Delete Old WordPress Revisions

In a previous post I wrote about how to how to disable and limit WordPress post revisions. In this post I will show you how to delete your old WordPress revisions and clean up/optimize your database. This ensures that your site keeps running at optimal performance. Neil Patel has a great infographic about how load time affects Google rankings.

Step 1

First we are going to grab the free WordPress plugin WP-Optimize, developed by Ruhani Rabin. As of writing this the plugin has over 500,000+ active installs with a 4.8 out of 5 star rating.

Be careful when searching for plugins that delete post/page revisions. Some of these plugins can cause a lot of damage. I have personally used this one on a lot of sites and can vouch for it and the developers. I have never had any problems with it. But as always I recommend backing up your database before running this plugin. (I personally use VaultPress so I never have to worry; on top of my host’s backups)

Step 2

Once you have installed it click into WP-Optimize on your sidebar within your WordPress dashboard.

Step 3

You now have a couple options. The most important ones here are “clean up post revisions” and also I recommend checking “optimize database tables.” You can also check the additional ones to clean up auto drafts, spam comments, etc. I personally always run the 5 options as shown below. When you are ready, click on “Process.”

You will then see a confirmation of the everything that has been deleted, such as post revisions, auto drafts, etc.

And that’s it, your done! You can remove the plugin if you want. I usually install it to cleanup my WordPress revisions and then uninstall.

As always feel free to comment below!