Moving Metadata on Windows

[OttoKerner]

This post is no longer up-to-date.

Please go here for the current version of the instructions: [HowTo] An extended guide on how to move the Plex data folder on Windows

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1. End plex

2. go to the ‘Services’ control panel of Windows and Stop the ‘Plex Update Service’

3. copy this folder and all its content to the new location
   C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server
   The copy process can take several hours if you have a fairly big library.

4. start plex

5. go to Settings - Server - General - Show Advanced - ‘The path where local application data is stored’

6. type in the new location
   Beware! The path you type in must not include ‘Plex Media Server’ as last part.
   So if now your plex data reside in G:\plexdata\Plex Media Server\, you type only
   G:\plexdata into the input field.
   I recommend you to always use a folder and not to point Plex to the root folder of a drive (i.e. a “naked” drive letter).
   (Keep in mind that G: must use the NTFS file system, not ReFS which gets used with Windows Storage Spaces. It must also not be a networked drive. exFat is also not usable.)

7. save changes

8. end plex

9. restart computer

See also

Backing Up Plex Media Server Data | Plex Support

Once you verified, that everything is working (including fetching metadata for new items!) you can delete the old plex data directory.

[edit for PMS versions above 1.0: added shutdown of the update service ]
[edit mention exFat as unsuitable as well]