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Windows Troubleshooting

Windows Troubleshooting

Section titled “Windows Troubleshooting”

Solutions to common Plex problems on Windows.

Plex Won’t Start

Section titled “Plex Won’t Start”

Check if Already Running

Section titled “Check if Already Running”
Terminal window
Get-Process "Plex Media Server" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Check Logs

Section titled “Check Logs”
Terminal window
Get-Content "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plex Media Server\Logs\Plex Media Server.log" -Tail 50

Reset Plex

Section titled “Reset Plex”
  1. Stop Plex completely
  2. Rename %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\Preferences.xml to .bak
  3. Start Plex (will create fresh preferences)
  4. Reconfigure settings

Media Not Showing

Section titled “Media Not Showing”

Verify Folder Permissions

Section titled “Verify Folder Permissions”
Terminal window
# Check access
$path = "D:\Media\Movies"
Get-Acl $path | Format-List

Force Library Scan

Section titled “Force Library Scan”
Terminal window
$token = "YOUR_PLEX_TOKEN"
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://localhost:32400/library/sections/all/refresh?X-Plex-Token=$token" -Method Post

Check Scanner Logs

Section titled “Check Scanner Logs”
  • Settings → Troubleshooting → View Logs
  • Look for scan errors

Transcoding Issues

Section titled “Transcoding Issues”

Hardware Transcoding Not Working

Section titled “Hardware Transcoding Not Working”
  1. Verify Plex Pass is active
  2. Check GPU drivers are updated
  3. Settings → Transcoder → Enable hardware acceleration
  4. Restart Plex

Check Transcoder Logs

Section titled “Check Transcoder Logs”
Terminal window
Get-Content "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plex Media Server\Logs\Plex Transcoder Statistics.log" -Tail 100

Remote Access Problems

Section titled “Remote Access Problems”

Port Check

Section titled “Port Check”
Terminal window
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName YOUR_PUBLIC_IP -Port 32400

Firewall Test

Section titled “Firewall Test”
Terminal window
# Temporarily disable firewall (for testing only)
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled False


# Re-enable after testing
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled True

Database Issues

Section titled “Database Issues”

Repair Database

Section titled “Repair Database”
Terminal window
$plexDB = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Databases\com.plexapp.plugins.library.db"


# Stop Plex
Stop-Process -Name "Plex Media Server" -Force
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5


# Check integrity
sqlite3 $plexDB "PRAGMA integrity_check;"


# Repair
sqlite3 $plexDB "REINDEX;"

Backup and Restore

Section titled “Backup and Restore”
Terminal window
# Backup
Copy-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plex Media Server" -Destination "D:\PlexBackup" -Recurse


# Restore
Copy-Item "D:\PlexBackup\*" -Destination "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plex Media Server" -Recurse -Force

Performance Issues

Section titled “Performance Issues”

High CPU Usage

Section titled “High CPU Usage”
  • Reduce concurrent transcodes
  • Enable hardware transcoding
  • Lower transcoder quality

High Memory Usage

Section titled “High Memory Usage”
  • Restart Plex periodically
  • Reduce preview thumbnail generation
  • Optimize database

Slow Library Scans

Section titled “Slow Library Scans”
  • Use SSD for database
  • Reduce scanner frequency
  • Enable partial scans only

Get Help

Section titled “Get Help”