Remove Fluff Files After Joomla Updates

Remove the joomla fluff after each update

Lots of people asked us to remove “Fluff files” automatically on upgrading Joomla, and now you can opt in for this on the Config tab of your Manage Site pages in your account at https://mysites.guru. Switch on Clean up after core upgrades in the Checks and alerts card. It is off by default, and the screenshot below shows it off. If you’re on Joomla 5.4+, you should also check whether automated core updates are enabled on your sites, since those can trigger updates (and leave fluff behind) without anyone touching the admin panel.

Removing these files won’t damage your site - it just tidies up your webspace. There’s no risk in leaving them, but removing them is good practice.

You can check the status of these files at any time on the Snapshot Tab.

After a snapshot is taken in mySites.guru, we display the number of files that are found in the snapshot results page

The Learn button explains the check and the technical details. The Investigate button opens the check, where you can delete the fluff files from your site.

The files which we will remove are:

/.appveyor.yml
/.drone.yml
/.editorconfig
/.git-blame-ignore-revs
/.gitignore
/.php-cs-fixer.dist.php
/.travis.yml
/build.xml
/CHANGELOG.php
/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
/configuration.php-dist
/CONTRIBUTING.md
/COPYRIGHT.php
/CREDITS.php
/cypress.config.dist.js
/htaccess.txt
/INSTALL.php
/joomla.xml
/LICENSE.php
/LICENSE.txt
/LICENSES.php
/package.json
/package-lock.json
/phpunit.xml.dist
/phpunit-pgsql.xml.dist
/README.md
/README.txt
/renovate.json
/robots.txt.dist
/ruleset.xml
/travisci-phpunit.xml
/web.config.txt
/images/banners/osmbanner1.png
/images/banners/osmbanner2.png
/images/banners/shop-ad-books.jpg
/images/banners/shop-ad.jpg
/images/banners/white.png
/images/headers/blue-flower.jpg
/images/headers/maple.jpg
/images/headers/raindrops.jpg
/images/headers/walden-pond.jpg
/images/headers/windows.jpg
/images/joomla_black.gif
/images/joomla_black.png
/images/joomla_green.gif
/images/joomla_logo_black.jpg
/images/powered_by.png
/images/sampledata/fruitshop/apple.jpg
/images/sampledata/fruitshop/bananas_2.jpg
/images/sampledata/fruitshop/fruits.gif
/images/sampledata/fruitshop/tamarind.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/180px_koala_ag1.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/180px_wobbegong.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/200px_phyllopteryx_taeniolatus1.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/220px_spottedquoll_2005_seanmcclean.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/789px_spottedquoll_2005_seanmcclean.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/800px_koala_ag1.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/800px_phyllopteryx_taeniolatus1.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/animals/800px_wobbegong.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/banner_cradle.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/120px_pinnacles_western_australia.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/120px_rainforest_bluemountainsnsw.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/180px_ormiston_pound.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/250px_cradle_mountain_seen_from_barn_bluff.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/727px_rainforest_bluemountainsnsw.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/800px_cradle_mountain_seen_from_barn_bluff.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/800px_ormiston_pound.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/landscape/800px_pinnacles_western_australia.jpg
/images/sampledata/parks/parks.gif

We did try to get the Joomla project to see sense, but failed 😉

Can You View Fluff File Status Across All Joomla Sites?

The Ultimate Toolset at mySites.guru allows you to view how many fluff files are on each Joomla site at a glance also. like this:

Does mySites.guru Check Technical Requirements Too?

Planning an upgrade? mySites.guru can check whether your sites meet the technical requirements for Joomla 6 before you hit the update button - across all your connected sites at once.

What About Hidden Files?

Speaking of tidying up your webspace - fluff files aren’t the only things hiding in plain sight. Hackers plant dot-prefixed hidden files and folders that most file managers never show you. The mySites.guru audit surfaces them all in seconds.

Post-update cleanup is part of our guide to managing updates at scale.