You’ve just completed a website migration, and the new site looks great—except for the gaping holes where your images used to be. Instead of your beautiful hero shots, you’re seeing broken icons or empty placeholders. This is a common and frustrating problem. The good news is your images aren’t gone; they’re likely just lost in translation between the old site and the new one. This guide will show you how to restore WordPress images after a site migration by using the best plugins available in 2025.
Why Your Images Go Missing After Migration
When a website is migrated, two key components are moved: the files (including your images in the wp-content/uploads folder) and the database. If your migration tool or process isn’t perfect, it can cause one of two problems:
- Missing Database Entries: Your images were successfully moved to the new server, but the database entries that tell WordPress where the files are located were not. This means your Media Library is empty.
- Incorrect URLs: The image files are on the new server and in the database, but the links in your content still point to the old domain. For example,
https://old-site.com/image.jpgneeds to be updated tohttps://new-site.com/image.jpg.
A simple search and replace is often not enough because WordPress stores its data in a serialized format that can easily be corrupted. You need a specialized tool that can safely fix these issues.
The Best Plugins to Restore WordPress Images
Here’s a comparison of the top plugins that can help you recover your missing images.
1. Media Library Recovery
This is the top choice because it’s built specifically to solve the problem of missing media from the Media Library. It doesn’t just fix URLs; it rebuilds the entire database link to your files.
- Pros:
- Direct Syncing: Scans your uploads folder and rebuilds your Media Library database entries for missing files.
- Simple & Safe: The process is user-friendly and minimizes the risk of data corruption.
- Bulk Recovery: Can recover hundreds or thousands of images in a single operation.
- Additional Features: The PRO version includes features to prevent this issue from happening in the future, such as automated scans.
- Cons:
- Focus: It’s a dedicated tool, so it doesn’t have features for other tasks like page building.
- Best For: Users who have images on their server but can’t see them in the Media Library.
2. Better Search Replace
This is a general-purpose plugin that is highly effective for fixing URL mismatches, which is the other common cause of broken images.
- Pros:
- Powerful: Can run a search and replace across your entire database.
- Free Version: The free version is powerful enough for many use cases.
- Dry Run: Includes a “dry run” feature to preview changes before they are made.
- Cons:
- Not Media-Specific: It’s a general database tool. It can’t recover images from your server; it only fixes URLs. It can also be less reliable with Elementor’s serialized data.
- Best For: Users who know their images are in the Media Library but are still broken due to incorrect URLs.
3. Search & Replace for Elementor
If your site is built with Elementor, this is the best tool for fixing broken URLs within your content. Elementor’s serialized data can be tricky, and this plugin is built specifically to handle it safely.
- Pros:
- Elementor-Specific: Designed to safely handle Elementor’s complex data, which a generic tool might corrupt.
- Versatile: Can search and replace text, URLs, and image paths.
- Regex Support: The PRO version offers advanced regex support for complex URL patterns.
- Cons:
- Elementor-Only: It’s only for Elementor content, not a sitewide tool. It also can’t recover missing files from the server.
- Best For: Elementor users who need to fix broken image URLs within their pages after a migration.
How to Restore WordPress Images: The Workflow
The best approach is often a two-part process.
- Check for Missing Files: Use a plugin like Media Library Recovery to scan your
wp-content/uploadsfolder. This will automatically rebuild the database entries for any images that were moved but not properly registered. - Fix Broken URLs: Once your images are back in the Media Library, run a search-and-replace using a tool like Better Search Replace or Search & Replace for Elementor to update any old domain URLs in your posts and pages.
This workflow ensures that both your file system and your database are perfectly in sync, guaranteeing your images display correctly.
Conclusion
A site migration can be a tricky process, but missing images don’t have to be a permanent problem. By using the right tools, you can easily restore WordPress images and get your website looking perfect again. The key is to choose a plugin that addresses the specific problem you’re facing, whether it’s a missing file or a broken URL. For all-in-one recovery, Media Library Recovery is the top choice for its ability to sync your server files with your WordPress database, making it an essential tool for any site migration.
| Plugin | Core Function | URL Replacement | File Recovery | Best For |
| Media Library Recovery | Database/File Sync | No | Yes | Recovering missing files |
| Better Search Replace | Database Search/Replace | Yes | No | General URL fixing |
| Search & Replace for Elementor | Elementor Search/Replace | Yes | No | Elementor-specific fixes |