I see we are still trying to make this a thing. Wish they’d do it already. All we want is
To be able to have a separate library for Anime, or foreign films, that we can keep our language for the metadata to be our native language.
While also being able to set the entire library to default to a separate foreign language.
For example. I can’t read Japanese very well. I am an English speaker. I want to navigate in English and I don’t want to hear English in that library ever.
The current setup makes it so we have to read in a foreign language to not have to mess with audio or be able to read the gui and change it almost every time we launch an episode.
There is no good solutions and even the addons that claim to do it. Editing every mkv file to have it is order is cumbersome.
Please pay note to this. People have been asking for it as a feature for a long time.
I have different libraries for different languages and I would love to be able to set the default audio and subtitle languages/mode as a library-wide setting. It could be very similar to the preferred audio/subtitle language and mode that can already be configured for a whole series.
Voted, although a setting exists for series (just found out reading the previous post) a Library setting would make it easier to enable since I got +100’s of series in the Library.
Been fooling around with the settings in Languages but since that one is Global it messed with every Library that exists in the server.
I use Language per Library setting up Movies or Series in different languages but since it does not have a setting for subtitles in there, the global setting messes up all series episodes in other language than English.
Example is my French Series Library that contain local french shows which do not contain an English track. The global setting enables subtitles that are in french, which I don’t need (fluent in English and french)
So enabling a subtitle setting per Library would make it easier to change it per Library language.
Is there any chance this will be implemented? I sometimes watch Japanese language content with Japanese subtitles, but this means I can’t use “Show with foreign audio” (since it won’t select the subs at all), and using “Always enabled” will even show English subtitles when watching a show in English, which I don’t want. I know this is a niche case, but it would simplify things greatly if I could select the language settings at the library level so I can just have different libraries for Japanese and English content.
As a side note, setting my server language settings seems to impact my client experience when viewing content from other servers, which I don’t really understand. Not sure if I should write up a separate request or bug report for that.
Please consider this, it would be insanely useful for me to have a library which default to subtitles in my native tongue. Library is already set to my language, why can’t it just extended that to default language for subtitle search?
For me it’s not a problem since I prefer content in english anyways, but my native speaking family doesn’t want to click through menus more often then they do…
I would like to set default language + sub seperately for movies and series.
Usually I watch movie in Hungarian without subs but I prefer series in English (or original language) with Hungarian or English subs.
Right now I have only one global language settings.
Pretty common to have English audio + subs as the default, but have many, many series (such as Japanese audio + English subs) where it breaks the pattern of preference.
Still very very awesome that we now have per-series overrides implemented, but it would be so much faster when managing many series at once if a Library default could be chosen, especially since “Library default” is already an option for other settings. I can’t imagine this would be hard to implement (maybe that’s naïve), and clearly there’s community desire for such a change
Very similar to what have been done in this suggestion, but instead of doing it one by one show/movie, we could have this option on a library wide scenario.
Why?
Well, let’s say I have a cartoon/anime or whatever, and I’m on the mood to watch them all dubbed in my mother language, I just choose to do so, without the impact in other libraries (as is now).
And when I’m in the marathon spirit to watch them subbed, I just change the option again without the need to do it in a individual basis as it is today.
My way to watch stuff is: live-action in the original language, animated stuff dubbed first and then original in a future moment. That’ll be cool to have this option without having to choose the language/sub at every episode.
Sorry if this is duplicated, but I couldn’t find an active suggestion.
We can set default audio language per account or per server, and fairly recently even per show. We seem to have missed the per-library section?
I have a lot of foreign movies, either italian, french, some bollywood. I also have some anime in japanese. It is a pain to have to go into each movie or show each time and set default language for the show, even though I have that content in respective libraries.
I want the ability to go into the French library and have anything I put in there auto-play in french if available, basically the exact same settings we can do on a tv-show level, but it applies to every show in that library.
It seems like a strange oversight. Is there a reason?
Seriously - are you guys ever going to do this? this is a cancel my plex pass and switch to jellyfin level feature. For people who watch a ■■■■ ton of anime having to go update the show language for myself - and friends having to do the same is absurd its 2025. Also even if you refuse to do that just keep my episdoe update preferences like crunchyroll does? i get youre going for profit but jfc listen to your users for once.
Agreed, why is it that even if i set Japanese audio in the advanced tab on every show (manually btw XD) in my Anime Show library do my users STILL have to go into their settings and change to Japanese too, or manually have to swap per-episode while watching, it’s frustrating both for me and for them. Doesnt make sense.
Make a SERVER setting for library-wide set audio, where if one’s “Preferred Audio Language” in your account settings is set to “English” or whatever one might have, THEN it overwrites, if the account setting is set to “Select Language” it should follow the Library-set audio. Seems simple enough. Crazy thing is this has been a thread since 2012 xD
I am writing to suggest a feature that would greatly enhance the user experience regarding language management: the ability to define a Default Audio and Subtitle Language at the Library level.
Currently, Plex handles language selection primarily through global account settings, which prioritize user-wide preferences over the specific needs of different content types. I believe that adding an option in the “Advanced” library settings to designate a preferred language for that specific library would be a significant improvement.
The Proposal: I suggest introducing a configuration option that allows administrators to set a “Default Native Language” for a given library.
Improved Workflow: This would allow users to easily enjoy content in its original language, or to set up specific libraries (e.g., for language learning) where the default audio and subtitle tracks are consistently matched, regardless of the global account defaults.
Consistency: By allowing this setting to override global preferences for that specific library, administrators could ensure that content is always presented in the desired language mode without requiring constant manual adjustment of audio/subtitle tracks for every session.
This feature would provide users with greater flexibility and a more seamless way to consume international media, whether for leisure or educational purposes.
Thank you for your consideration and for your ongoing work on the platform.
You can set language prefs for a specific show separate of the account setting.
I’m not disagreeing with this feature request (I want it too). I’m just saying as far as having to change prefs for every session you can avoid that for watching a show.
Thanks for the tip! I know about the per-show setting, but unfortunately, it gets tricky if you use multiple libraries.
For instance, if you have two separate libraries that share the same show metadata (like a dedicated one for original language and another for dubbed content), changing the setting in one library often overrides the other because Plex links them to the same Show ID. On top of that, the per-show change only applies to my own account. If I share my server with friends or family, they will still see the episodes start in their global account language when they browse that specific library.
That is why a library-level setting would be a lifesaver. It would just force the default for everyone entering that specific folder, without having to mess with individual show settings or worrying about other users’ preferences.
You can also use a tool like Pasta to mass-change language settings on shows/libraries. Some third-party clients also have the ability to maintain your audio/sub settings between episodes in a viewing session (Plezy).
At this time you would need to prioritize what content you watch most, and set the account-level language pref to match. If that’s Japanese audio and English subs, set it like this:
This will work as long as your media is properly tagged following Matroska spec. That means you’re responsible, as the server owner, for correcting incorrectly tagged files released by xxxx mini encoders before you load them into Plex.
Then for other media you get to play this “fun” game of manually setting language prefs on Western TV shows and changing the subtitle setting before playback on every movie. But if you have a lot more “churn” on your anime libraries this will still be less work in the end.
That’s how it should be. Even if this library-level preference existed, it would only apply to your Plex account. Other people would need to set the same preference. Just like Matroska tags do not force players to use certain audio/subtitle tracks to be used. Literally not how they work.
