web director Katie happy, that’s also fine. But if you do one thing from now on, let it be naming your files. We promise it will make dealing with the media library so much easier. And when you ask us if we can swap an image on your site and we can easily and quickly find the image you want to use because it has a name that makes sense, we’ll be very happy. Very. But don’t do it just for us. Do it for yourself. When your WordPress files are in order, the rest of your world might just follow suit.