You can scan all files that are in uploads directory and see which ones are actually in Media Library and which ones are just sitting there. Then you can select files you want to import to the database and therefore make them available in Media Library.
You can also use FTP to upload your files to uploads directory and bring those files into Media Library.
Disclaimers
Please read before adding a support topic. Reviews are not intended for support or suggestions.
- “For developers”
This plugin makes database changes (
wp_postsandwp_postmetatables), and it was primarily developed to help other developers that are aware of the consequences. - “1 file first”
Please be careful and try to import only one file first, to see if it works.
- “All at once”
This plugin is focused on scanning, selecting, and importing all files at once. So it might not be great for huge amounts of files, since it can use up a lot of memory. Future versions will hopefully solve that problem. For now, you can try to go to Settings -> Media Sync and set it to scan only a specific directory.
- “Your setup is unique”
Please keep in mind that each WordPress installation is unique, so it’s quite possible this plugin will not work in your case. If that happens, please turn on debugging in settings of this plugin, try to figure out why you have that problem, and then describe what you found in the Support section. The more details we have – it’s more likely the problem will be solved.
Ignored files
- index.php,
- various hidden files (.DS_Store, .htaccess),
- WP generated thumbnails (files ending with for example -100×100.jpg),
- WP generated scaled images (files ending with -scaled),
- optimized .webp versions of original images (.jpg.webp),
- retina thumbnails (-100×100@2x.jpg).
This is now configurable with a custom hook function and it can totally overwrite these rules or add additional ones.