# Quick start: the first scan

A scan rebuilds the inventory of your media files and searches for references to them. It is harmless:

<div class="callout info" id="bkmrk-a-scan-never-writes-">**A scan never writes to the file system.** It reads, compares and writes the result to the database. Nothing is moved, nothing renamed, nothing deleted.

</div>## Starting the scan

Open **Components → Media Organizer** and click **Scan**. The scan runs in steps and shows its progress; on larger websites you can abort it and continue later.

How long it takes depends mainly on the number of media files and the size of your database. On a typical medium-sized website it is seconds to a few minutes.

## Reading the dashboard

<figure id="bkmrk-after-the-scan-the-d"> ![Dashboard of Media Organizer with the key figures after a scan](https://docs.graup-it.de/uploads/images/gallery/2026-08/qpVdoku-01-dashboard.png) <figcaption>After the scan the dashboard sums up the result.</figcaption></figure><table class="table" id="bkmrk-figure-meaning-files"> <thead> <tr> <th scope="col">Figure</th> <th scope="col">Meaning</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>**Files**</td> <td>All media files recorded in the configured media folders.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>**Referenced**</td> <td>Files for which at least one occurrence was found. These are in use.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>**Files without a reference**</td> <td>Files for which *no* occurrence was found. These are candidates — not a verdict. Check them before you act.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>**Reclaimable**</td> <td>How much space the unreferenced files occupy together.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>**In quarantine**</td> <td>Files already moved, waiting to be restored or deleted for good.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

<div class="callout warning" id="bkmrk-%22without-a-reference">**"Without a reference" does not mean "superfluous".** It means: nothing was found in any of the enabled search areas. If a file is used somewhere that is not covered yet, it appears here as well. That is exactly what the evidence is for — and exactly why Media Organizer deletes nothing by itself.

</div>## The three reports

- **Duplicates** — files with identical content (same checksum), images uploaded more than once, for instance.
- **Optimisation** — images that are considerably larger than necessary.
- **Broken references** — content pointing to a file that does not (any longer) exist. Dead image links, in other words. Nothing is deleted here; the list is for repairing.

## What you should do now

Resist the temptation to push everything unreferenced into quarantine straight away. A sensible first pass looks like this:

1. Open **Files without a reference**.
2. Look at **a few files in detail** — the evidence shows you everywhere that was searched. That gives you a feel for whether the coverage fits your website.
3. Watch out for a notice about **incomplete coverage**. If it appears, an installed extension is not covered yet — then the list has to be taken with care, and deleting for good is blocked anyway.
4. Start with a **small, unambiguous selection** and move it to quarantine. Watch your website for a few days. Then the rest.

## Automating scans

Scans can run regularly through the Joomla task scheduler and inform you by email. The scheduled scan can only *find and report* — it never moves or deletes anything. There is deliberately no automatic cleanup.

## Where to go from here

- [The review view](https://docs.graup-it.de/books/media-organizer-en/page/the-review-view)
- [Reading the evidence](https://docs.graup-it.de/books/media-organizer-en/page/reading-the-evidence-why-is-a-file-considered-orphaned)

<small>Applies to version 1.2.0.</small>

[Deutsche Fassung](https://docs.graup-it.de/link/62)