Move WordPress uploads out of date folders afterwards

An alternative plugin solution is Media File Renamer (by developer Jordy Meow). Its Pro version also allows renaming media files and moving them to other folders. You can proceed as follows:

• Preparation: First disable the date-based uploads in WordPress as described above so new files won't go into subfolders again.
• Using the plugin: With Media File Renamer Pro you can reorganize your existing media. The plugin offers, for example, a bulk function to rename and move multiple files at once. You could move all files from a month folder to the main upload folder. In the plugin interface select the relevant media and either assign new filenames or keep them and use the option to move them to the main directory.
• Update references: Media File Renamer updates references in posts automatically when renaming. So if you move files to another path the plugin should adjust all occurrences of the URL in posts accordingly. Check the result spot-check style: does the image still appear in the post? Is the URL correct?
• Redirects: As far as we know Media File Renamer does not create automatic redirects from old to new URLs. That means external links or direct calls to the old paths would yield a 404. You'd need to handle redirects separately (e.g. with a redirect plugin or via .htaccess).

Assessment: Media File Renamer Pro is powerful and can also handle renaming/moving. However, it requires more manual steps and oversight. You may need to proceed folder by folder and monitor the results. With many media files this can be time-consuming. Also be careful: if two files from different month folders have the same name, moving them into a common folder will create a conflict. In such cases you would first need to rename one file to ensure unique names. So make sure no duplicate filenames exist before merging everything into one folder.

Conclusion: For advanced users, Media File Renamer Pro is an option to perform the “remove month folders” job. If you already use the plugin, you can try the manual route. Otherwise, neo Rename offers a simpler solution tailored for this task.

If you want to get rid of date folders but still keep a real directory structure, Media Library Folders (MLF) provides a pragmatic compromise. The plugin extends the WordPress media library with a left folder sidebar and physically moves files on the server instead of only creating virtual categories. This keeps URLs clean while still organizing content logically by topic.

Features at a glance:

• Create folders via drag & drop: A folder manager similar to Windows Explorer.
• Physical moving: When moving, MLF automatically corrects all references in posts & pages.
• Undo & bulk actions (Pro): Undo the last action; move multiple files/folders at once.
• Multiple assignment (Pro): An image may appear in multiple folders.
• Server sync (Pro): FTP-created folders appear in the backend – useful for very large libraries.

The biggest advantage over purely “virtual” folder plugins: the folders actually exist on the filesystem. That lets you back up images via FTP or copy them to CDN storage without losing the folder structure. For editorial teams who like thematic folders ("/products/", "/team-photos/", etc.), this is a familiar workflow and helps prevent filename collisions.

However, MLF does not create 301 redirects for old paths. If you come from a year/month structure, you'll need to handle redirects yourself via a redirect plugin or .htaccess – or use the one-click solution neo Rename, which includes redirects. Also, drag-and-drop sorting can take time with thousands of images; there is no automatic tagging like in neo Library.

The plugin WP Original Media Path takes a different approach. It lets you change the WordPress uploads folder - something that was possible in core until WordPress 3.5. With this plugin you can, for example, set your media to live under "wp-content/media/" instead of "wp-content/uploads/", or even use a subdomain for media. This affects the base uploads path. Important to know: WP Original Media Path is not retroactive - it does not automatically adjust existing entries. But you can use it to set up a new unified structure and then switch manually. A possible procedure:

• Install the plugin and set the new path/URL. You could keep wp-content/uploads (if you only want to remove the subfolders) or choose a completely new path (e.g. wp-content/uploads_all or wp-content/media). Save the setting. WordPress writes the new path into the options (database) - all future uploads will go there.
• Move files: Now move the contents of the old uploads folder to the new location via FTP or shell. If you only want to dissolve the year folders but keep the same main path, this means moving all files from uploads/YYYY/MM/ subdirectories directly into uploads/. (You can delete the empty year folders afterwards.) If you chose a completely new path, move the entire directory accordingly.
• Replace database entries: You must now update all references in the DB so WordPress can find the media at the new path. As described in the plugin documentation, a search-and-replace operation is unavoidable. Search for the old base path (e.g. wp-content/uploads/2025/08/) and replace it with the new path (e.g. wp-content/uploads/). Practically this can be done with a plugin like Better Search Replace or with WP-CLI. Remember to account for serialized data.

After these steps, all media will be available under the new path. Existing content will point to the new URL. WP Original Media Path informs WordPress of the changed path; the rest you must handle yourself as with manual methods.

Use case: This plugin is useful if you want, for example, a completely different storage location for uploads, such as a different directory or a separate domain/CDN. For simply eliminating date folders within the same main folder it may be overkill, since the standard path (uploads) is retained. However, you could use WP Original Media Path to move all uploads into a "media" subfolder instead of "uploads". Important: the plugin does not work with multisite.

For technically proficient users there is the option to remove date folders without special plugins. Files must be moved manually and all database entries adjusted:

• Database backup: First create a DB backup! A wrong search & replace can render the database unusable. Safety first.
• Move files manually: Use FTP with FileZilla or SSH with Termius or a script to move files from the year/month folders into the main uploads/ folder. Pay very close attention to filename conflicts. If two files share the same name (e.g. image.jpg in "2023/03/" and again in "2026/02/"), they cannot both coexist in "uploads/".
• Database search & replace: Now all references in the DB that point to the old paths must be rewritten. This mainly affects the post_content column of posts and pages where images are embedded via tags. Additionally, attachment metadata in wp_postmeta, specifically _wp_attached_file entries that store the path relative to the upload folder (e.g. "2026/02/image.jpg"), must be updated. In rare cases, widgets, menus, or theme options may also reference images whose paths need adjusting.
  The most convenient way is with the Better Search Replace plugin or via the WP-CLI command. Example WP-CLI command:

  wp search-replace '/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/' '/wp-content/uploads/' --skip-columns=guid

  This would replace occurrences of the path string in all tables while skipping GUIDs. You would need to run this command per year/month combination or with regex (WP-CLI supports --regex). Alternatively use Better Search Replace in the WP backend, select all relevant tables and search e.g. for /wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ and replace with /wp-content/uploads/. Repeat for all existing year/month combinations. Serialized data: Better Search Replace handles serialized PHP data, which is important so things like widget configurations or _wp_attachment_metadata aren’t broken. WP-CLI’s search-replace also respects serializations (as long as you don’t use regex mode).
  In the wp_posts table each attachment post has a GUID entry with the original URL. It's recommended not to change these GUIDs, since they serve only as an internal unique identifier (and are e.g. important for RSS feeds). If you run a general find & replace operation you'd catch the GUIDs too. If possible, exclude the guid column (Better Search Replace does this automatically in the default run). WP-CLI offers --skip-columns=guid for that. If in doubt it's not a disaster if the GUID is adjusted, it should just remain consistent and unique.

• Clear cache: If you use a caching plugin like WP Fastest Cache or a CDN, clear the cache so the newly linked images are served immediately.
• Check: After the run verify the media now loads correctly without date folders. Especially in posts: do all images work? A quick way is to open the site and check the browser console for 404 errors. Thumbnails should still be visible in the media library. Also disable the browser cache in the developer console.

This manual method ultimately achieves the same result as the plugin solutions but requires care and experience. Pro: You don't need extra plugins (except maybe Better Search Replace, which you can remove afterwards) and you keep full control. Con: It's error-prone - a wrong search term or a missed step can lead to broken images. And it's time-consuming, especially if many folders and files are affected.

If you don't want to move the files but still want to change the URL structure externally, you can work with rewrite rules. One solution is to redirect visitors from a requested URL with a date path to the corresponding URL without the date path or vice versa. Two approaches:

• Variant A: Files were moved, redirect old URLs: This matches the manual method, complemented by an .htaccess redirect rule. Assuming you've moved all files to the main folder. Now create an .htaccess in wp-content/uploads/ with the following content:

  RewriteEngine On\nRewriteBase /wp-content/uploads/\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f\nRewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d\nRewriteRule ^([0-9]{4})/([0-9]{2})/(.*) /wp-content/uploads/$3 [L,R=301]

  This rule does: If under uploads/YYYY/MM/Filename no real file is found, send a 301 redirect to /uploads/Filename. The placeholders ([0-9]{4}) and ([0-9]{2}) They catch year and month numbers, $3 stands for the filename with any following path (in case there were subdirectories in filenames in the future). So calls like /uploads/2026/02/menu.pdf are redirected to /uploads/menu.pdf. The [R=301] status ensures it’s a permanent redirect (SEO-wise sensible). This solution is very elegant for catching existing external links or search engine index entries of the old URLs and directing them to the new paths. It should be placed in the uploads directory (not the main .htaccess), so it takes effect before WordPress.

• Variant B: Keep files in subfolders, internally rewrite to new short URLs: This is the reverse case: you leave files physically where they are (in 2026/02 etc.) but want to display “short” URLs on the site and to visitors. That means you’d need to change post content so it references images without the date path. To make those links work without moving files, you need an internal rewrite rule that resolves a request for /uploads/image.jpg to the actual file location /uploads/2026/02/image.jpg. This is more complicated because the server has to determine which year folder the file lives in. Writing a global rule for that is not trivial - you’d either have to try all year/month combinations or have a fixed logic. If filenames are unique, you could try using a RewriteMap or script to find the correct path, but that goes beyond standard .htaccess rules. In short: this variant is doable but labor-intensive and error-prone. In practice it’s rarely used. It’s usually easier to move the files or choose another approach above.

Use .htaccess redirects mainly as a complement to catch old URLs after a restructure (Variant A). That preserves your image SEO juice and prevents 404 errors. If you use neo Rename you don't need to worry about this. The plugin can add the redirects automatically.