विवरण
Clean unused shortcodes helps you find and remove shortcode tags left behind by old plugins, themes, or page builders — without hunting through posts one by one.
The tool lives under Tools Clean unused shortcodes. Choose which public post types to scan, review the results, preview changes, then clean individual shortcodes or run a bulk cleanup.
Highlights
- Scan by post type — posts, pages, and other public types (media/attachments excluded).
- Three result tabs — unused (unregistered) shortcodes, used (registered and found), and registered but unused.
- Content and excerpts — scans both fields and shows where each shortcode appears.
- Batched operations — scan and clean large sites in chunks with a progress bar and cancel option.
- Incremental scan — optionally rescan only posts modified since the last run.
- Dry-run preview — see before/after snippets per post before saving.
- Protected shortcodes — allowlist tags you never want removed (e.g.
caption,embed). - Skip on clean all — exclude specific shortcodes from bulk cleanup.
- Gutenberg-aware — removes empty
wp:shortcodeblocks after the inner shortcode is stripped. - Hyphenated names — detects shortcodes like
[my-slider]as well as[gallery].
Who is this for?
- Sites that deactivated plugins but still have
[shortcode]tags in content. - Editors who want a clear list of where each tag appears before deleting.
- Administrators cleaning up legacy content on staging before going live.
Always back up your database (or test on staging) before running bulk clean operations.
स्क्रीनशॉट्स
Tools screen with post type selection, scan progress, and results tabs. 
Unused shortcodes table with locations, skip option, preview, and clean actions. 
Dry-run preview modal showing before and after content.
इंस्टॉलेशन
- Install the plugin through Plugins Add New in WordPress, or upload the
clean-unused-shortcodesfolder to/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate Clean unused shortcodes through the Plugins screen.
- Go to Tools Clean unused shortcodes.
- (Optional) Set Protected shortcodes — one name per line.
- Select post types, click Scan shortcodes, then preview or clean as needed.
सामान्य प्रश्न
-
What is an “unused” shortcode?
-
A shortcode tag found in your scanned content that is not currently registered in WordPress (not in the global
$shortcode_tagslist) and is not on your protected list. -
Will this remove active plugin shortcodes?
-
No. Registered shortcodes are listed under Used or Registered but unused and are not removed by the clean actions. Only unregistered (orphaned) tags in the Unused tab are removed.
-
Does it work with the block editor?
-
Yes. Shortcodes inside the Shortcode block (
wp:shortcode) are scanned. After cleaning, empty block wrappers are removed so you do not get blank Shortcode blocks in the editor. -
Can I undo a clean?
-
There is no built-in undo. Use a backup or revision restore if you need to roll back. Use Preview before cleaning to review changes.
-
Does it scan custom post types?
-
Yes. All public post types are available in the selector (attachments are excluded).
समीक्षाएं
सहायक &डेवलपर्स
यह खुला स्रोत सॉफ्टवेयर है। अनुगामी लोगो ने इस प्लगइन के लिए योगदान दिया है।
योगदानकर्ता
Translate “Clean unused shortcodes” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
बदलाव विवरण
2.1.0
- Rebuilt admin tools UI (reliable vanilla JS; no React dependency on the tools screen).
- Post type multiselect — scan posts, pages, and other public types.
- Batched scan and clean with progress bar and cancel for large sites.
- Incremental scan — optionally rescan only posts changed since the last run.
- Dry-run preview with per-post before/after snippets (content and excerpt).
- Protected shortcodes allowlist and per-shortcode skip on clean all.
- Result tabs: unused, used, and registered but unused.
- Scan excerpts; show whether each hit is in content or excerpt.
- Detect hyphenated shortcode names (e.g.
my-slider). - Remove empty Gutenberg Shortcode (
wp:shortcode) blocks after cleaning. - Improved security (capability checks, nonces; no unauthenticated AJAX).
2.0.1
- Update author name.
- Tested with WordPress 6.9.4.
2.0.0
- Complete plugin rewrite using React for the admin UI.
- Preview unused and used shortcodes; location list with edit/view links.
- Clean All for unused shortcodes.
1.0.4
- Updated admin UI.
- Fixed white screen on the tools page.
1.0.3
- Tested with WordPress 6.1.1.
1.0.2
- Updated plugin description.
1.0.1
- Updated donate link.
1.0.0
- First release.