Free and Pro. Single and bulk restore are available in Free. Recovery is temporary protection for supported cleanup changes and complements a full site backup.
Prepare recovery storage
Under Settings → Recovery (Einstellungen → Wiederherstellung), keep Backup before deleting (Sicherung vor dem Löschen) enabled. Real cleanup requires this protection; disabling it leaves analysis and test runs available.
Recovery files are kept in the uploads recovery directory ips-mediacleanup-recovery. The plugin checks protection through the site’s uploads URL. Apache/IIS protection files are supplied, but the server must honor them. Nginx or another web-server setup needs an effective access-denial rule from the host administrator. A failed protection check must be resolved before cleanup.
Restore an item
- Open Recovery (Sicherungen) and locate the cleanup item using its date and available filters.
- Review the recorded file and recovery status, then run the restore action. Use a small selection before restoring a whole batch.
- Review the result. Supported restoration includes the original attachment identity, recorded files/variants and recorded reference changes.
- Visit the affected media entry and content and refresh the analysis after the restore.
Handle conflicts
Restoration can stop when an attachment ID or file path is occupied, later edits conflict with the recorded references, or the copy is missing. Read the conflict details and keep the current content intact while investigating. Recovery does not silently overwrite unrelated later changes. Use your complete site backup if the required recovery data is no longer available.
Choose retention intentionally
In Settings, choose the recovery retention period. The available periods include 7, 14, 30, 60 and 90 days; the keep-until-manually-removed option retains copies without automatic expiry. Finite retention removes expired copies through background processing. Review free disk space and restore needs before manually removing a copy.
Deleting or expiring a recovery copy removes that restore option. It does not reverse the original cleanup. Keep background processing operational for the intended retention behavior.