# Auto-Drafts and Trash Cleanup Tool

> Adds Tools > Clean Up Drafts and Trash with counts of leftover auto-drafts, trashed posts and trashed or spam comments, and a button to remove them all permanently after confirmation.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Admin only
- Category: [Performance](https://wpide.com/library/category/performance/)
- Tags: database, cleanup, trash
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/perf-drafts-trash-cleanup/

## Code

```php
add_action( 'admin_menu', function () {
    add_management_page( 'Clean Up Drafts and Trash', 'Clean Up Trash', 'manage_options', 'wpide-trash-cleanup', function () {
        global $wpdb;

        $day = gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - DAY_IN_SECONDS );

        if ( isset( $_POST['wpide_clean_trash'] ) && check_admin_referer( 'wpide_clean_trash' ) && current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
            $posts    = $wpdb->get_col( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT ID FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE ( post_status = 'auto-draft' AND post_date_gmt < %s ) OR post_status = 'trash' LIMIT 300", $day ) );
            $comments = $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT comment_ID FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_approved IN ('trash','spam') LIMIT 500" );
            foreach ( $posts as $id ) {
                wp_delete_post( (int) $id, true );
            }
            foreach ( $comments as $id ) {
                wp_delete_comment( (int) $id, true );
            }
            printf( '<div class="notice notice-success"><p>%s</p></div>', esc_html( sprintf( 'Deleted %d post(s) and %d comment(s). Run again if more remain.', count( $posts ), count( $comments ) ) ) );
        }

        $counts = array(
            'Auto-drafts (older than a day)' => (int) $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_status = 'auto-draft' AND post_date_gmt < %s", $day ) ),
            'Trashed posts and pages'         => (int) $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_status = 'trash'" ),
            'Trashed comments'                => (int) $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_approved = 'trash'" ),
            'Spam comments'                   => (int) $wpdb->get_var( "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_approved = 'spam'" ),
        );

        echo '<div class="wrap"><h1>Clean Up Drafts and Trash</h1><table class="widefat striped" style="max-width:520px"><tbody>';
        foreach ( $counts as $label => $count ) {
            printf( '<tr><td>%s</td><td>%s</td></tr>', esc_html( $label ), esc_html( number_format_i18n( $count ) ) );
        }
        echo '</tbody></table><form method="post" onsubmit="return confirm(\'Permanently delete these items?\');">';
        wp_nonce_field( 'wpide_clean_trash' );
        submit_button( 'Delete permanently', 'primary', 'wpide_clean_trash', true, array_sum( $counts ) ? array() : array( 'disabled' => 'disabled' ) );
        echo '</form></div>';
    } );
} );
```

## Notes

Auto-drafts are empty placeholders WordPress creates when you open the editor; they are safe to delete once they are a day old.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Auto-Drafts and Trash Cleanup Tool" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/