Every WordPress site loads dozens — sometimes hundreds — of autoloaded
options from the wp_options table on every single page request. Many of
those options belong to plugins you removed long ago, or simply don’t need
to be autoloaded. The result: a bigger database query, slower page loads,
and wasted server resources.

AAA Autoload Optimizer tracks which autoloaded options your site actually
uses, then shows you the ones it doesn’t — so you can safely remove them
or turn off autoloading.

How It Works

1. Install the plugin and browse your site normally for a few days.
2. The plugin quietly records which autoloaded options are actually used
   during page rendering.
3. Visit the settings screen to see every autoloaded option that was
   never used — and decide what to do with it.

You can remove unused options entirely (great for leftover data from
deactivated plugins) or disable autoloading for options that exist but
don’t need to load on every request. Disabling autoloading is
non-destructive — the option stays in your database, it just won’t be
fetched automatically.

Features

• Automatic usage tracking — monitors which autoloaded options are
  loaded on every page, on both the front end and in the admin.
• Bulk actions — optimize or delete multiple options at once instead
  of one by one.
• Known-plugin recognition — identifies which plugin or theme each
  option belongs to, so you know exactly what you’re looking at.
• “All Options” browser — view and manage every option in your
  wp_options table, not just the unused ones.
• Source filtering — filter options by their source plugin, theme, or
  WordPress core to quickly find what you need.
• Safe by design — disabling autoload is non-destructive. You can
  always re-enable it.
• Lightweight — the plugin’s own tracking data is stored in a custom
  database table for optimal performance.

Why the “aaa” Slug?

WordPress loads plugins alphabetically. Because this plugin needs to start
tracking options as early as possible, the aaa-option-optimizer slug
ensures it loads first. It’s not vanity — it’s a technical requirement for
accurate measurement.

Links

• GitHub repository
  — report bugs, contribute code, or browse the source.
• Report a security vulnerability
  — via the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program.
• Built by the team behind
  Progress Planner.

Automatic installation

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New.
2. Search for AAA Autoload Optimizer.
3. Click Install Now, then Activate.
4. Browse your site normally for a few days — or visit every page
   manually if you’re in a hurry.
5. Go to Tools → Autoload Optimizer to review and optimize your
   autoloaded options.

Manual installation

1. Download the plugin zip file.
2. Upload it via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, or extract it
   to /wp-content/plugins/aaa-option-optimizer/ via FTP.
3. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu.
4. Follow steps 4–5 above.

1. 

   The main dashboard showing unused autoloaded options with their size, source plugin, and action buttons.

2. 

   The “All Options” tab lets you browse and manage every option in your wp_options table.

1.7.0

• Rename the plugin to AAA Autoload Optimizer.
• Fix database deadlocks when concurrent requests write tracked options.
• Fix a fatal error when W3 Total Cache’s database cache is active.
• Readme improvements.

1.6.1

• Fix infinite recursion in option access monitoring that could cause a
  fatal error in certain hosting environments.

1.6.0

• Replace using ‘all’ filter for monitoring option usage with
  ‘pre_option’ filter for better performance.
• Migrate tracked options data from a single wp_option to a custom
  database table for improved performance and reliability.

1.5.1

• Add “select all” checkbox.
• Fix table filtering by Source column.

1.5.0

• Prefix the Datatables script slug to avoid conflict with other plugins.
• Add MainWP to known-plugins list
• Add SliceWP to known-plugins list
• Add more known prefixes for WooCommerce options
• Fixed a bug in bulk-actions

1.4.0

• Performance improvements.
• Added bulk-actions to allow optimizing & deleting options in bulk.
• Added more known plugins.

1.3.2

• Performance fix: Do not autoload the plugin option.

1.3.1

• Fix JS error when deleting an option.

1.3

• Make plugin work with the latest autoload changes.

1.2.1

• Fix error in known-plugins.json.
• Prevent fatal error when there’s an error in known-plugins.json.

1.2

Enhancements:

• Overhaul of the UX, implementing proper tabs, better buttons and more.
• Added a new “All options” tab, which, when you hit the button, loads
  all the options from the database and allows you to manage them.
• Added a “Reset data” button which resets the tracking data.
• Added a link to the Optimize Options page from the Plugins page.
• Much improved recognition of core WordPress options, themes and plugins
  under “Source”, thanks in part to pull requests from
  Rogier Lankhorst
  and system4pc.
• You can now also filter all tables by Source so you can more easily
  find the options you’re looking for.
• Many code and speed improvements under the hood, including adding a
  class autoloader and some i18n fixes.

1.1.1

Implement the missing functionality to create an option with value
false when it’s being loaded but doesn’t exist.

1.1

The plugin now recognizes plugins from which the options came (thanks to
a great pull by
Rogier Lankhorst).
If you’re a plugin developer and want your plugin’s options properly
recognized, please do a pull request on
this file.

Small enhancements:

• Column width is now automatically determined which leads to better
  spacing.
• Action buttons are now centered in their columns.

Bugs fixed:

• If you removed autoload from or deleted an option, it’d be removed
  from the table but would be back when you paginated, that’s fixed –
  thanks to
  Jono Alderson
  for reporting.
• Fixed sorting by filesize by moving the KB to the table heading, so
  that you can now properly sort numbers.
• Fixed issue where an empty option would result in weird size output.

1.0.2

• Fixed a bug where the buttons wouldn’t work in a paginated state.
• Show the value of an option in a popover, as suggested with a great
  pull request by
  @rogierlankhorst.

1.0.1

Fixed an error with values that are objects, not strings, which also
caused sorting not to work for some people.

1.0

Initial release on GitHub and WordPress.org.