Removes all files that have no associated usage. Run as drush php-script cleanup.drush

cleanup.drush

#!/usr/bin/env drush
 
<?php
//db_query to find all files not attached to a node:
$result = db_query("SELECT fid FROM {file_managed} m WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM {file_usage} u WHERE m.fid = u.fid)");

echo $result->rowCount();
 
// how much did I delete?
$foundCounter = 0;
 
//Delete file & database entry
for ($i = 1; $i <= $result->rowCount(); $i++) {
  $record = $result->fetchObject();
  $file = file_load($record->fid);
  if ($file != NULL && strpos($file->uri, 'public://news') !== false) {
    $foundCounter++;
    echo $file->uri . "\r\n";
    // file_delete($file);
  }
}
 
echo "Deleted " . $foundCounter . " files.\r\n";

Added:

2. a filter to only remove unused managed files in the news directory