Rename incorrectly labelled content, fix sign-in problems, rearrange your Plex library and add missing media
Plex can’t find your videos, music or photos
Plex Media Server (www.plex.tv) is an excellent way to stream TV and films over your home’s network, but it is prone to the odd hiccup. One of the most common complaints is that it occasionally fails to discover TV shows and films that are stored in the folder designated as Plex’s library folder.
To fix this, open Plex and hover the cursor over the library that Plex is struggling with (Movies, Music or TV Shows, for example) and click the pen icon to access that library’s settings.
When the Edit Library window pops up, click ‘Add folders’ (on the left), click the ‘x’ to the right of any folder you have previously added to remove it, then click ‘Browse for media folder’. Navigate to the folder containing that type of media (so a folder containing music if you’re fixing the Music library) and click Add, then Save Changes. Plex should now discover your files (give it 10 minutes if you have a lot of files in the specified folder).
If Plex still refuses to find your content, it could be because you don’t have permission to access that folder. This can be a problem if the folder isn’t on the main Windows drive (usually C). To get permission, open File Explorer (Windows Explorer on Windows 7), navigate to the folder and open it. If this is the problem, a message will appear saying ‘You don’t currently have permission to access this folder’. Click Continue and Plex should now access the folder without further problem.
Fix incorrectly named content
Sometimes Plex discovers your files but gets them mixed up (it confused Cocktail for Casino Royale on our PC). To fix this, open the incorrectly labelled film, TV show or music album and click the three dots (…) on the left, then select Unmatch. Next, click the three dots again and click Match, then select the correct film or album on the list to download the correct images and description.
If the correct film or album isn’t listed, click Search Options, enter its name in the Title field (also change the date if you know when the content was released) and click Search. Choose the correct film/TV show/album from the search results.
Films and TV programmes show up in the wrong library
Plex generally does a good job of filtering films into the Movies library and TV shows into the TV Shows library (even if you use one folder to store both on your PC), but sometimes it can place content in the wrong place. If this happens it’s due to how the content has been named. For example, if a TV show has been placed in Plex’s Movies library, find that show in File Explorer and rename each episode using the naming convention S01E01 (where S is the series number and E is the episode number). Then return to Plex, click the relevant Library, then the refresh button (the circular arrow at the top right).
Can’t sign into Plex Account
If you’re unable to sign into your Plex Media Server account the most likely cause is a conflict with your antivirus. To get around this you need to add a rule to your antivirus that gives Plex full access to your PC and the internet.
In Kaspersky for example, click Settings, Additional, then select ‘Threats and Exclusions’. Click ‘Specify trusted applications’, then the Add button (at the bottom right) and choose Plex from the list of programs (or click browse and navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server). Tick all the boxes in the ‘Exclusions for application’ window then click Add. All antivirus software should have a similar way of adding excluded software, so check the online help for your antivirus program.
You see ‘a .msi file is missing’ error message
If you see an error message such as ‘a .msi file is missing’ when you try to install or update Plex, it means that a key Windows file that’s needed to run Plex has been deleted or become corrupt. Running this Microsoft fix should sort the problem out.
Go to www.snipca.com/22700 and click Download. Double-click the downloaded file then click Next, followed by Installed. The tool will then check your PC for errors and fix any corrupt or missing Windows files (including any preventing Plex from installing or updating).