Server Version#: 1.24.4.5081
Player Version#: for testing: Version 4.63.0
storage: Samsung T5 SDD on a Shield
I deleted a series by mistake and after recovering the data I tried to enable the trash feature by unticking “Empty trash automatically after every scan” and saving the setting
However when I delete something now it still seems to delete permanently. It doesn’t show on at all in Plex or a search of the drive on the network using Windows explorer (including hidden files).
I’ve looked at $RECYCLE.BIN on the ssd but that doesn’t contain anything useful.
Am I misunderstanding something about Trash? Do I need to change the ssd setup somehow? Any other suggestion? Just as an experiment I copied a random file across to the SSD in windows and then deleted it, the message said it was being permanently deleted and it wasn’t in the recycle bin
That’s not what this checkbox does. https://support.plex.tv/articles/200289526-library/
It prevents your server from throwing away the metadata it has for these media files, in case they are removed or are temporarily unavailable (e.g. because the hard drive is removed or the NAS/file server is out of order.)
If you explictily tell Plex to delete media, the files are deleted.
You might want to disable the ability to delete media from Plex clients. https://support.plex.tv/articles/202606363-how-do-i-delete-something-from-my-library/
I already tried disabling the ability to delete media but then I had no option to delete at all. I expected to be able to delete something but then still see it in Plex (with a trash can icon and unavailable) until I emptied the trash can or recovered the file, as per the recycle bin in Windows.
At the moment I have the option to permanently delete or nothing. Is that right?
The hard drive is connected to the Shield, right?
If you enable “transfer files over local network”, you can access the hard drive from any computer on your local network. Just like a NAS or file server.
Makes adding files and organizing your collection a whole lot more comfortable.
https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4172/~/how-do-i-share-shield-tv-folders-with-a-pc
Keep in mind that the Shield is not a fully-featured NAS. So it might simply not support a kind of trash can like you want.
Yes, I’ve been using Windows explorer to view the drive on the network.
After I inadvertently deleted a whole series instead of just one episode I read this description of the trash feature that I hoped would let me undo such a mistake in future.
If you access your hard drive on the Shield over the network with Windows file explorer, you are circumventing Plex completely.
Thus, a Plex feature won’t help when you delete files by mistake.
Of course the deletion was done from Plex, I used Windows explorer to view/search the drive.
Perhaps it is just the case that the Trash feature does not work with a solid state drive on the shield but I would be grateful if someone could confirm that.
It might not be important whether it is an SSD or “spinning rust”, but rather that the storage driver on the Shield is rather “basic”.
It is running on Android. Not exactly an operating system which is known for its great suitability as a NAS OS.
If you have access to the files with Windows file explorer, then there is no need to use the Plex app on Andoid to perform any of these tasks like deleting files.
So you can disable deleting files in Plex.
I watch Plex on various devices around the house and delete things after I’ve watched them. I find that more convenient than using windows explorer from my pc.
I thought it might be a problem with the sdd setup because I can it has a recycle.bin folder but deletions (from Plex or windows explorer) are permanent.
To save going round in circles can I just ask if anyone has the trash feature working with Shield? And with Shield and a ssd?
That probably wasn’t created by the Shield. If the drive was ever connected to another PC, it may have been created at that time. It’s also possible that a Windows system created that directory when it was accessed over the network.
I think there are only three situations where a file is moved to the Trash/Recycle Bin by Plex:
- Windows server, local drive → Recycle Bin
- Windows server, network share with Recycle Bin enabled → Recycle Bin
- macOS server, local drive → Trash
On all other platforms - Linux (NAS systems), Android (Shield), FreeBSD - Delete in Plex immediately deletes the file.
The Trash also isn’t used by macOS for files located on a network share. And the Recycle Bin isn’t used by Windows for files located on all network shares.
So if delete in Plex immediately deletes the file (on all systems) how does the Trash feature work?
I thought that delete in Plex would keep the file in trash until I emptied it (now that I’ve unticked “Empty trash automatically after every scan”).
But I can’t get it to do anything apart from permanently delete.
Think of Delete as deleting the files immediately.
The Empty Trash feature isn’t about files on the filesystem. It’s about the movie’s entry within Plex and any customized data.
I personally think Empty Trash is poorly named, precisely because of this overlapping terminology and confusion.
Consider this scenario:
I have a file Gremlins (1984)[480p].mp4.
It’s been scanned and matched by Plex as the movie Gremlins.
I’ve edited that movie’s description in Plex, added a custom Poster, put it in a Playlist and a Collection, and shared it with some friends.
Now I buy Blu-Ray version of Gremlins, so I delete the original file Gremlins (1984)[480p].mp4 from the filesystem.
If Plex is configured to immediately Empty Trash, when I remove Gremlins (1984)[480p].mp4, everything I customized was immediately lost. The entire record of the movie Gremlins is removed. When the new file is added, it has only default information.
If Plex is NOT configured to immediately Empty Trash, then the customized information is kept around. When the new file Gremlins (1984)[1080p].mp4 is copied into place, Plex matches the movie Gremlins and associates it with the existing, customized movie record.
Does that help?
That’s really helpful thank you, much better than the support article: Emptying Library Trash | Plex Support Now I’ve reread it after seeing your explanation I finally understand what it’s saying!
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