I know this is something of a big question, and the answer will depend on many things, but I’m hoping for some insight into what I MUST keep, and any common ‘bloat’ files I can dump. One of my concerns is that I don’t want to delete something that will break the database.
First I have a wp-content-old directory with around 20,000 files.
* The theme’s directory under this has 38 themes – none of them are the one we actually use – Astra.
* The plugins directory has about 20 plugins we do not use. The only one that matches something current is Advanced Custom Fields which I installed last week to work with something I am developing.
* The uploads directory only has 1 year folder, which contains 1 empty month folder
The wp-content directory has something like 25,000 files. It is still downloading so I haven’t been able to fully explore it. However…
* The uploads directory has year folders going back to 2012. Most of these only have a couple months. And most of the images in the earliest years appear to be stock images that have nothing to do with our current website – nor are they anything I envision ever using.
* Themes only has Astra, Astra-child, twentytwentytwo, and default.
* The plugins directory appears to only have the current plugins I know are installed.
Keep a full backup somewhere just in case. That said, you can definitely get rid of any plugins you don’t need, any themes you don’t use with the exception of at least one default theme (WP will need this), and any content uploads you don’t plan to use. Definitely keep a full backup just in case you delete something you did need.
Also, make sure you are also backing up your database. That will not be in the wp-content or anywhere you access via FTP. Use your host’s cPanel to access PHPMyAdmin and export a copy there. Database contains all your written content, all your theme settings, plugin settings, site settings, etc.