Skip to main content

ChatGPT Says Brizy is culprint for too many files in my CPANEL -- how do I delete these extra files?

Rob Steir

help please.

ChatGPT analyzed my files and determined that Brizy and my 8 sites were accounting for almost 100,000 files.  And they suggest removing Brizy all-together, which obviously can't do, but here's what they suggest - please let me know what you suggest as you are "live" and not AI, but seriously this seems to be a big problem and I don't want to update my hosting plan:

🥇 Step 1 — Remove Brizy plugin from any site not using it

Go to each site's WP Admin → Plugins.

If the site doesn't actively use Brizy builder, REMOVE it:

  • It will delete thousands of files instantly
  • Safe for sites not using Brizy-built pages

If unsure, I can tell you exactly which sites are using Brizy — just run this:

grep -R "Brizy" /home/xxxxxxx/public_html/*/wp-content/themes/ -n

🥈 Step 2 — Clean WordPress uploads thumbnail junk

Run this inside each WP site (WP-CLI):

wp media regenerate --skip-delete

Or install plugin:

Force Regenerate Thumbnails
→ Use the “Delete unused thumbnails” option
This often removes 5,000–15,000 files per site.

🥉 Step 3 — Clear cache folders

You can safely clear ALL of the following:

wp-content/cache/*

wp-content/uploads/cache/*

wp-content/uploads/wpo-cache/*

wp-content/uploads/et-cache/*

wp-content/uploads/litespeed/*

wp-content/plugins/**/cache/*

This alone may remove 40,000+ files across sites.

0

Comments

1 comment

Date Votes
  • KC George
    • Edited

    Hello Rob,

    Factors that influence the file size on a WordPress website are.

    • WordPress Core Files: These are the essential files that make up the WordPress system itself, including the wp-admin, wp-includes, and wp-content (though wp-content also houses user-added elements) directories, along with various root-level files like index.php and wp-config.php.
    • Themes: Each installed theme, including the default WordPress themes and any custom or third-party themes, adds a collection of files for its design and functionality.
    • Plugins: Every plugin installed on a WordPress site contributes its own set of files, which can range from a few small files for a simple plugin to hundreds or thousands of files for complex plugins like e-commerce or security solutions.
    • Media Uploads: Images, videos, documents, and other media files uploaded to the site are stored in the wp-content/uploads directory. The number of these files grows directly with the amount of content added by the user.
    • Other Files: This category can include cached files, backup files, and other miscellaneous files generated by the site or specific plugins.

    Consider these suggestions to reduce the file usage on your server

    • If any of your 8 sites doesn't actively use Brizy builder, kindly deactivate and delete the Brizy plugins from those websites.
    • Delete old themes and plugins you are no longer using. If you have installed more than one theme, delete inactive themes from all 8 websites. Look through the list of plugins and confirm that each plugin is essential for the website. Deactivate and delete non essential plugins
    • Use a plugin like Media Cleaner to find and get rid of unused media on your site and you can delete the plugin later. 
    • On long-running WordPress sites, post and page revisions can easily add up to thousands of unnecessary rows in your database. Install a plugin like WP Optimize temporarily, delete post revisions and then delete the plugin. This will help reduce the size of our database files. 
    • Check for old backup files which can be deleted

    Kindly also follow the Steps 2 and 3 in the Chat GPT recommendations. 

    If you are hosting 8 websitres on a shared server, a combined total of 100,000 files is reasonable. On an average each website is using only 12,500 files. 300-600 MB storage is considered normal for small websites. 1GB -2GB file size is consdered normal for WooCommerce websites with hundreds of products. 

    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Didn't find what you were looking for?

Ask a Question