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Why Your Images Revert After Deactivating Converter for Media (And How to Fix It)

17 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Converter for media – optimize images | convert webp & avif

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Many users of the 'Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF' plugin encounter a confusing situation: they deactivate the plugin to troubleshoot an issue, but their website images still appear broken, pixelated, or missing. A common assumption is that the plugin's changes are permanent, but this is almost never the case. This guide explains why this happens and provides the most effective solutions to restore your original images.

Why This Happens: It's Usually Cache

The plugin is designed to be non-destructive. It never modifies your original JPEG or PNG files. Instead, it creates new WebP/AVIF versions and uses server-level rules to deliver the appropriate format to supported browsers.

When you deactivate the plugin, it removes these server rules. This should immediately cause your site to serve the original image files to all visitors. If your images still look wrong after deactivation, the issue is almost always caused by cached data. The converted images might be stuck in various caching layers, preventing your site from loading the originals.

How to Fix It: Clear Your Caches

Since cached data is the most frequent culprit, follow these steps to completely reset your site's cache after deactivating the plugin.

  1. Clear Your Browser Cache: Your web browser may be storing the old, converted images. Hard-refresh your page (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R) or clear your entire browser cache and history.
  2. Clear Your WordPress Cache: If you use a caching plugin like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or LiteSpeed Cache, find its settings and clear all cached files. Also, clear any Object Cache if present.
  3. Clear Your Server-Level Cache: Many hosting providers (e.g., SiteGround, WP Engine, Kinsta) have their own server-level caching. Check your hosting control panel (e.g., cPanel) for a "Purge Cache" option or contact your host's support to ensure it is cleared.
  4. Clear Your CDN Cache: If you use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare, StackPath, or your host's integrated CDN, you must log into your CDN dashboard and purge its cache. This is a critical step often overlooked.

After thoroughly clearing all these caches, revisit your website. Your original, high-quality images should now be loading correctly.

Important Notes on Plugin Deactivation vs. Deletion

  • Deactivating: As confirmed by the plugin's support, deactivating the plugin stops it from working and removes the server rules, but it does NOT delete the converted WebP/AVIF files from your server. Your original images are safe and will be served once cache is cleared.
  • Deleting/Uninstalling: If you completely delete the plugin from your WordPress dashboard, it will automatically remove all the converted images it created, performing a clean uninstall and leaving only your original files.

When It Might Be Another Issue

If you have cleared every possible cache and images are still broken, consider these less common scenarios:

  • The image issue may have been unrelated to the plugin from the start. Test by uploading a brand new image to your media library to see if it displays correctly.
  • Another plugin or your theme's functionality could be interfering with image display.

By understanding the role of cache and following these steps, you can quickly resolve image issues that seem to persist after deactivating the 'Converter for Media' plugin.

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