# Completely remove ALL metadata from videos

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515>\
**Category:** Metadata & Adding Files\
**Tags:** server-terramaster\
**Created:** [August 20, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515 "2019-08-20T19:44:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/1 "2019-08-20T19:44:44Z")

</div>

Hi all,

So I used Plex for a while now and it’s amazing. I recently got a problem where Plex incorrectly named certain TV Series. All I did to fix the problem, was to right click the video in Windows \>properties\>details\>remove properties and personal information and performing the Plex Dance. However, I now have a TV Series where there is some Metadata hidden somewhere which I can’t find in MP3tag or in VLC Media Player.

 ![Incorrect%20Titles](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/d/2/d285824f7a612219e103f41267ce43ff14699c93.png)  
Please see the picture attached

Can anyone please help?

Kind regards  
Robbie

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/2 "2019-08-20T20:03:38Z")

</div>

Try this instead:  
Go to

- Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB

In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents.  
Repeat the same under

- Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase
- Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie
- Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase

Afterwards, Refresh Metadata on the whole show.

Which file container is used by these videos?  
Inside of mp3tag, did you try a right-click onto the file and then ‘Remove tag’?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/3 "2019-08-21T16:28:10Z")

</div>

I tried modifying the Agents in the server settings, and it does work, however, I really want to strip the metadata from the video.

The videos use an MP4 container, but the last one (Episode 23) uses an MKV container. All of the files originally came from an MKV container which I encoded using Handbrake in order to avoid transcoding. I thought encoding removes the metadata, but apparently not…

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> Inside of mp3tag, did you try a right-click onto the file and then ‘Remove tag’?

Yes I have tried that as well and refreshed the metadata, still the same, unfortunately.

 ![Arrow%20MP3Tag](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/4/b/4b180326fa4e7d2f1de182814a63f7198ed0d868.png)

Here is a screenshot of what the video file looks like in MP3Tag.

Thank you for helping  
Kind regards  
Robbie

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/4 "2019-08-21T17:25:52Z")

</div>

This is a MKV file. Plex doesn’t read any metadata from MKV files. Except the language tags of the audio and subtitle tracks and their titles.

Is this what you want to change?  
see [How to remove tag spam and set language in several MKV files at once](https://forums.plex.tv/t/how-to-remove-tag-spam-and-set-language-in-several-mkv-files-at-once/235537/1)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/5 "2019-08-24T18:15:18Z")

</div>

I don’t know where it gets that info then. I have tried using MKVtoolnix and performed the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) and adding episode 23 again. But it gets the same Title. Also, if Plex doesn’t read metadata from MKV files, why does it incorrectly identify the episode, but when I change the ‘Local Media Assets’ in Settings - Server - Agents - Shows it correctly identifies the episode?

Can I upload the episode for you to maybe check for testing and troubleshooting purposes only to keep things legal?

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> Is this what you want to change?

Yes, but I think there are hidden metadata somewhere

Sorry for my late reply, I have had a hectic week

Kind regards  
Robbie

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/6 "2019-08-24T18:22:07Z")

</div>

Please post the content of the [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info") of an affected episode.  
(Don’t post the URL to it!)

Are there `.nfo` files in the same folder, beside the mkv files?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/7 "2019-08-24T20:43:18Z")

</div>

Thank you for the reply, there are no .nfo files besides the MKV  
Please see the screenshot

 ![Arrow%20MKV](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/a/4/a4cfbde6fe9bb05fb9f5b263eb97bf9838f5607b.png)

Please see the attached Plex [XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats) as requested.

```auto
<Video ratingKey="538" key="/library/metadata/538" parentRatingKey="423" grandparentRatingKey="326" guid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://257655/6/23?lang=en" parentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://257655/6?lang=en" grandparentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb://257655?lang=en" librarySectionTitle="Private TV Shows" librarySectionID="5" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/5" type="episode" title="Arrow S06E23 - RMTeam, RMZ.cr" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/326" parentKey="/library/metadata/423" grandparentTitle="Arrow" parentTitle="Season 6" contentRating="TV-14" summary="Encoded By RMTeam, http://RMZ.cr" index="23" parentIndex="6" rating="7.6" year="2018" thumb="/library/metadata/538/thumb/1566670166" art="/library/metadata/326/art/1566670167" parentThumb="/library/metadata/423/thumb/1566670167" grandparentThumb="/library/metadata/326/thumb/1566670167" grandparentArt="/library/metadata/326/art/1566670167" grandparentTheme="/library/metadata/326/theme/1566670167" duration="2503488" originallyAvailableAt="2018-05-17" addedAt="1566670015" updatedAt="1566670166">
<Media id="906" duration="2503488" bitrate="719" width="1280" height="720" aspectRatio="1.78" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" videoCodec="hevc" videoResolution="720" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="24p" audioProfile="lc" videoProfile="main">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="906" key="/library/parts/906/1566404066/file.mkv" duration="2503488" file="/mnt/md0/Plex/Private TV Shows/Arrow/Season 06/Arrow.S06E23.720p.HDTV.x265_MeliMedia.INFO.mkv" size="224963590" audioProfile="lc" container="mkv" videoProfile="main">
<Stream id="1737" streamType="1" default="1" codec="hevc" index="0" bitrate="719" bitDepth="8" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" colorRange="tv" frameRate="23.976" height="720" level="93" profile="main" refFrames="1" width="1280" displayTitle="720p (HEVC Main)" />
<Stream id="1738" streamType="2" selected="1" default="1" codec="aac" index="1" channels="2" profile="lc" samplingRate="48000" displayTitle="Unknown (AAC Stereo)" />
<Stream id="1739" streamType="3" default="1" codec="srt" index="2" language="English" languageCode="eng" displayTitle="English (SRT)" />
</Part>
</Media>
<Directo

```

And thank you for helping me @OttoKerner

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/8 "2019-08-24T20:56:49Z")

</div>

I see you have my setlangs.bat file there.  
Did you modify it before using it? Because it won’t do anything with your files in its original state. (your files only have 1 audio track, but since my script is expecting 2 of them, it won’t change anything).

You probably want this one instead: [setlangs2.zip](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/5KN6RlnflDzeQ5crBcRIQ809c1t.zip) (443 Bytes)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/9 "2019-08-24T21:12:55Z")

</div>

I removed the additional audio tracks in the script, but I don’t know if I am doing something else wrong. I just tried using your new setlangs2.zip and performed the Plex Dance again and still it didn’t work. If I understand correcly, I don’t have to change the new script, just run it as long as it’s in the same folder?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/10 "2019-08-24T21:15:27Z")

</div>

Yes, this version will work with files which have only 1 audio and 1 subtitle track.  
You should see its effect if you inspect the ‘language’ flag on your audio track. After the script has been used, it should show ‘English’ instead of ‘Unknown’.  
(In plex, you will need to trigger Analyze before you can see the change.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/11 "2019-08-24T21:29:33Z")

</div>

I just used the new script, but it didn’t remove the metadata. Do think I might be doing something wrong? Or maybe the guys who encoded it has some form of protection against editing the metadata?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/12 "2019-08-24T21:33:10Z")

</div>

I doubt it.

Drag the file into [MKVtoolnixGUI](https://mkvtoolnix.download/ "MKVtoolnixGUI")  
Does it still show those “global tags”?

 ![mkvtoolnix_global_tags](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/b/6/b63c0cb0e8776e078473a70dda0357ba2692e135.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/13 "2019-08-24T21:36:50Z")

</div>

I just checked, and no it doesn’t show global tags

 ![Arrow%20MKVToolNix](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/5/3/538d6ace1db24b3140f17847a74f0d2985ee0965.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/14 "2019-08-24T21:41:04Z")

</div>

Then the file doesn’t have any embedded metadata anymore.  
And you can see that my script worked, since the audio track is nor properly flagged as English.

It is time for extreme measures:  
empty the cache folders of the agents  
[https://support.plex.tv/articles/202967376-clearing-plugin-channel-agent-http-caches/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202967376-clearing-plugin-channel-agent-http-caches/)  
Sorry, I cannot tell you exactly where to look for it on a Terramaster NAS. But it _should_ be somewhere below of

```auto
/home/plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server

```

Perform the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-incorrectly-identifying-tv-episodes/100265/4 "Plex Dance") with the whole show.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/15 "2019-08-25T11:42:37Z")

</div>

I performed the steps above again, and still the same unfortunately ☹

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/16 "2019-08-25T11:52:17Z")

</div>

By now I’m almost out of ideas.  
Have you checked your database file for damage?

1. [activate debug](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201643703-reporting-issues-with-plex-media-server/ "activate debug") logging ( **not** ‘verbose’!)
2. quit Plex Server
3. wait 1 minute
4. start Plex Server
5. wait 5 minutes
6. [fetch log files](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417 "fetch log files") and attach them here

Or inspect them yourself. Take a look at the `Plex Media Server.log` file and seek for messages about database `corrupt` or `malformed`.  
If you find these, you may have to repair your database.  
[https://support.plex.tv/articles/201100678-repair-a-corrupt-database/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201100678-repair-a-corrupt-database/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/17 "2019-08-25T12:54:49Z")

</div>

I have had a look at the logs but were unable to find any words like `corrupt` or `malformed`.  
I have attached the log file for you to see if you want.  
I honestly am also out of ideas…  
[Plex Media Server Logs\_2019-08-25\_14-50-09.zip](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/58fb3COPNxSzxCAR1T23CFC43Om.zip) (1.1 MB)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/18 "2019-08-25T13:28:17Z")

</div>

I don’t see any signs of database corruption either.

What I do see is an invalid entry in  
Settings - Server - Network - ‘Show Advanced’ - “List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth”  
Change it to `192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0`  
and make sure **not** to put any space characters in there.

But this is very unlikely to have any influence on your metadata issue.

Do you have set the episode order to ‘DVD’? Put it back to ‘Aired’.

Did you encounter any stange error messages during the Plex Dance?  
Did you perhaps leave out any steps of it or performed the steps out of order?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/19 "2019-08-25T13:30:37Z")

</div>

I can see that a lot of files of Arrow are indeed in mp4 format. Do you have perhaps several versions of Arrow, with different quality levels and different file containers?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![333robbie333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/333robbie333/32/139530_2.png) [@333robbie333](https://forums.plex.tv/u/333robbie333)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515/20 "2019-08-26T16:31:16Z")

</div>

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> What I do see is an invalid entry in

I fixed that now.

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> Do you have set the episode order to ‘DVD’? Put it back to ‘Aired’.

Mine is set to Aired

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> Did you encounter any stange error messages during the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064)?

No, I did not

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> Did you perhaps leave out any steps of it or performed the steps out of order?

I tried all the steps above again, ensuring that I did everything in the correct order, but still the same issue

> [@OttoKerner](#):
>
> I can see that a lot of files of Arrow are indeed in mp4 format. Do you have perhaps several versions of Arrow, with different quality levels and different file containers?

Yes, I pirate it for now so there will be different quality levels until I can afford to buy Season 6 on DVD. I do encode the MKV files to MP4 H.264 to avoid transcoding. Shall I encode the latest episode and upload the [XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats) for you?

[Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/completely-remove-all-metadata-from-videos/449515.md?page=2)