After Asset CleanUp’s deactivation, it will be like not having the plugin active in the first place, with a few differences:
- The latest cached CSS/JS files (in case certain files needed to be altered through features such as a minify or combine) from /wp-content/cache/asset-cleanup/ (or the custom location you set) will still be there in case references to those files are made from cached pages done by other plugins or the hosting company. You don’t want to get broken layouts for some of your visitors (some caching layers aren’t always cleared when plugins are deactivated). However, if there are no cached CSS/JS files left in the caching directory, then the directory will be removed.
- The settings will still be preserved in the database (inactive records, of course), in case you reactivate the plugin later. Many users deactivate & activate the plugin back for debugging purposes. Plus, some upgrade to the Pro version (of course with the settings preserved) and they have to delete the Lite version first in order to perform the upgrade. If you want to stop using the plugin and have no records left in the database, you can reset everything using “Tools” -> “Reset” (from the plugin’s menu) (see the print screen from the bottom of this post)
Any asset that you marked for unloading will load again once you disable “Asset CleanUp” (unless you meanwhile deactivated the plugins or removed the code that was loading them in the first place), thus make sure to clear your browser’s cache and the cache of plugins such as WP Rocket. Since you’ve unloaded specific CSS and JavaScript files (for reasons such as reducing HTTP requests or conflicts with other files), it’s good to check how your web pages are loading now to avoid any functionality problems.
Example
If for instance, you’ve used “Contact Form 7”, you marked to have its CSS and JavaScript files loading ONLY in the “Contact” page via Asset CleanUp Pro and then you decide to stop using Asset CleanUp Pro and deactivate it.
The following scenarios could happen:
- If “Contact Form 7” is still active, then its assets will load again site-wide since no Asset CleanUp Pro unload rule will trigger.
- If “Contact Form 7” is not active anymore (e.g. decided to switch to a different contact form plugin), then none of its assets will load on any page of your website since Asset CleanUp Pro’s task is to only PREVENT the loading of the files, it will not forcefully load them in any way, no matter which settings you’ve applied.
I want to remove all the unload rules set through the plugin and reset the “Settings” to their default value
If that’s the case, then make sure you will go to “Tools” (plugin’s menu) and access the “Reset” tab. You will get various choices there that will help you get the result you want.
