Every time you deactivate/activate a plugin, you are actually querying the database. Each time you delete a plugin, you will probably delete some rows from your database tables.
The database will still save this unused space, even though there is no need for it and that is called Table Overhead. Think of it as if you were adding, moving and removing files and folders from your PC. After a lot of repetitions, this will slow down your computer. The same goes with the database of your WordPress website – eventually, table overhead will slow down your website.
What can I do about it? I don’t want this so called table overhead to slow down my website!
No need to worry! If we use the PC analogy again, you are simply going to defragment your hard drive. In case of your website, you are going to clean the table overhead.
You can perform this action directly inside phpMyAdmin of your website (which almost every hosting provider in the world provides with the shared hosting plan you purchase) or you can use a tool for this job. There are many out there that can help, but I personally use ManageWP for 2 reasons:
- I work for this company 🙂
- I know how reliable this tool is!
There is a complete guide on how to perform this action via ManageWP right here.
