diff --git a/RMuseum/Controllers/ArtifactController.cs b/RMuseum/Controllers/ArtifactController.cs
index 5c1dbadd..9c8b0cb9 100644
--- a/RMuseum/Controllers/ArtifactController.cs
+++ b/RMuseum/Controllers/ArtifactController.cs
@@ -1974,6 +1974,32 @@ namespace RMuseum.Controllers
                 return BadRequest(exp.ToString());
             }
         }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// start removing original images
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+
+        [HttpDelete("originalimages/remove")]
+        [Authorize(Policy = RMuseumSecurableItem.ArtifactEntityShortName + ":" + RMuseumSecurableItem.ImportOperationShortName)]
+        [ProducesResponseType((int)HttpStatusCode.OK)]
+        [ProducesResponseType((int)HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, Type = typeof(string))]
+        [ProducesResponseType((int)HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized)]
+        public IActionResult StartRemovingOriginalImages()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                var res = _artifactService.StartRemovingOriginalImages();
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(res.ExceptionString))
+                    return BadRequest(res.ExceptionString);
+                return Ok();
+            }
+            catch (Exception exp)
+            {
+                return BadRequest(exp.ToString());
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// readonly mode
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/RMuseum/RMuseum.xml b/RMuseum/RMuseum.xml
index 3e0c94a4..6a76bf01 100644
--- a/RMuseum/RMuseum.xml
+++ b/RMuseum/RMuseum.xml
@@ -596,6 +596,12 @@
             </summary>
             <returns></returns>
         </member>
+        <member name="M:RMuseum.Controllers.ArtifactController.StartRemovingOriginalImages">
+            <summary>
+            start removing original images
+            </summary>
+            <returns></returns>
+        </member>
         <member name="P:RMuseum.Controllers.ArtifactController.ReadOnlyMode">
             <summary>
             readonly mode
@@ -9377,6 +9383,12 @@
             <param name="id"></param>
             <returns></returns>
         </member>
+        <member name="M:RMuseum.Services.IArtifactService.StartRemovingOriginalImages">
+            <summary>
+            start removing original images
+            </summary>
+            <returns></returns>
+        </member>
         <member name="T:RMuseum.Services.IDonationService">
             <summary>
             donation service
@@ -10404,6 +10416,9 @@
             <summary>
             IArtifactService implementation
             </summary>
+            <summary>
+            IArtifactService implementation
+            </summary>
         </member>
         <member name="M:RMuseum.Services.Implementation.ArtifactService.StartFillingGanjoorLinkOriginalSources">
             <summary>
@@ -10511,6 +10526,12 @@
             <param name="friendlyUrl">golestan-walters-01</param>
             <returns></returns>
         </member>
+        <member name="M:RMuseum.Services.Implementation.ArtifactService.StartRemovingOriginalImages">
+            <summary>
+            start removing original images
+            </summary>
+            <returns></returns>
+        </member>
         <member name="M:RMuseum.Services.Implementation.ArtifactService.StartImportingFromPrinceton(System.String,System.String)">
             <summary>
             from http://pudl.princeton.edu/
diff --git a/RMuseum/Services/IArtifactService.cs b/RMuseum/Services/IArtifactService.cs
index 004f475d..a636cc37 100644
--- a/RMuseum/Services/IArtifactService.cs
+++ b/RMuseum/Services/IArtifactService.cs
@@ -557,5 +557,11 @@ namespace RMuseum.Services
         /// <returns></returns>
         Task<RServiceResult<bool>> AcceptPublicNoteReport(Guid id);
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// start removing original images
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        RServiceResult<bool> StartRemovingOriginalImages();
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/RMuseum/Services/Implementation/ArtifactService-Partials/ArtifactService-RemoveOriginalImages.cs b/RMuseum/Services/Implementation/ArtifactService-Partials/ArtifactService-RemoveOriginalImages.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b99294cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RMuseum/Services/Implementation/ArtifactService-Partials/ArtifactService-RemoveOriginalImages.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
+using RMuseum.DbContext;
+using RSecurityBackend.Models.Generic;
+using RSecurityBackend.Services.Implementation;
+using System;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.IO;
+
+namespace RMuseum.Services.Implementation
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// IArtifactService implementation
+    /// </summary>
+    public partial class ArtifactService : IArtifactService
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// start removing original images
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        public RServiceResult<bool> StartRemovingOriginalImages()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                _backgroundTaskQueue.QueueBackgroundWorkItem
+                            (
+                            async token =>
+                            {
+                                using (RMuseumDbContext context = new RMuseumDbContext(new DbContextOptions<RMuseumDbContext>())) //this is long running job, so _context might be already been freed/collected by GC
+                                {
+                                    LongRunningJobProgressServiceEF jobProgressServiceEF = new LongRunningJobProgressServiceEF(context);
+                                    var job = (await jobProgressServiceEF.NewJob("RemovingOriginalImages", "Removing")).Result;
+
+                                    try
+                                    {
+                                        var srcPath = Configuration.GetSection("PictureFileService")["StoragePath"];
+                                        var trashPath = Configuration.GetSection("PictureFileService")["TrashStoragePath"];
+
+                                        var images = await context.PictureFiles.Where(p => p.StoredFileName != null &&  p.SrcUrl != null).ToListAsync();
+
+                                        int progress = 0;
+
+                                        for (int i = 0; i < images.Count; i++)
+                                        {
+                                            var image = images[i];
+                                            string targetDir = Path.Combine(trashPath, image.FolderName);
+                                            if (!Directory.Exists(targetDir))
+                                            {
+                                                Directory.CreateDirectory(targetDir);
+                                                Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(targetDir, "orig"));
+                                            }
+                                            string srcFileName = Path.Combine(Path.Combine(srcPath, image.FolderName), image.StoredFileName);
+                                            if(File.Exists(srcFileName))
+                                            {
+                                                string targetFileName = Path.Combine(Path.Combine(trashPath, image.FolderName), image.StoredFileName);
+                                                File.Move(srcFileName, targetFileName, true);
+                                                image.StoredFileName = null;
+                                                context.Update(image);
+
+                                                if( (i * 100 / images.Count) > progress)
+                                                {
+                                                    progress = i * 100 / images.Count;
+                                                    await jobProgressServiceEF.UpdateJob(job.Id, progress);
+                                                }
+                                            }
+                                        }
+                                        
+                                        await jobProgressServiceEF.UpdateJob(job.Id, 100, "", true);
+                                    }
+                                    catch (Exception exp)
+                                    {
+                                        await jobProgressServiceEF.UpdateJob(job.Id, 100, "", false, exp.ToString());
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+            );
+
+
+                return new RServiceResult<bool>(true);
+            }
+            catch (Exception exp)
+            {
+                return new RServiceResult<bool>(false, exp.ToString());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/RMuseum/appsettings.json b/RMuseum/appsettings.json
index 5ce70c68..07c9aa59 100644
--- a/RMuseum/appsettings.json
+++ b/RMuseum/appsettings.json
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
     "NormalImageMaxHeight": "1350",
     "ThumbnailImageWidth": "300",
     "ThumbnailMaxHeight": "500",
-    "ImageInfoCacheEnabled": "False"
+    "ImageInfoCacheEnabled": "False",
+    "TrashStoragePath": "C:\\museum-trash"
   },
   "Logging": {
     "LogLevel": {