Move WordPress uploads out of date folders afterwards

An alternative plugin solution is offered by 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 date-based uploads in WordPress as described above so new files won’t again end up in subfolders.
• Using the plugin: With Media File Renamer Pro you can now 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 monthly folder into the main uploads 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 results spot-check: Is the image still displayed 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 lead to a 404. You’d need to handle redirects separately (e.g. with a redirect plugin or via .htaccess).

Assessment: For advanced users Media File Renamer Pro is an option to perform the “remove month folder” job. However it requires more manual steps and monitoring. You may need to proceed folder by folder and keep an eye on the results. With many media files this can be time-consuming. Also be careful: if two files from different month folders share the same name, moving them into a common folder will cause a conflict. In such cases you’d have to rename one file first 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 get the job done. If you already use the plugin you can try the manual route. Otherwise neo Rename offers a more specifically tailored, simpler solution.

If you want to get rid of date folders but still keep a real directory structure, Media Library Folders (MLF) offers a pragmatic compromise. The plugin adds a left folder sidebar to the WordPress media library and moves files physically on the server instead of creating only virtual categories. That way URLs stay clean while still being logically sorted by topic.

Features at a glance:

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

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

However, MLF does not create 301 redirects for old paths. If you come from the year/month structure you’ll need to add redirects yourself via a redirect plugin or .htaccess — or go straight for the one-click solution neo Rename, which includes redirects. Also, drag-and-drop sorting can take some time with thousands of images; automatic tagging like in neo Library is not available here.

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

• Install the plugin and set the new path/URL. You could, for example, keep wp-content/uploads (if you only want to remove the date subfolders) or specify a completely new path (e.g. wp-content/uploads_all or wp-content/media). Save the setting. WordPress writes the new path to 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 remove the year/month folders and keep the same main path, that means: move all files from the uploads/YYYY/MM/ subdirectories directly into uploads/. (You can then delete the empty year folders.) If you chose a completely new path, move the entire directory accordingly.
• Database replace: Now you must adjust all references in the DB so WordPress finds the media under 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 as well.

After these steps all media are available at the new path. Existing content points to the new URL. WP Original Media Path informed WordPress of the changed path; you must do the remaining work 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 removing the date folders while keeping the same main folder it may be overkill, since the standard path (uploads) is retained. You could, however, use WP Original Media Path to move all uploads into a subfolder “media” instead of “uploads”. Important: the plugin does not work with Multisite.

For technically proficient users there is the option to remove the date folders without special plugins. For this you must manually move the files and update all database entries:

• Database backup: Always create a DB backup first! A faulty search & replace can render the database unusable. Safety first.
• Manually move files: 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 have the same name (e.g. image.jpg in "2023/03/" and again in "2025/11/"), they cannot both coexist in "uploads/".
• Database search & replace: Now all places 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 or _wp_attached_file entries must be adjusted, which store the path relative to the uploads folder, e.g. "2025/11/image.jpg". In rare cases widgets, menus or theme options may also reference images whose paths need updating.
  The most convenient way is with the Better Search Replace plugin or via a 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 use 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/2025/11/ 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 that things like widget configurations or _wp_attachment_metadata are not broken. WP-CLI's search-replace also respects serializations (as long as you don't use the regex mode).
  In the wp_posts table each attachment post has a GUID entry with the original URL. It is advisable not to change these GUIDs, since they serve only as an internal unique identifier (and are important for RSS feeds, for example). If you run a general search & replace operation you would also touch the GUIDs. If possible, exclude the GUID column (Better Search Replace does this automatically in a standard run). WP-CLI offers --skip-columns=guid for that. In doubt it's not catastrophic if the GUID is changed, it should only 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 delivered immediately.
• Check: After the run verify that media now load correctly without date folders. Especially in posts: do all images work? A quick way is to open the page 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 plugin solutions, but requires great care and experience. Advantage: You don't need extra plugins (except possibly Better Search Replace, which you can remove afterward) and you retain full control. Disadvantage: It is error-prone — a wrong search term or a missed step can lead to broken images. And it is time-consuming, especially if many folders and files are affected.

If you do not want to move the files but still want to change the URL structure externally, you can use rewrite rules. One possible solution is to automatically 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 corresponds to the manual method, supplemented by a .htaccess redirect rule. Suppose you moved all files into the main directory. Now create a .htaccess in wp-content/uploads/ with the following content:

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

  This rule causes: 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}) capture year and month numbers, $3 stands for the filename possibly with a following path (in case there would be subdirectories in the filename in the future). Thus, calls like /uploads/2025/11/menue.pdf are redirected to /uploads/menue.pdf. The [R=301] status ensures it is a permanent redirect (good for SEO). This solution is very elegant to catch existing external links or search engine index entries of the old URLs and direct them to the new paths. It should be placed in the uploads directory (not in the main .htaccess) so it takes effect before WordPress.

• Variant B: Files remain in subfolders, internally rewrite to new short URLs: This is the reverse case: you keep the files physically where they are (in 2025/11 etc.), but want to display “short” URLs on the site and to visitors. That means you’d have to change the content of posts so they reference the images without the date path. For these links to work without moving the files, you need an internal rewrite rule that resolves a request to /uploads/image.jpg to the actual file location /uploads/2025/11/image.jpg. This is more complicated because the server must somehow determine in which year folder the file resides. Writing a global rule for that is not trivial — you would need to try all year/month combinations or have a fixed logic. If filenames are unique, one could try to find the correct path via RewriteMap or a script, but that goes beyond standard .htaccess rules. In short: this variant is possible but effortful and error-prone. In practice it is rarely used. It would be easier to move the files or choose another of the approaches above.

Use .htaccess redirects mainly as a supplementary measure to catch old URLs after a restructuring (Variant A). That preserves the SEO juice of your images and prevents 404 errors. If you use neo Rename, you don’t need to worry about this. The plugin can add the redirects automatically.