# Database files?

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-files/866716>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [January 18, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-files/866716 "2024-01-18T19:41:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![techieanalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@techieanalyst](https://forums.plex.tv/u/techieanalyst)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-files/866716/1 "2024-01-18T19:41:44Z")

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One of my plex servers, I noticed that the (What I assume the database files) are almost 2TB on this one system, and under it are dozens of these files in the media folder

Normal or someway to clean it up

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/2/c/4/2c4b1610c9fd523b10941dbb7f67719108a07617.png)

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**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-files/866716/2 "2024-01-18T19:48:08Z")

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Those are part of the server data directory’s Media assets, such as artwork but also preview thumbnails.

Don’t just delete stuff from there. If you want to shrink the data directory size you can e.g. trigger the deletion of the preview thumbs from within the advanced tab when editing this particular library.

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**Author:** ![DTR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DTR](https://forums.plex.tv/u/DTR)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-files/866716/3 "2024-01-18T19:54:37Z")

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2TB is definitely large, but if you have a massive media library with [Video Preview Thumbnails](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202197528-video-preview-thumbnails/) enabled, it could be normal (preview thumbnails take up ~80% of my data directory).

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-files/866716/4 "2024-04-17T19:54:49Z")

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