How to create a Digital Asset Management clean-up process

Just like legacy storage solutions, such as internal servers and cloud storage, a DAM system can become cluttered and disorganised. Outdated, unused files and inconsistent metadata make good content harder to find and can increase storage and rights-management risks.

There are a few reasons for this:

• Poor DAM practices and processes from the outset—you’ve not developed clear rules around who can access and upload content to the DAM, leading to outdated versions of assets remaining in the DAM longer than they should.
• Incorrectly applied metadata—poorly designed metadata makes it hard to surface the assets you already have, leading to teams creating or commissioning new content you don’t need.
• Your team changes over time—even if you’ve put effective DAM processes in place, over time—particularly when team members move on and are replaced—there will inevitably be a degree of content duplication and redundancy that arises.

It’s this third point that makes regular scheduled clean-ups so important, because even with the best will in the world, your DAM system can become a little bloated over time.

8 steps for cleaning up your Digital Asset Management system

Carrying out regular DAM clean-ups is important, which is why the process for doing it right has a lot of elements:

1. Audit what’s currently in your DAM
2. Identify redundant assets
3. Review rights, licences and expiry dates
4. Decide what to delete, archive or retain
5. Standardise metadata and taxonomy
6. Review collections, permissions and access
7. Create a recurring DAM clean-up process
8. Improve the processes that created the clutter

Let’s take a look at each of these steps in more detail.

Step 1: Audit what’s currently in your DAM

Before removing anything, you need to understand exactly what is stored in your DAM. Start by reviewing the overall volume of assets, the types of files being stored and when they were added.

Next, look at how assets are organised across collections and check whether metadata is being applied consistently. Any reports and insights you have into usage data can also reveal which assets are regularly viewed or downloaded and which have seen little or no activity.

The aim of this first step is to understand what you have and identify areas that need closer review before making decisions about what to remove.

Step 2: Identify outdated and redundant assets

Once you know what is stored in your DAM, look for assets that no longer need to be there.

These will include redundant exports, obsolete campaign materials and outdated files that have since been superseded by more up-to-date versions of assets.

READ MORE: Are you a digital asset hoarder? Why you should have an organised deletion strategy

Once you’ve identified that low hanging fruit you should check usage data to show which files are regularly viewed or downloaded and which have seen little or no activity, but remember that it’s important not to assume that unused or underused assets are always redundant. For example, an old photograph might still have archival, historical or legal value, or assets might simply not be surfaced in searches because they’re not correctly tagged.

During this assessment phase, consider when the asset was last used, whether it supports current work and whether there is a newer approved version available. It can also be useful to speak to the teams that use the DAM regularly, because their knowledge can help distinguish genuinely obsolete content from assets that simply haven't been needed recently.

Step 3: Review rights, licences and expiry dates

If you’ve attached licensing documentation and tagged assets with rights-specific metadata, you can use this to identify content that is no longer cleared for use. Check fields such as licence status, permitted uses, geographical restrictions and expiry dates to find assets where the terms have changed or a licence has ended.

This is particularly important for assets sourced from photographers, stock libraries or external partners, where permissions may be time-limited or restricted to specific uses. An asset remaining in the DAM does not mean it remains available for use, and if its rights have expired or its permitted use has changed, it should be restricted, archived or removed according to your organisation's policy.

Step 4: Create a categorisation framework for deletion, archival or retention

Once your asset library has been assessed, place collections (and individual assets) into three clear categories:

• Retain – actively useful and approved
• Archive – no longer active but worth preserving
• Delete – obsolete or genuinely unnecessary

Using these categories creates a consistent framework for the clean-up, rather than leaving deletion decisions to individual judgement.

Step 5: Standardise metadata and taxonomy

Following the removal of redundant assets and categorisation of what’s going to be left, review how the remaining assets are described and organised with metadata. Inconsistent metadata can make a clean DAM difficult to search, even when the right assets are there, and now is the time to standardise your metadata processes and check whether your existing metadata fields still reflect how teams actually use the DAM.

Look for different terms being used to describe the same thing, incomplete fields and outdated categories. For example, if one team tags an asset as ‘fundraising’ while another uses ‘campaign’, searches may not return every relevant asset, so introduce consistent terminologies and controlled vocabularies where appropriate. You should also remove fields that no longer add value, and add new ones that would introduce important new information.

The result should be a cleaner, more consistent metadata structure that makes assets easier to find and manage.

Step 6: Review collections, permissions and access

A DAM clean-up should also look at how assets are grouped and who can access them, so review existing collections and remove or archive any that relate to completed projects where they are no longer needed.

You should also audit current user permissions, both on an individual and team level, to ensure they’re still appropriate following role changes and the completion of projects, as well as for external contributors that might not still require access.

If possible, manage access through user groups and roles rather than individual permissions. This makes it easier to maintain appropriate access as teams change, reducing the risk of permission creep occurring over time.

READ MORE: User permissions and access control in Digital Asset Management

Step 7: Create a recurring DAM clean-up process

As we mentioned at the start of this article, a DAM audit and clean-up shouldn’t be a one-off exercise. Without regular maintenance, outdated assets and inconsistent metadata will gradually build up again, and regular clean-ups are easier to manage than waiting until digital clutter becomes a major problem.

With this in mind, set a recurring review schedule based on the size and activity of your DAM. This could be quarterly for frequently changing campaign assets or annually for a more stable library. To make sure this is completed effectively, assign clear responsibility for each element of the audit, to ensure someone is accountable for carrying out each review.

Step 8: Improve the processes that created the clutter

The final step is to work out why the clutter built up in the first place, because if teams continue uploading unnecessary versions or using inconsistent metadata , a clean-up will only provide a temporary fix.

The review will identify weaknesses in your DAM processes, and you might need to introduce more required metadata fields at upload, clearer naming conventions, controlled vocabularies or approval workflows. Bringing in new retention and archiving rules can also help prevent assets from remaining in the system indefinitely.

It's also worth asking your teams to see if they’re creating unofficial storage elsewhere, for example on Google Drive or their local machines, because they can't easily find or access what they need in the DAM. If so, improving search, permissions or workflows could encourage greater adoption.

To find out more about how ResourceSpace can support better Digital Asset Management practices, and the platform features that make conducting asset library audits and clean-ups easier, speak to one of our DAM experts by clicking below.