Automatic offloading

3 min readUpdated June 27, 2026

Automatic offloading is the core behaviour of WP Media Cloud. When enabled, every file uploaded to the WordPress media library is moved to your configured cloud storage bucket immediately after upload, without any manual action required.

How automatic offloading works#

When a file is uploaded to WordPress, WP Media Cloud intercepts the upload after WordPress has finished processing it. For images this means after all thumbnail sizes have been generated. WP Media Cloud then uploads the original file and every generated thumbnail to your cloud storage bucket in a single operation and updates the WordPress attachment record to reflect the new cloud location.

From this point on, the cloud URL is what WordPress returns whenever anything requests that attachment. Your theme, page builder, custom fields, WooCommerce, and any other plugin all receive the cloud URL automatically. No template changes or plugin configuration is required.

What gets offloaded#

Automatic offloading applies to every file uploaded through the WordPress media library, regardless of how the upload was triggered. This includes:

Images uploaded through the block editor or classic editor
Images uploaded through a page builder (Bricks, Elementor, Divi, and others)
Images uploaded through custom field plugins (ACF, Meta Box, JetEngine, and others)
Files uploaded through WooCommerce for products, galleries, or downloadable files
Profile photos, cover images, and media uploaded through BuddyBoss
Files uploaded programmatically via wp_handle_upload() or media_handle_upload()
All registered image sizes generated from an original upload

What does not get offloaded#

Automatic offloading only applies to files that pass through the WordPress media library upload process. The following are not offloaded:

Theme files and assets
Plugin files and assets
Files uploaded directly to the server via FTP or SFTP
Files in wp-content that are outside wp-content/uploads
Files uploaded before WP Media Cloud was installed and configured (use the bulk migration tool for these)

Enabling and disabling automatic offloading#

Automatic offloading is enabled by default once a storage provider is configured and the connection test passes. It can be toggled from WP Media Cloud > Settings > Storage.

Disabling automatic offloading stops new uploads from being sent to cloud storage. Files already offloaded are not affected and continue to be served from cloud storage. New uploads will be saved to your server only until automatic offloading is re-enabled.

There are two common reasons to temporarily disable automatic offloading:

During a storage provider migration, when you are switching from one provider to another and do not want new uploads going to the old bucket
On a staging site where you want to test the site without offloading media

What happens if offloading fails#

If WP Media Cloud cannot reach your storage bucket during an upload — due to a network error, incorrect credentials, or a provider outage — the file is saved locally on your server as normal. WordPress does not show an error to the person uploading the file. The upload appears to succeed and the file is accessible at its local URL.

The file will not be automatically retried. If you notice files are not being offloaded, check the connection test in WP Media Cloud > Settings > Storage and review the troubleshooting guide for uploads not offloading. Any files that were saved locally during a connection failure can be moved to cloud storage using the bulk migration tool.

Local file removal after offloading#

By default, WP Media Cloud keeps a local copy of every file on your server after offloading it to cloud storage. Enabling local file removal deletes the local copies immediately after a successful offload, freeing up server disk space.

See Local file removal for full details on when to enable this and what to consider before doing so.