Free up space
Remove old attachment versions and unreferenced attachments, and verify what you got back.
Remove old attachment versions
This is the action worth doing first. It removes superseded versions of a file and keeps the current one, so nothing anybody opens changes.
- Run a scan at page, space or site scope.
- Sort by billed size. The files at the top are where the space is.
- Select the attachments whose old versions you want removed.
- Confirm.
The current version of each file stays attached to its page, at the same URL, with the same name.
Version history is not recoverable
Deleting a version deletes it. Confluence has no undo for this and the trash does not hold it. If a document's earlier drafts are part of a record you have to keep, exclude that file.
Remove unreferenced attachments
An attachment is unreferenced when no page embeds it and no page links to it. These are usually files uploaded and then removed from the page body — invisible to readers, still billed.
The app determines this by scanning page bodies for references. Confluence enforces unique file names per page, which makes "not embedded on this page" an exact answer rather than a guess.
Judgement is still yours: a file nothing links to may still be one someone downloads from the attachment list on purpose.
Deleting the attachment itself
Removing an attachment entirely has two forms:
Move to trash. The attachment leaves the page. Because trashed content is billed as zero bytes, this frees the space straight away.
Delete permanently. The attachment is purged and cannot be restored. This frees no additional space beyond moving it to the trash, because the trash was already free.
Prefer the trash. It costs you nothing and gives you a way back.
Verify what you freed
Re-run the scan and compare.
- At page scope, the new figure is correct immediately — that view reads live.
- At space or site scope, wait about ten minutes. Those views read the Confluence search index, which lags.
Your subscription's storage figure in Confluence settings updates on Atlassian's own schedule and may take longer again.
A workable order
- Scan at site scope to find the spaces carrying the cost.
- In the largest space, remove old versions of the biggest files.
- Review unreferenced attachments and trash the ones nobody needs.
- Wait ten minutes, re-scan, and confirm the number moved.
Do not empty the trash expecting a change. It is already billed as zero.