Home›Support›English Support›[Resolved] Still lot of files in file manager after deactivating and deleting wpml
[Resolved] Still lot of files in file manager after deactivating and deleting wpml
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client had previously deactivated and deleted WPML and its additional plugins but found that there were still language files (French and English .json, .mo, and .po files) and a 'wpml' folder in the 'languages' directory within 'wp-content'. The client was unsure whether these files and the 'wpml' folder should be deleted and also inquired if deactivating and deleting WPML would remove related database tables. Solution: If you're not using WPML anymore, you can safely delete the related WPML files and folders. For detailed instructions on how to delete .mo and .po files for removed languages, please refer to our documentation:
Regarding the database tables, deactivating and deleting the plugin does not automatically remove them. You can use the reset option in WPML > Support > Troubleshooting to remove the tables if WPML is still installed. If you have already deactivated and deleted WPML, you will need to manually remove the tables from the database using PHPmyAdmin or a similar tool provided by your hosting platform.
Please note that this solution might be irrelevant if it's outdated or not applicable to your case. We highly recommend checking related known issues at WPML Known Issues, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If the issue persists, please open a new support ticket with us for further assistance.
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A while ago I deactivated and deleted WPML as per your described procedure. I also deactivated and deleted the additional plugins.
Today I went into my Cpanel>File Manager>Public_html>WP-content>languages>plugins. (when I was using WPML I wanted to translate from Dutch to French and English) There I found that there are still a lot of French and English files . The files are json, mo, and po files.
Also, Cpanel>File Manager>Public_html>WP-content>languages there still was a map named wpml. What do I need to do with this? When I go into that map, there are files for French, English, but also for my primary language Dutch. So I don't know if I can delete this map.
Thank you for contacting WPML support. While you are waiting for one of my colleagues to take this ticket and work on it, let me provide you with the first debugging steps and try to help with the issue quickly.
If you are not using WPML, you are free to delete related WPML files, as mentioned here also:
Thanks. I deleted the MO and PO files from the /wp-content>languages>plugins folder. But there are still a lot of French Json files, and even some php files. Can I also delete those? The guide you provided doesn't say anything aout those file types.
Also, the guide you provided doesn't tell me what to do with the /wp-content>languages>WPML map.
I'd gladly hear from your colleague who can tell me more.
"You can delete the folder /wp-content/languages/wpml."
In this folder, there are English, French, and Dutch files. Can I delete everything in this folder, even though there are some files in Dutch?
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"Regarding other content inside /wp-content/languages I can not provide any advises, as I am not aware which languages are currently used on your site."
Now that you know my website is in Dutch, can uou advise me wheter I can delete those French json and php files?
"The folder /wp-content/languages/wpml is only functional if WPML is active."
Okay, so I can delete the entire map.
"You should have Dutch files at /wp-content/languages/. If not, you can copy the files there."
Do you mean, I should copy the dutch files from the WPML map to the wp-content/languages map? Or do you just mean in general I shouldn't delete Dutch files from the wp-content>languages map?
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Also, I still don't have an answer regarding the French JSON and PHP files in the wp-content>languages>plugins. Note, I am talking about the languages>plugins map, so a submap of the general wp-content>languages map. You only mentioned the general wp-content>languages map
Yes, this option removes the WPML tables from the database.
But there might be exceptions, which is I asked to verify if the tables were all deldeted.
For example, when running a test on my local machine the table "wp_icl_background_task", which is a very small table, remains on the database, so you could delete this one manually.
This ticket is now closed. If you're a WPML client and need related help, please open a new support ticket.
