---
title: Automatically Delete Old Slugs
description: Delete old WordPress slugs automatically instead of by hand, with scheduled clean ups or clean up on save post.
url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/automatic-old-slug-cleanup/"
updated: "2026-09-27"
category: Troubleshooting
tags:
  - Slugs Manager
---

# Automatically Delete Old Slugs

Instead of clicking "Remove all old slugs" by hand, you can have [Slugs Manager: Delete Old Permalinks from WordPress Database](https://wpfactory.com/item/slugs-manager-wordpress-plugin/) clear old slugs for you. Automatic clean ups are a Pro feature, configured under **WPFactory > Slugs Manager** in the Automatic Clean Ups section.

![The Automatic Clean Ups options in Slugs Manager](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/Old-Slugs.png)

### Before you start

- [Slugs Manager](https://wpfactory.com/item/slugs-manager-wordpress-plugin/) Pro, active with a valid license (automatic clean ups are Pro).
- A backup of your database, since a schedule removes old slugs without further prompting.
- A redirect plan for any old URLs that still get traffic, because removing an old slug removes its WordPress redirect.

### Option 1: Scheduled Clean Ups

1. Open **WPFactory > Slugs Manager** and find **Scheduled Clean Ups**.
2. Choose an interval: Disabled, Every minute, Hourly, Twice daily, Daily, or Weekly.
3. Click **Save**. Slugs Manager schedules a WP-Cron event that removes all old slugs at that interval.
4. To turn it off, set the interval back to Disabled and save.

### Option 2: Clean Up on Save Post

1. Find **Clean Up on Save Post** on the same page.
2. Set it to **Yes** and click **Save**.
3. From then on, whenever a post is saved, its old slugs are cleared automatically. This targets only the saved post, not the whole site.

### Options reference

| Setting | Option ID | Default | Free/Pro |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Scheduled Clean Ups interval | `alg_remove_old_slugs_cron_interval` | Disabled | Pro |
| Clean Up on Save Post | `alg_remove_old_slugs_on_save_post_enabled` | No | Pro |

### If the schedule does not run

- Scheduled Clean Ups rely on WP-Cron. If `DISABLE_WP_CRON` is set to `true` in `wp-config.php`, the event will not fire. Set up a real server cron that calls `wp-cron.php` instead.
- Some hosts throttle WP-Cron on low-traffic sites, so a server cron is more reliable.
- Confirm Pro is active with a valid license, since the interval control is disabled in the free version.

### Ready to set this up?

Automatic clean ups are a Pro feature of [Slugs Manager](https://wpfactory.com/item/slugs-manager-wordpress-plugin/). If you are still on the free version, upgrading unlocks scheduled clean ups and clean up on save post along with the rest of the Pro toolkit. [Get Slugs Manager Pro](https://wpfactory.com/item/slugs-manager-wordpress-plugin/).

Related articles

- [Handling Multilingual Old Slugs with Slugs Manager and WPML](https://wpfactory.com/docs/multilingual-old-slugs/)
- [Getting Started with Slugs Manager: Remove Old Slugs in WordPress](https://wpfactory.com/docs/intro-how-to-use-the-plugin-2/)
- [What Slugs Manager Does (Scope and Limits)](https://wpfactory.com/docs/slugs-manager-scope-and-limits/)
- [Does Slugs Manager Handle Taxonomy Slugs?](https://wpfactory.com/docs/taxonomy-slugs-handling/)
- [Slugs Manager Shows “No Slugs Found” – How to Fix](https://wpfactory.com/docs/fix-no-slugs-found/)

 

[![Slugs Manager: Delete Old Permalinks from WordPress Database](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/Slugs-Manager.webp)](https://wpfactory.com/item/slugs-manager-wordpress-plugin/)