1. Collection Thumbnails
Issue: Some collection images may temporarily show as "Unused" even when they are actively assigned as collection thumbnails.
Why this happens: Shopify's API uses aggressive caching for collection data. When you assign an image to a collection, the API may return stale data for several minutes — sometimes up to an hour. During this window, our scan may not detect the image reference.
What you can do: If you recently assigned an image to a collection, wait 15-30 minutes and rescan. The image will then correctly appear as "Used."
2. Social Sharing Image (Online Store → Preferences)
Issue: The image set in Online Store → Preferences → Social sharing image and SEO may show as "Unused."
Why this happens: Shopify does not expose this setting through any API — not the Admin API, not the GraphQL API, not the Storefront API. There is simply no programmatic way to access this data.
What you can do: Before deleting any file, check if it matches your Social Sharing Image in Shopify Admin → Online Store → Preferences.
Our Commitment
We are actively exploring solutions with Shopify to address these API gaps. Until then, we recommend double-checking files that match these two cases before deletion.
What Media Cleanup Scans
Despite these limitations, Media Cleanup provides comprehensive coverage:
- Products — gallery images, variant images, description HTML, metafields
- Collections — featured images, description HTML, metafields
- Blog Articles — featured images, body HTML, metafields
- Pages — body HTML, metafields
- Theme Settings — JSON settings, Liquid templates, CSS, JavaScript
- Shop Branding — logo, square logo, cover image (via Storefront API)
- Metafields — across products, collections, customers, orders, draft orders, locations, markets, and shop-level
Our goal is simple: help you confidently identify and remove unused media so your store stays clean, fast, and organized.