WordPress Attachments Page Disable Guide

WordPress creates a single page for each media attachment you have on your site; Here's how to disable these image media attachments pages

By Claudio Pires
Updated on December 7, 2022
WordPress Attachments Page Disable Guide

WordPress, by default, creates a unique page for each attachments you have on your site. This functionality is great for photographers but not so much for the rest of us. See now how to disable a media attachments page such as image and audio/video and pdf in WordPress.

The bad news is that this page will be published by default, which means the general public can access it. You don’t need to attach the media file to a post or page for it to be visible.

Images on your website can become popular and users may land on the attachment page directly from Google. Ideally, you want them to go to your post and see the image in the content where you used it.

This is because a visitor can click on any of these attached pages and find a single image of it without any content to support it. This can appear as an incomplete page under construction because you have a media file that you don’t want everyone to see or because the attached page looks really bad because theme developers don’t pay attention to it, setting a bad precedent for your site and impacting negatively your SEO ranking

Most of you want to prevent this from happening. Finally, this article will show you how you can disable the image attachments page in WordPress.

WordPress Attachments Page Disable

Yoast SEO Plugin

WordPress Attachments Page Disable Guide
WordPress Attachments Page Disable Guide – Yoast SEO Plugin

One of the easiest ways to fix attachment page issues is to disable (redirect) the page in the settings of your favorite SEO plugin. I’m his Yoast SEO, but I know that other SEO plugins, such as All In One SEO, also offer this feature.

For those of you who are not using the Yoast SEO plugin – all of you should use it because it will make your life so much easier, not just for SEO; it’s a must-have plugin – you need to activate an option.

  • In your WordPress dashboard, go to SEO and click on “Search Appearance”.
  • Click the “Media” tab at the top.
  • Click the “Yes” button under Media URLs and Attachments. This will set media URLs to redirect to the file itself and not create a special page on your site.
  • This will also remove SEO options in Yoast for File Attachments pages. Click the “Save Changes” button.

Yoast SEO will automatically redirect all attached pages. If this is your first time installing Yoast, be sure to take advantage of its other SEO features.

Attachments Page Redirect Plugin

The Attachment Pages Redirect a plugin is a great tool. Redirects are created based on how the user accesses the attachments page.

For example, if the original post is in the trash, the plugin will create a 302 redirect to the home page, but the user will still visit her website via her URL in the image or file. Your visitor won’t see her 404 “file not found” error.

This is the easiest method as it works with activation. Install and enable the Attachment Page Redirect plugin. Once enabled, the plugin will automatically start redirecting users. Probably one of the easiest tools to disable media attachment pages in WordPress. You set it and forget it.

Do WordPress Attachments Page Hurt Rankings?

Absolutely! When an attachment page only contains an image and no text, it can lead Google and other search engines to think that your site is producing low-quality content. As a result, this can affect your entire site’s rankings.

Another issue with attachment pages is that Google will count them as duplicate content. After all, this is an image from another page or post on your site. And duplicate content can hurt your rankings.

So, you should fix this issue before your site starts to rank lower as a result.

Final Words

These are ways to configure WordPress to disable the media attachments page in WordPress. Various plugins provide access to different options. For example, plugins focused on SEO support can often redirect URLs.

So find what works best for you. However, regardless of the method, it is essential to disable attachment pages in WordPress. This can cause your site’s ranking to drop and ruin all the effort you put into it. I hope you found the post useful and that it helped you! Don’t forget to share it with your friends! If you have any questions, drop a comment, or contact us.

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.