Moving Media Library for WordPress

I was mid-migration from an old server to a new one, and my media library was a mess-images missing, broken links, thumbnails gone. I didn’t want to re-upload 300+ files just to fix the IDs and paths. That’s when I found Moving Media Library for WordPress. It wasn’t flashy, but it worked exactly how it said it would: export all media data in JSON, send it via email, then import it on the new site. Boom. All the file names, EXIF data, alt text, captions, even folder structure? Still there.

The good stuff

What really saved me was how thorough it was with metadata. I didn’t have to worry about losing image descriptions or comments. The plugin preserved dimensions, file sizes, thumbnails-everything. And the ability to replace user IDs and URLs during import? Huge. I was moving from a dev site to production, so changing the base URL was automatic and painless. No more digging through posts to fix broken images. Also, it doesn’t try to do everything-just media. If you need to move users or content too, it points you to other plugins like Moving Users, which keeps things simple instead of bloating the workflow.

The not-so-good

It’s definitely niche. You’ll only use this if you’re actually transferring media between servers or sites. If you’re just doing a regular site copy, this overcomplicates things. Also, no UI wizard or drag-and-drop-everything’s done through a basic form. It’s functional, but not pretty. And yeah, the developer isn’t listed, and there’s no download count. That’s a little weird, but since it’s free and open-source, it’s not a red flag. Just know you’re not getting support from a big team.

Bottom line

If you’re migrating a WordPress site and need to move your media library intact, this is a solid free option. It’s not fancy, but it does its job reliably. And for people who’ve dealt with lost thumbnails or broken images after a move, it’s worth the 2-minute setup. Totally worth downloading if you’re in that boat. Just don’t expect bells and whistles. It’s a tool, not a toy. But hey, sometimes that’s what you need.