A simple way to prevent search engines and the public from indexing and accessing your files without complex user authentication.
As of April 2026, Prevent Direct Access is a WordPress uploads plugin with 10K+ active installations and a 4.7/5 rating from 292 reviews. It has been downloaded 264K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 4.7+ and PHP 5.6.1+. Available on WordPress.org since 2015. Actively maintained — updated within the last month. Downloads are down 84% this week. Support resolution rate: 0%. Top alternative: Add From Server.
Prevent Direct Access (PDA) offers a simple solution to protect your WordPress files as well as prevent Google, other search engines and unwanted users from indexing and stealing your hard-to-produce ebooks, documents, and videos.
We’ve created an intuitive user interface directly in your Media Library. It’s simple and easy to use. You’ll be able to protect your private files in no time.
Our PDA Lite version offers the following features:
Prevent Direct Access is designed to protect all your WordPress media files such as images (PNG, JPEG), documents (PDF, DOCX, PPTX), audios, and videos (MP4, MP3) that you upload to your website under Media Library or via Media, Pa…
The pro plugin delivers, providing protection and security to files which contain commercial, sensitive or personal information.
I have had a pro license for some time and even though the license has expired in 2024 I have been billed afterwards. The support staff of PDA have handled this swiftly and professionally (see thread). In case you are unable to stop the payment through your payment provider, get in touch with them before the renewal takes place.
Almost every useful feature is locked away. Uninstalled immediately.
I’m not one to write reviews, but the WP Folio Team definitely deserves one. I’m completely impressed with their support. They are unparalleled! Whatever you need, you can be sure they will do everything to help and guide you. They are simply polite, kind, and have immense patience to ensure customer satisfaction in resolving problems. Regarding the products (plugins), they are of the same exceptional quality as the support, and that’s very rare. Thank you so much Quinnie, Muhammad, and everyone at the WP Folio Team! You are all amazing!
Great support.
The team at Prevent Direct Access helped me find a custom solution that I wouldn’t have been able to complete without their help. They were responsive, kind, and came to a solution that worked well on the website. We had to protect a website’s files mid project and with the team at Prevent Direct Access, we were able to redirect URLS on mass. This plugin is great for any developers looking to prevent access to documents and files. Highly recommend the plugin and their support team!
| WordPress | 4.7+ requiredTested up to 6.9.4 |
| PHP | 5.6.1+ required |
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.