At some point you will want a copy of every image and file on your website, sitting on your own computer. Perhaps you are changing developers and want to hold your own assets. Perhaps the photographer’s originals are long lost and the website is the only place the photos still exist. Or you simply want to know you could rebuild the site’s pictures if you had to.
You will not find a “download everything” button in WordPress, which is where the confusion starts. To download the WordPress media library you go round the dashboard, to the folder where the files really live. Below is where that folder is, three ways to copy it, and what the built-in export tool leaves out.
Where your media files actually live
Everything you upload to the Media Library, whether from the Media screen or straight into a page, is stored on your hosting account in one folder: wp-content/uploads. Inside it, files are usually grouped by year and month, for example uploads/2025/04, because of the option in Settings → Media to organise uploads into month- and year-based folders, which is on by default.
A few things about that folder are worth knowing before you copy it:
- Each image is several files. WordPress keeps your original and makes resized copies for thumbnails and different layouts, with the size added to the name, such as shop-front-300×200.jpg. Very large photos may also have a copy ending in -scaled, which is what WordPress uses on the page.
- Plugins add their own folders. Form plugins may keep uploaded attachments there, and page builders often keep generated style files. Some of these may contain customers’ personal information.
- It can be large. On a site with years of uploads, the folder can be far bigger than you expect, which affects which method suits you.
The Media Library screen is really a list of database records pointing at these files. Our WordPress images and media guide explains that relationship in more detail.
Before you download the WordPress media library
- Do you have hosting access? The first two methods need a login to your hosting control panel, or FTP or SFTP details. If a developer set up the hosting in their name, ask for access now. Our post on taking over a website from another developer lists the other logins to collect at the same time.
- Are the files really on your server? Some sites use a plugin that moves media to cloud storage or a content delivery network. If image addresses on your site point to a different domain, the files may be stored there, and that service is where you download them from.
- How much space is there? Compressing the folder into a zip on the server needs free space in the hosting account roughly the size of the folder. If you are near your limit, download by year instead.
Method 1: the hosting file manager
This is usually the simplest way if your host gives you cPanel, Plesk or a similar panel.
- Log in to the hosting control panel and open File Manager.
- Go to your site’s folder (often public_html or httpdocs), then wp-content.
- Select the uploads folder and use the panel’s compress or archive option to create a zip. In cPanel this is Compress; Plesk and other panels have a similar archive action.
- Wait for it to finish, then select the new zip file and choose Download.
- When the download is complete and you have opened it on your computer, delete the zip from the server. Leaving a large archive in a public folder wastes space and may let others download it.
If compressing the whole folder fails or times out, compress one year folder at a time and download each.
Method 2: FTP or SFTP
An FTP program such as FileZilla copies files directly from the server to your computer, with no zip needed.
- Get the SFTP or FTP login details from your host. SFTP is the safer choice where it is offered.
- Connect in the FTP program. The server’s files appear on one side and your computer’s on the other.
- Browse to wp-content/uploads on the server side.
- Drag the folder across to a folder on your computer.
- Check the transfer log at the end for failed files and retry them.
This takes longer than downloading one zip, because thousands of small files transfer one by one, but it is reliable, and you can stop and resume.
Method 3: a plugin
If you only have WordPress admin access and no hosting login, a plugin is the remaining route. There are plugins built specifically to export the media library as a zip; search the plugin directory for “export media library” and check when each was last updated and what reviewers say. On a large library, these can hit your host’s time or memory limits, so try on a quiet day.
A backup plugin is another way. Many, including UpdraftPlus, split a backup into separate parts so the uploads folder has its own archive, which you can then download from the plugin’s screens. If you already take backups this way, you may have a copy of your media sitting in your backup storage. Our guide to backing up a WordPress website covers setting that up properly; a downloaded uploads folder on its own is not a full backup.
Just one or two files
For a single image, open Media → Library, click the file and use the Download file link in its details panel, which recent versions include. If you do not see it, copy the file URL shown there into a browser tab and save the image from there.
What Tools → Export does not do
Many owners try Tools → Export first and choose “Media”. The file you get is a small XML file, not your images. It lists each media item’s title, caption, description and its address on your site, and nothing else.
That XML is meant for moving content to another WordPress site with the WordPress Importer, which can fetch each file from your old site’s addresses while importing, but only if the old site is still online. It is not a way to keep your own copy of the files. Our post on the WordPress export and import tool explains what it includes and where it falls short.
After the download: check it
- Open a few folders from different years and make sure the images open.
- Compare the total size with what the file manager showed on the server.
- Keep it somewhere other than the computer you downloaded to, such as an external drive or cloud storage you control.
- If the folder includes form uploads or anything with personal data, store it securely and delete copies you no longer need.
If you want just the originals for your own records, you can ignore the files with sizes such as -1024×683 in their names. Keep the full folder if you might ever need to restore the site, because pages refer to those resized copies.
While you have the folder open you may notice a lot of old files you do not recognise. Deleting them from the server is a different job with real risks; our post on a safe media library cleanup covers it. For the other owner tasks around a site, see the WordPress site owner’s handbook.
Frequently asked questions
Can I download only the images from one page?
Not with a single built-in option. You can open each image in the Media Library and use its download link, or note the file names used on the page and copy those files from the uploads folder by FTP. For a page with many images, that second route is usually quicker than downloading them one at a time.
Is the uploads folder enough if I am closing my hosting account?
No. It holds your files but not your pages, settings or the database records behind the Media Library. Before an account closes, take a full backup of files and database together, and keep the uploads folder as an extra copy you can browse easily. Open both on your computer to check them before the old account is shut.
Will downloading the media library affect my live website?
Copying files does not change them, so visitors will not notice anything. Creating a large zip on the server can use resources briefly on modest hosting, which is why a quiet time of day is sensible. Just remember to delete the zip from the server once you have your copy.
Can I upload the downloaded folder to another WordPress site?
Copying the folder by FTP puts the files on the new server, but the new site’s Media Library will not list them, because it only shows files that have database records. To move a whole site, use a migration plugin or a proper migration. To reuse a few images, upload them to the new site’s Media Library in the normal way.
If you would rather not be the person who remembers to copy the uploads folder, regular backups of your files and database are part of what our WordPress monthly maintenance covers, from ₹1,499 per month onwards.
