This plugin automatically downloads the first remote image from a post and sets it as the featured image.
As of April 2026, Auto Save Remote Image is a WordPress featured plugin with 60 active installations and a 4.3/5 rating from 4 reviews. It has been downloaded 17K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 3.0+ and PHP false+. Available on WordPress.org since 2012. Last updated 13 years ago — may have compatibility concerns. Top alternative: Featured Image from URL (FIFU).
The purpose of this plugin is very simple – when a post is published, it will fetch the first remote/external image that is referenced. The image that is retrieved is then attached to the post as the featured image. There are no settings to configure.
Please do not use this plugin to violate copyrights.
Sample uses: You maintain multiple blogs; copy paste the post contents from one blog to the other and this plugin will automatically save the first external image to the second blog. There is no need to re-upload images to multiple sites.
This plugin can also retrieve and save images from sites like Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, etc.
| WordPress | 3.0+ requiredTested up to 3.4.2 |
| PHP | false+ required |
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