Description
Thumbnail Manager is a powerful tool to take full control over your WordPress image system.
Instead of letting themes and plugins generate dozens of unnecessary thumbnails, you can now:
- Control which sizes are created
- Remove unused thumbnails safely
- Regenerate only what you actually need
All in one place.
🚀 What it does
1. Regenerate Thumbnails (NEW)
– Regenerate thumbnails based on your current enabled sizes
– Works in batches with progress tracking (no timeout issues)
– Perfect after disabling unwanted sizes
– Ensures your Media Library stays consistent and optimized
2. Prune Unused Thumbnails
– Select sizes you want to KEEP
– Automatically detect and remove all other generated thumbnails
– Supports:
– Registered sizes
– Orphan -WxH files
– .webp, .bak, @2x, -1 variants
3. Orphan File Discovery
– Detect leftover thumbnails no longer registered
– Clean legacy sizes from old themes/plugins
– Optional aggressive cleanup mode
4. Disable Sizes for Future Uploads
– Prevent unnecessary thumbnails from being generated
– Reduce storage usage going forward
– Keeps your system lean and predictable
5. Scoped Processing
– Limit operations to specific folders (year/month)
– Safer testing on large Media Libraries
❌ What it does NOT do
- It does NOT delete original full-size images
- It does NOT modify image quality or compression
- It does NOT replace image optimization plugins
- It does not automatically run actions without your confirmation
🎯 Who is it for?
- WooCommerce stores with heavy image usage
- Sites using multiple themes/page builders
- Developers cleaning legacy media bloat
- Anyone hitting disk limits or slow backups
Features
- 3-tab UI: Regenerate, Prune Files, Thumbnail Sizes
- Batch processing with AJAX (no timeouts)
- Dry-run preview before deletion
- Smart orphan detection
- Progress bars + live feedback
- Future upload size control
- Multisite compatible (run per site)
Usage
Regenerate (Recommended flow)
- Go to Thumbnail Sizes
- Disable unwanted sizes
- Click Save changes and run regenerate
- Let the system rebuild only the sizes you want
Prune Files
- Select sizes to KEEP
- Run Dry-run first
- Review results
- Switch to Delete and execute
Thumbnail Sizes
- Enable/disable sizes for future uploads
- Does NOT affect existing images until prune/regenerate is used
Technical Notes
- Uses
intermediate_image_sizes_advancedto control generation - Uses AJAX batching to avoid server timeout
- Safe file targeting via pattern matching
- Requires
manage_optionscapability
Privacy
This plugin does not collect or transmit any personal data.
All operations are performed locally on your server.
Screenshots
Installation
- Upload the plugin to
/wp-content/plugins/or install via WordPress. - Activate the plugin.
- Go to Tools Thumbnail Manager.
FAQ
-
Will this delete my original images?
-
No. Only generated thumbnails are affected.
-
Should I back up first?
-
Yes. Always back up before deleting files.
-
What is “Orphan discovery”?
-
It detects thumbnails on disk that are no longer registered in WordPress.
-
When should I use Regenerate?
-
After changing enabled sizes — to rebuild correct thumbnails.
-
Does it unregister sizes?
-
No. It prevents generation using filters instead.
-
Is it safe for large sites?
-
Yes. Uses batch processing and folder scoping.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Thumbnail Manager” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
ContributorsTranslate “Thumbnail Manager” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.1 (Mar 19, 2026)
- ✨ Added Regenerate Thumbnails feature with batch processing and progress UI
- ✨ Added “Save changes and run regenerate” workflow
- ✨ Set Regenerate tab as default entry
- ✨ Improved UX flow between Sizes Regenerate Prune
- ✨ Added automatic trigger for regenerate after saving sizes
- ✨ Improved admin JS handling for multi-tab interaction
- 🔧 Refactored internal handlers for regeneration logic
- 🔧 Improved performance for large media libraries
1.0.1 (Dec 3, 2025)
- Added full translation support
- Improved UI labels and formatting
- Accessibility improvements
1.0 (Oct 5, 2025)
- Initial release
- Prune Files with dry-run and batch deletion
- Orphan detection
- Disable sizes for future uploads


