Using a custom file removal strategy | laravel-medialibrary | Spatie SPATIE Laravel Media Library ======================== spatie.be/open-source [Docs](https://spatie.be/docs) [Laravel-medialibrary](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11) Advanced-usage Using a custom file removal strategy Version v11 v10 v9 v8 v7 v6 v5 v4 v3 Other versions for crawler [v11](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11) [v10](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v10) [v9](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v9) [v8](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v8) [v7](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v7) [v6](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v6) [v5](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v5) [v4](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v4) [v3](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v3) - [ Introduction ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/introduction) - [ Support us ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/support-us) - [ Base installation ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/installation-setup) - [ Questions and issues ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/questions-issues) - [ Requirements ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/requirements) - [ Upgrading ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/upgrading) - [ Changelog ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/changelog) - [ Troubleshooting ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/troubleshooting) - [ About us ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/about-us) Basic usage ----------- - [ Preparing your model ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/basic-usage/preparing-your-model) - [ Associating files ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/basic-usage/associating-files) - [ Retrieving media ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/basic-usage/retrieving-media) Working with media collections ------------------------------ - [ Simple media collections ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/working-with-media-collections/simple-media-collections) - [ Defining media collections ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/working-with-media-collections/defining-media-collections) Converting images ----------------- - [ Defining conversions ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/converting-images/defining-conversions) - [ Retrieving converted images ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/converting-images/retrieving-converted-images) - [ Optimizing converted images ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/converting-images/optimizing-converted-images) - [ Regenerating images ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/converting-images/regenerating-images) Responsive images ----------------- - [ Getting started with responsive images ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/responsive-images/getting-started-with-responsive-images) - [ Using your own width calculator ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/responsive-images/using-your-own-width-calculator) - [ Customizing the rendered HTML ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/responsive-images/customizing-the-rendered-html) - [ Generating your own tiny placeholder ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/responsive-images/generating-your-own-tiny-placeholder) - [ Responsive images demo ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/responsive-images/demo) Converting other file types --------------------------- - [ Using image generators ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/converting-other-file-types/using-image-generators) - [ Creating a custom image generator ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/converting-other-file-types/creating-a-custom-image-generator) Downloading media ----------------- - [ Downloading a single file ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/downloading-media/downloading-a-single-file) - [ Downloading multiple files ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/downloading-media/downloading-multiple-files) Advanced usage -------------- - [ Working with multiple filesystems ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/working-with-multiple-filesystems) - [ Using custom properties ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/using-custom-properties) - [ Storing media specific manipulations ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/storing-media-specific-manipulations) - [ Using your own model ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/using-your-own-model) - [ Outputting media ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/outputting-media) - [ Rendering media ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/rendering-media) - [ Using a custom directory structure ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/using-a-custom-directory-structure) - [ Using a custom file removal strategy ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/using-a-custom-file-removal-strategy) - [ Ordering media ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/ordering-media) - [ Using a custom media downloader ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/using-a-custom-media-downloader) - [ Moving media ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/moving-media) - [ Consuming events ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/consuming-events) - [ Attaching media in mails ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/attaching-media-in-mails) - [ Generating custom URLs ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/generating-custom-urls) - [ Overriding default filesystem behavior ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/overriding-the-default-filesystem-behaviour) - [ Naming generated files ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/naming-files) - [ Disable CDN ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/disable-cdn) - [ Customising Database Connections ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/advanced-usage/customising-database-connections) API --- - [ Adding files ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/api/adding-files) - [ Defining conversions ](https://spatie.be/docs/laravel-medialibrary/v11/api/defining-conversions) Using a custom file removal strategy ==================================== By default, files will be stored inside a directory that uses the `id` of its `Media`-object as a name. Given this default file and folder structure, the `DefaultFileRemover` option simply gets the root folder name and deletes it. In cases where you need to use a custom directory structure, the `DefaultFileRemover` can cause problems. For example, if you have a directory structure like this: ``` media ---- 2023/09 ------ file.jpg ------ second.jpg ------ conversions --------- file-small.jpg --------- file-medium.jpg --------- file-big.jpg --------- second-small.jpg --------- second-medium.jpg --------- second-big.jpg ... ``` Using the `DefaultFileRemover` will delete the entire `2023` directory, which is not what you want. So we would use a custom file remover to delete only the files that are no longer needed. ### Extending file remover functionality Let's take a look at the interface: ```