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Store your images in Optimole Cloud ​

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The Store Images in Optimole Cloud feature is a functionality provided by Optimole that allows website owners to optimize their server storage and improve website performance by transferring images to Optimole's cloud infrastructure. This feature enables users to free up space on their own servers by offloading images to Optimole's secure and high-speed cloud storage system.

⚠️ Subscription Requirement: Image offloading to Optimole Cloud is available only on Starter, Business, and higher plans. The Free and Delivery plans do not support this feature. If you're on a Free or Delivery plan and attempt to enable this feature, you'll encounter a "PRO feature" error. To use image offloading, upgrade your plan or check your subscription requirements.

Once the images are moved to the Optimole Cloud, they remain accessible and usable through the website's Media Library, just as they were before. Users retain full control and visibility over their images, being able to manage and retrieve them back to their server whenever necessary.

❗ Important — roll images back before cancelling or letting your plan expire: If you use Optimole Cloud only image storage, your offloaded images may be permanently removed from Optimole Cloud after your account enters an inactive, refunded, or cancelled state and a scheduled cleanup runs. Once removed, they cannot be automatically restored by renewing or purchasing a new subscription.

Before cancelling, requesting a refund, or allowing your plan to lapse:

  1. Go to Dashboard > Optimole > Settings > Image Storage.
  2. Switch back to Optimole Cloud and your website.
  3. Confirm the rollback and wait for the transfer to complete.

See Transfer your images back from Optimole Cloud for full instructions.

🔌 Enable the Feature ​

📝 Note: Before enabling this feature, ensure your Optimole plan supports image offloading. You can verify this in your Optimole dashboard or check the subscription requirements.

To enable this feature, navigate to WP Dashboard > Optimole.

1. Open the Settings tab.

2. Click on the Image Storage panel.

3. Select the Optimole Cloud only option to store the images only on Optimole.

4. When, you click the Optimole cloud-only option, a confirmation pop-up will appear. Please confirm the action by clicking the Transfer to Optimole Cloud button. After that, you will receive the estimated time for this operation to be finished. You can also use the View Full Logs/Show Logs buttons to see the transfers in real time.

📝 Note: If some images are still left on your server, then Click the sync images button to move those images to the Optimole cloud.

📝 Note: We use the wp_generate_attachment_metadata hook to offload every new image uploaded to the server, so as long as "Enable offloading images" is toggled to Enabled - your new images are always being offloaded to our CDN.

🔧Troubleshooting steps: ​

There are chances that during the rollback or offloading operation, the process gets stuck, and images won't be moved. If you face such a situation, you can follow these common steps to resolve the issues.

  1. Check for Caching Plugin Interference: Temporarily disable any caching plugins installed on your WordPress site. Caching plugins can sometimes interfere with the offloading and rollback processes by serving cached versions of pages and resources. After disabling the caching plugin, try running the offload or rollback operation again to see if the issue is resolved.

  2. Assess Server Performance: Evaluate the server performance and resources. A slow server can hinder the offloading and rollback operations, as Optimole sends and receives multiple requests during these processes. Monitor the server's CPU, memory, and network usage to ensure it has sufficient resources to handle the operations. If necessary, consider upgrading your hosting plan or optimizing your server configuration.

  3. Verify WP-Cron Status: Ensure that WP-Cron is enabled. WP-Cron is essential for scheduling and executing tasks such as offloading and rollback operations. Check your wp-config.php file for the following line:

    ```

    define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

    
If this line exists, remove or comment it out to enable WP-Cron.

  4. Restart Process after Unexpected Errors: If an unexpected error occurs and a notice appears, restart the offloading or rollback process. The process keeps track of its progress and can resume from where it left off. Simply initiate the process again and monitor for any further error messages to determine if the issue persists.

  5. Check Firewall and Security Settings: Ensure that your firewall or security settings are not blocking Optimole or other necessary public requests. Blocking these requests can disrupt the communication required for offloading and rollback operations. Review your firewall and security settings, and whitelist the necessary domains and IP addresses used by Optimole and other related services to allow proper functionality.

🔄 Benefits ​

Benefits ​

  • Space efficiency - frees up server space, allowing you to use it for core website files or other resources.
  • Performance boost - enhances site speed and performance by serving optimized images from a high-speed cloud network.
  • Backup and security - Optimole Cloud stores a copy of your media files, protecting against server failures or host-side data loss. Note that deleting an offloaded image from the WordPress Media Library also removes the cloud copy.

🧩 Use Cases ​

The feature can be very advantageous for multiple use cases, such as:

  • Limited Server Space - ideal for websites with limited server storage. Moving images to the cloud frees up valuable space on your server for other essential files.

  • Performance Enhancement - websites with a lot of images can experience enhanced loading speed and improved performance as images are served from a high-speed, optimized cloud infrastructure.

💡 Common Questions ​

What happens to my images? ​

Your images will be transferred to the Optimole cloud-based library and removed from your website. You can still see them by navigating to Dashboard > Media > Library. The only difference is that the images will not be stored on your server and will be served from our global CDN. Only the URL of an image will be used on your pages.

What happens to my website if I disable the plugin with the images offloaded? ​

In this situation, the images won't be visible on your website anymore, meaning your website's visitors won't see them also. The solution is to activate the plugin again; this way, the redirect to the correct URLs within the Optimole cloud will work again. You can also roll the images back; however, that's up to you as it's not mandatory to make them visible again. Just activating the plugin back will fix the images.

In case it doesn't work, please make sure that your Optimole's API key is active in the plugin settings and that the URL of your website appears in Optimole's Dashboard > Allowed Domains.

What happens to my website if my Optimole plan expires, is refunded, or is cancelled with the images offloaded? ​

When your plan expires, your account is refunded, or your subscription is cancelled, your images will stop being served and will no longer be visible to visitors.

There is a short window after the account enters an inactive state during which you can still roll images back. If you reactivate or upgrade your account promptly, or roll the images back to your server while the account is still accessible, images may be recoverable.

However, after the inactive period ends, Optimole runs a scheduled cleanup that permanently removes offloaded images from Optimole Cloud storage. Purchasing a new subscription or renewing after this cleanup restores your account service, but does not restore image assets that were already removed from the cloud.

To avoid data loss, always roll images back to your server before cancelling, requesting a refund, or allowing your plan to lapse. See Transfer your images back from Optimole Cloud, Handling Overdue Payments and Subscription Cancellation, and How to Request a Refund.

I renewed or purchased a new plan, but my offloaded images are still missing — what should I check? ​

Renewing or purchasing a new subscription restores access to Optimole's service, but it does not automatically restore image assets that were removed from Optimole Cloud during the inactive period. Work through these checks:

  1. Confirm your API key is active: Go to Dashboard > Optimole > Settings and verify the API key is saved and connected.
  2. Check your allowed domain: In the Optimole Dashboard, confirm your website's URL appears under Allowed Domains. If it is missing, add it.
  3. Check whether local originals exist: If your images were stored in Optimole Cloud only mode, the original files may have been removed from your server as well. Go to Media > Library and check whether the original image files are still present on your server (you can use an FTP client or your host's file manager to inspect wp-content/uploads).
  4. Clear all caches: After confirming the above, clear any caching plugins, server-side caches, and browser caches, then reload your site.
  5. Allow Optimole to reprocess: If local originals are present, Optimole will begin optimizing and serving them again once the active account and API key are recognized. Use Sync images if needed to push remaining local images to the cloud.

If images existed only in Optimole Cloud and were purged during the inactive period, they cannot be restored automatically from the renewed subscription. Contact Optimole support to confirm your account and domain status if the above steps do not resolve the issue.

What are my recovery options after reactivating my account? ​

The options available depend on whether your local original images still exist:

  • Local originals still present: After reactivating your account and confirming your API key and domain are recognized, Optimole will begin serving your images again. Use Dashboard > Optimole > Settings > Image Storage > Sync images to push any remaining local images to the cloud. Clear your caches afterwards.
  • Local originals are missing: If your server copies were removed along with the cloud assets, contact your hosting provider to check whether a backup is available. Optimole cannot restore cloud assets that were removed during a cleanup — there is no automatic recovery from the renewed subscription.
  • Unsure about account/domain status: Go to the Optimole Dashboard and verify your subscription is active and your domain appears under Allowed Domains. If anything looks wrong, contact Optimole support.

Is it mandatory to offload images to have Optimole working properly on my website? ​

No, this feature is purely optional, and it doesn't affect the way Optimole works. Your images can still be optimized even if this feature is disabled.

Does Optimole stop WordPress from creating multiple thumbnail files in the uploads folder? ​

No. Optimole does not automatically disable native WordPress thumbnail generation. WordPress can still create local files such as filename-150x150.jpg or custom sizes registered by your theme and plugins.

This behavior explains why you may still see multiple generated files in wp-content/uploads after installing Optimole.

How does Optimole serve different image sizes without creating extra local files? ​

Optimole serves resized variants from the CDN using dynamic URL transformations. This means Optimole does not create extra local files for each size variant in wp-content/uploads.

When image offloading is enabled, only the primary image is stored in Optimole Cloud, and the required sizes are generated and delivered dynamically by Optimole.

Use the supported offloading workflow in Optimole > Settings > Image Storage:

  1. Select Optimole Cloud only.
  2. Confirm the transfer when prompted.
  3. Use Sync images if some images remain on your server.

This feature is available on Starter, Business, and higher plans.

If needed, you can switch back to Optimole Cloud and your website later to roll images back to your server.

Can I disable WordPress-generated image sizes and still use Optimole? ​

You can use Optimole with custom code that changes WordPress thumbnail generation, but this is an advanced, site-specific customization.

Warning: Disabling native image sizes can break theme layouts or plugin features that expect those files to exist locally.

Before applying this on a live site:

  • Test on a staging site first.
  • Keep a recent backup.
  • Verify your layouts and plugin features after the change.

Also note that changing future thumbnail generation does not automatically remove files that were already created in wp-content/uploads. If you want to clean up older generated thumbnails, remove them manually (or with a trusted media-cleanup tool) only after confirming your active theme and plugins do not rely on them.

What happens when I delete an image from the WordPress Media Library? ​

The behavior depends on how the image was added to Optimole Cloud:

  • Images offloaded from WordPress (via Settings > Image Storage > Optimole Cloud only): deleting the attachment from the WordPress Media Library also removes the cloud copy automatically.
  • Images imported from the Optimole Cloud Library (added to WordPress via the Cloud Library panel): deleting the attachment from the WordPress Media Library does not remove the cloud copy. The image remains in your Optimole Cloud Library and will reappear after the next sync.

To remove an image that originates from the Optimole Cloud Library, delete it directly from the Optimole Dashboard Library or via the Cloud Library panel in WordPress. See How Can I Access The Optimole Library? for details.

Why does a deleted image still appear in Optimole Cloud after running Sync images? ​

If the image was imported into WordPress from the Optimole Cloud Library (rather than offloaded from your server), deleting it from the WordPress Media Library does not remove the cloud copy. Running Sync images reconciles your media library with Optimole Cloud, so cloud-only images will reappear as expected.

To remove the cloud copy, open the Optimole Dashboard Library or go to Dashboard > Optimole > Cloud Library in WordPress, locate the image, and delete it there.

Why is a deleted image URL still loading? ​

The CDN may continue serving a cached copy for a short time after deletion. To clear it:

  1. Go to Dashboard > Optimole > Settings and click Clear cached images to invalidate all cached images at once.
  2. To target a specific image URL, use the Cache Invalidation API.

🗂Useful Resources ​

You may find useful these guides:

🎥 Video - Optimole's Cloud Library Browsing and Offloading Feature ​

Still looking for an answer? Contact us!

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