Clean WordPress Database : Complete Guide and Plugins

If you own a WordPress site and want to improve its speed, performance and security, it’s essential to regularly clean up your WordPress database.

The WordPress database contains all your site’s vital information, such as posts, pages, comments and configurations. Over time, this database can become filled with superfluous, outdated or harmful data that can slow down your site and make it more vulnerable to attack.

This article is designed to show you the importance of cleaning up your WordPress database and guide you through the methods available for doing so, whether manually or via automatic tools. We’ll also share our selection of the best plugins to simplify this operation.

You’ll discover that keeping your WordPress database clean is a simple task, but one that’s highly beneficial to your site. Ready to boost your site’s speed, performance and security? Read on to find out more.

Why is it essential to regularly clean up your WordPress database?

Keeping your WordPress database clean isn’t just a matter of digital hygiene. It’s a crucial step in boosting your website’s performance on many levels. Let’s discover the key benefits of regularly cleaning your WordPress database.

Improved site performance

A cluttered database can slow down your site considerably. Each page visit involves a request to the database to display content. The busier and more complex the database, the longer the loading time. By streamlining your WordPress database, you can reduce the number of MySQL queries, optimize tables and improve your server’s response speed. The result? An improved user experience, optimized SEO and lower bounce rates.

Enhanced security

A neglected database can also become a threat to your site’s security. Outdated data can harbor vulnerabilities or malicious code that can be exploited by hackers. Cleansing your WordPress database helps eliminate these risks by removing dangerous elements such as spam, outdated revisions, and residues of uninstalled plugins. This strengthens your site’s security against attacks and SQL injections.

Reduced storage space

A streamlined database also reduces the load on your server storage space. Unnecessary items take up space, increasing the size of your backups and the time needed to perform them. By ridding your WordPress database of this data, you free up server space, making your backups faster and less resource-intensive. This process improves your site’s efficiency and can reduce your hosting costs.

Guide to manually cleaning the WordPress database

Cleaning your WordPress database yourself without a plugin is possible using phpMyAdmin. However, this method requires a great deal of care and technical knowledge, as it involves manipulating your site’s data directly.

First and foremost, it’s crucial to perform a full backup of your WordPress database. Here’s how to clean up your WordPress database manually.

Delete post and page revisions

WordPress automatically saves revisions of your posts and pages each time they are modified or updated. While these revisions can be used to restore your content in the event of an error, they can also accumulate unnecessary space in your database.

To remove them, run the following SQL query in phpMyAdmin :

DELETE FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type = "revision";

Cleaning up unwanted or spam comments

Unwanted or spam comments, usually the work of robots or malicious individuals, can include links to harmful sites or unwanted advertising. They add no value to your site and can even damage its reputation and security.

To eliminate them, use the following SQL command in phpMyAdmin :

DELETE FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = "spam";

Eliminate transient data and optimize tables

Transient data, used temporarily to store cache or other information by WordPress or certain plugins, can sometimes persist and overload the database. To eliminate them, use this SQL query in phpMyAdmin :

DELETE FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE "_transient_%";

To reduce the size of the database and improve its efficiency, you can then optimize its tables with the following query:

OPTIMIZE TABLE wp_posts, wp_comments, wp_options;

Remove orphan entries

Orphan entries, disconnected from the rest of the database, can result from the uninstallation of plugins or themes leaving residues in the database, or from bugs. To remove them, it’s necessary to identify and eliminate tables that are unused by the WordPress core and active extensions or themes via phpMyAdmin. This delicate operation, if carried out incorrectly, can damage your site. Make sure you understand the implications and always make a backup beforehand.

Selection of the best plugins for automated cleaning

For those who prefer not to engage in manual cleanup of their WordPress database, there are plugins designed to make this task easier. Although the market offers a multitude of options, we’ve identified for you the three best plugins designed to efficiently automate the cleaning of your WordPress database. Here’s our recommended selection:

WP-Optimize

WP-Optimize is renowned for its ability to clean and optimize your WordPress database with ease. With a simple click, this plugin helps you eliminate unwanted items such as revisions, drafts, unwanted comments, and much more. It also helps optimize your database tables, reducing their size and increasing their performance. WP-Optimize offers the option of scheduling automatic cleanups at the desired frequency, making it a comprehensive and user-friendly tool that enhances your WordPress site’s efficiency.

Advanced Database Cleaner

Advanced Database Cleaner offers precise control over your WordPress database management, ideal for users who want a more in-depth approach. This plugin not only removes superfluous data such as revisions or unwanted comments, but also optimizes and repairs tables. Its functionality for viewing and filtering data before cleaning, as well as the ability to schedule automatic cleanups, make Advanced Database Cleaner a complete solution for those looking to keep their WordPress database in tip-top shape.

WP-Sweep

WP-Sweep is the ideal solution for those looking for a simple, effective plugin. It lets you quickly clean up your WordPress database, removing items such as revisions, unwanted comments and orphaned metadata in just a few clicks. Using native WordPress functions, it ensures perfect compatibility with your site, while optimizing your database tables to improve performance. WP-Sweep is, without doubt, a minimalist yet powerful plugin for streamlining your WordPress database.

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Conclusion

You now have all the information you need to optimize and maintain your WordPress database, greatly improving your site. We’ve explained why regular maintenance of your WordPress database is crucial, how to do it manually or automatically, and the best plugins to make it easier. The benefits of an effective WordPress database cleanup include increased speed, performance and security, as well as freeing up storage space.

It’s time to take action! Take the initiative to clean up your WordPress database today and benefit from noticeable improvements on your site.