Detect and delete unused assets
Over time, Assets can accumulate in your DAM without being linked to any Product, Product draft, or Reference Entity Record. This article explains how to run a usage analysis, identify unused Assets, and delete them in bulk to keep your Asset Families clean.
Run a usage analysis
The usage analysis scans the following sources to determine whether an Asset is referenced: Products, Product drafts, Reference Entity Records, and enriched Categories. Each Asset is then marked as used or unused.
- Go to Assets and open the Asset Family you want to clean up.
- In the banner displayed above the asset list, click Analyse usage.
- The banner updates to show that the analysis is in progress. Wait for it to complete. This may take a few moments depending on the size of your catalog.
When the analysis is complete, the banner displays a summary such as: "Last analysis: X unused assets out of Y total (date)."
Filter Assets by usage status
Once a usage analysis has been completed, a Usage status column appears in the asset list, showing a badge for each Asset:
- Used: the Asset is referenced in at least one Product, Product draft, Reference Entity Record, or enriched Category.
- Unused: the Asset is not referenced in any of the above sources.
You can filter the list using the Usage status filter:
- In the asset list, locate the Usage status filter.
- Select Unused to display only unused Assets, or Used to display only used Assets.
The Usage status filter is only available after a usage analysis has been run. The status reflects the state of the catalog at the time the last analysis was completed.
Delete unused Assets
- Filter the list to show Unused Assets or select the Assets you want to delete manually.
- Select the Assets to delete using the checkboxes, or use Select all to select all matching Assets.
- Click Delete selected.
What happens next depends on your selection:
| Selection | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Only unused Assets selected | A confirmation modal appears. Type the Asset Family identifier to confirm, then click Delete. |
| Mixed selection (used and unused Assets) | A modal appears asking you to choose: delete only unused Assets, or delete all selected Assets. |
Deletion is permanent. Deleted Assets cannot be recovered. If you choose Delete all, used Assets will also be removed and their links to Products will be broken.
The deletion runs in the background. You can follow its progress in the Process Tracker. You will also receive a notification in your Akeneo notification center when it is complete.
Re-run the analysis
The usage analysis reflects the state of your catalog at the time it was last run. After making changes, such as removing Assets from Products or updating Reference Entity Records, re-run the analysis to get an up-to-date picture.
In the banner above the asset list, click Analyse usage to launch a new detection. The previous results are replaced once the new analysis is complete.