Symptom

BoltAudit reports thousands of revision rows in wp_posts, often paired with an autoload/options report showing related bloat. Common after years of editorial work without WP_POST_REVISIONS set.

Impact

  • Direct space and index cost in wp_posts.
  • Slower wp_posts scans for plugins that iterate the table.
  • Backup and dump times go up linearly with revision count.

Permanent action

This fix is destructive. Deleted revisions cannot be recovered automatically. Take a database backup before running.

Manual fix

WP-CLI:

CODE0

Or via SQL:

CODE1

Apply Fix

One-click in the dashboard. The fix deletes revisions in bounded batches so shared-host PHP execution limits don't kill it mid-run. Progress and totals are shown in the apply dialog.

Pair with the cap

Without [Limit post revisions](/fixes/limit-post-revisions), the table will rebuild over time. Apply both for a lasting fix.

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