Medial Library Thumbnails

Media/Images in WordPress are stored as “attachment” posts in the database. So, deleting the files from the server (such as via Cpanel) does not delete these attachments. Essentially, WordPress still recognizes them as media items, even if the files do not exist.

You should be able to delete these via the Media screen in the WordPress admin.

Under the “Media Library” title on that screen, you should see two icons. If you click the left, you will see the “list view” and be able to bulk edit images. You can select multiple images via the checkboxes on the left and select “Delete permanently” from the “Bulk actions” dropdown at the top.

Thanks Justin. In using the list view I’m able to see more detail such as “no image available” about those blank thumbnails, and also the attachment status. Your solution is a bit more tedious when dealing with a large quantity of deletions, but its a great deal more simple than some of the other solutions I’ve found in Google searches. Again, thanks so much for the clear explanation and solution.