How to reduce the number of inodes my account uses?
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The number of inodes equals the total number of files and folders on your web hosting account. Therefore, to reduce your inode count, you would have to reduce the number of files and folders. Most commonly this is done by:
Removing all files and folders you don’t need
You can use the File Manager in Site Tools or FTP to access your account and delete files and folders that you don’t need. Here are some of the most common cases that may give you an idea about how to reduce the number of inodes you have.
1. Remove old Backups or staging sites
It is common for backups that are created on a schedule by plugins or 3rd party services to fill all the available disk space if left unmonitored. Download unused backups and delete them from your hosting account to save disk space and inodes. You can check your existing Staging copies from Site Tools > WordPress > Staging section and delete any unnecessary ones.
2. Delete Inactive Plugins
If you’re using WordPress and have plugins that are not active on your site – please delete them. Deactivating the plugins leaves the code base on your account adding up to your inodes quota.
3. Remove Unused Image Sizes
If you’re using WordPress your theme may be generating multiple copies of each uploaded image, some of which are unused. Check your theme settings and leave only the ones that you are actually using on your site. Then, regenerate thumbnails deleting unused sizes using a plugin like Regenerate Thumbnails.
4. Check the number of cache files you have
Modern web applications by default usually use file caching, which means that they might be generating a high amount of cache files inside your account, thus adding to its total inode. Check your website’s ‘cache’ folder and reduce the number of cached files you keep regularly. Most web applications which store cache include an option to purge the cache from within their administrative area. For WordPress, check the wp-content folder for similarly named folders and clear them. We recommend using the Speed Optimizer plugin’s Dynamic Caching for caching and performance which does not rely on file-based caching and won’t add to your inodes quota.
5. Clean up your Email Accounts
Mail adds to the total inodes quota since emails are files stored on your account. We recommend that you regularly delete your Junk/Spam folders that tend to accumulate a large number of emails. Regularly clean your Trash/Bin folders which collect deleted emails but keep them on the server. Last but not least, you can remove emails coming from newsletters and automatically generated ones that you don’t need.
If you’ve followed all of the above and you still need additional disk space or inodes, you may consider upgrading your account to a higher hosting plan with a higher inodes quota.