How to do the Plex Dance
While managing a Plex server you may run into an issue where media items are not identifying correctly, or there just seems to be a problem with a particular library. While Plex does a good job of downloading metadata and organizing your media files, it isn't perfect, and may not work as expected.
If you have tried to resolve the issue by searching online, but you can't get Plex to work properly with a library, then you may need to perform the "Plex Dance" to reset the troublesome library.
How to Do the Plex Dance
The Plex Dance is the last resort effort to reset a media library that isn't displayed correctly in Plex. The steps of the Plex Dance will allow you to start from scratch on a library. This means that all metadata associated with a library will be removed from Plex; making the library appear as if it was never added to your Plex server.
To do the Plex Dance, use the following steps:
- Move all the media directories and files out of the directory for the library that is causing problems. This will cause Plex to no longer find the media items.
- In Plex, scan the library to detect the missing media items.
- Empty the Plex trash. The missing media items will not appear as deleted, so all items should be cleaned from the trash within Plex.
- Clean bundles to remove any images and other metadata from your Plex server.
- Double-check the naming conventions of the media. Ensure the items follow the movie naming conventions, TV show naming conventions, or music naming conventions.
- Move the media items back into the library directory.
- Scan the library. Plex will then re-add the media items and download the metadata for each item.
If Plex is still having issues working with the library, I suggest you redo the Plex Dance but only move in a few media items at a time into the library. Perhaps a particular media item is causing problems for the whole library.