DocumentationExperience Cloud KCS

Remove orphaned assets from Adobe Experience Manager publish instances

Last update: October 9, 2026

This article explains how to identify and safely remove orphaned assets from Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) publish instances when they are no longer present in the author environment.

Description description

Environment

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), all supported versions.

Issue/Symptoms

  • Assets are present on AEM publish instances but do not exist in the author environment.
  • Deleting assets from author does not always remove them from publish.
  • Attempts to use workflows such as Request for Deletion without Deactivation may not always remove the asset from publish, and audit logs may not show expected deletion events.
  • Orphaned assets can result in stale content being served to end users.

Cause

Orphaned assets on publish typically occur when assets are deleted from author without a corresponding unpublish or deactivation event. This can happen due to custom workflows, manual deletions, or process failures that do not trigger replication to publish.

Resolution resolution

Follow the steps below to resolve the issue:

  1. Identify orphaned assets by comparing the list of asset paths under /content/dam on both author and publish instances using CRXDE Lite or custom scripts. Compile a list of asset paths that exist on publish but not on author.
  2. Prepare for deletion by saving the list of orphaned asset paths to a text file or similar format for reference. Ensure you have recent backups of your publish instance before proceeding.
  3. Remove orphaned assets from publish by using a supported method or custom script to delete the identified assets directly from the publish instance. Test any script or method in a development or non-production environment before running it in production. Monitor publish instance logs for errors or unexpected behavior during the deletion process.
  4. Establish ongoing best practices by regularly auditing for orphaned assets between author and publish environments. Review and update asset deletion workflows to ensure assets are properly deactivated and removed from publish when deleted from author.
  5. Verify the deletion by confirming that the assets are no longer accessible on the publish instance.
recommendation-more-help
experience-cloud-kcs-help-kbarticles