Compare hosting disk usage with the WordPress uploads directory and backup locations. A large account may contain email, logs or old backup archives as well as media. Avoid assuming every byte belongs to current page images.

Record the largest files or directories and note their dates. A camera video, downloadable archive or duplicate backup inside uploads can have a different retention decision from a heavily used product photograph.

1. Use the available hosting file or disk-usage tools, or an authorised read-only inspection, to identify large items.
2. Match media files to their WordPress attachment records and known uses.
3. Check generated sizes and format variants before deciding that similarly named files are duplicates.
4. Separate necessary originals from experiments, obsolete exports and verified unused copies.
5. Keep a recovery copy before removing a reviewed small selection.

Prepare suitable web images before upload and avoid keeping repeated uncompressed exports in the public library. For large downloads or video delivery, use a service appropriate to that workload and preserve a deliberate link strategy.

Review image plugins that generate multiple formats or sizes. Several overlapping tools can multiply storage even when the page looks unchanged. Consolidate only after understanding which variants the live markup requests.

Check representative pages after cleanup and run a new backup to confirm the actual reduction. Excluding a folder from backups reduces recoverability, so document exclusions and ensure another reliable copy exists.

Do not delete the newest backup merely because it is the largest without checking retention and recovery needs. A full backup archive stored inside the area being backed up can also cause repeated growth; review the backup tool's destination and exclusions.

If storage remains unexplained, provide the usage breakdown and recent growth pattern to support. A measured inventory gives a safer path than running a blanket delete against all files labelled unattached or old.

• Finding where an uploaded image is used before deleting it
• Moving large downloadable files to an appropriate delivery service
• Preparing web images before uploading to WordPress
• Rotating and cropping images in the Media Library

• WordPress documentation
• WordPress backups