Confluence Storage Cleanup: 5 Safe Ways to Reclaim Space
Confluence storage fills up quietly. Attachments pile up, the same file gets uploaded several times, re-uploads add new versions, and one day the admins start getting storage warnings.
The hard part is cleaning up safely. Delete the wrong file and you break a page someone still relies on. Here are five practical approaches that keep the risk low.
1. Audit Attachments Before You Delete Anything
The most common mistake is deleting before you know what is taking up space. Start with an audit.
Natively, Confluence lists a space's files under Space settings → Content → Attachments, one space at a time. Advanced Attachment Manager for Confluence gives you one dashboard of attachments across your spaces, with filters and sorting:
- Sort by file size to see the largest files first
- Filter by file type to find what kind of files dominate (videos, ZIPs, PDFs)
- Filter by upload date to find old files
- Filter by usage to separate files still referenced in page content from unused ones
- Filter by uploader, space or page to focus on one area
You can also export the list to CSV for a record of what you found before changing anything.
2. Review Old Attachment Versions
When someone uploads a file with the same name as an existing attachment, Confluence keeps the earlier version. Those versions add up over time.
You can manage versions from a page's attachment list in Confluence. According to Atlassian, deleting a specific version needs Space Administrator permission, and a deleted version can't be restored, even by an admin. Download anything you might need before deleting a version.
Be aware that Advanced Attachment Manager can't help you rank versions by size: because of an Atlassian API limitation, the size it shows for a version is always the latest version's size. Check versions in Confluence itself.
3. Find and Remove Duplicate Files
Teams often upload the same file more than once: the same logo in ten spaces, the same diagram in slightly different versions.
To track them down:
- In Advanced Attachment Manager, filter by file type and sort by size or name, so files with identical sizes or names sit next to each other
- Keep one copy, update the pages that use the others, and then delete the extras
Always update the pages first. Deleting a file that is still embedded somewhere breaks that page.
4. Clean Up Unused Attachments
An unused (orphaned) attachment is still attached to a page but no longer referenced in its content, for example a screenshot that was replaced or a file attached during a draft that never made it into the final page.
Checking these by hand across thousands of pages isn't realistic. In Advanced Attachment Manager, filter by Usage status → Unused, sort by size, and review the largest files first. Orphan detection can miss some cases in complex spaces, so look at anything you're unsure about before deleting it.
How to Manage Confluence Attachments at Scale walks through this cleanup step by step.
5. Deal with Inactive Spaces
Old project spaces, retired product docs and finished initiatives keep all their pages and attachments indefinitely.
A sensible order:
- Identify inactive spaces, for example those with no edits in the last 6 to 12 months
- Export a permanent record if you need one, as Markdown with Markdown Exporter or as PDF with PDF Exporter
- Archive the space if people may still need it. In Confluence Cloud, archiving hides a space from navigation, menus and activity streams, but its content stays editable under the space permissions, and you can restore it later. Atlassian doesn't say that archiving reduces storage, so don't count on it for that.
- Delete the space only when you are sure nothing in it is needed
Export before deleting if there is any doubt.
Bulk Actions Save Hours
Storage cleanups get put off because the manual process is slow: open each page, open its attachments, decide, delete, repeat.
Advanced Attachment Manager's bulk actions work on any set of attachments you select:
- Delete the selected files
- Download them as a ZIP, as a backup before deleting
- Export to CSV for reporting or review
Apply filters first, use Select All on the filtered results, and deselect anything you want to keep. For very large selections, work in smaller batches; bulk actions on a very large number of files can be slow or fail.
Before You Delete Anything
Check whether the file is used. Deleting an attachment embedded in a page breaks the embed. Use the usage filter and the file's context before deleting.
Start with the biggest files. A single 500 MB video does more to your quota than a thousand small images.
Work one space at a time. Pick one or two large spaces and finish them before moving on.
Leave page history alone. Version history on active pages is there for a reason. Focus on files.
Know how recovery works. Deleted files go to the space trash, where space admins can restore them. Attachments of deleted items stay in the database until the trash is purged (Space settings → Content → Trash).
Getting Started
Advanced Attachment Manager for Confluence is available on the Atlassian Marketplace.
The full documentation covers every setting.
Questions? Reach out via our support portal.
