# External subtitles disappearing from Plex

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Tags:** server-windows, subtitles\
**Created:** [September 9, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020 "2022-09-09T04:41:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pacey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@pacey](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pacey)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/1 "2022-09-09T04:41:19Z")

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I’m having a problem where external subs are showing up, then after adding something to my library they disappear. I’ve done the [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) with them, and they show back up only to disappear again once something else is added.

Server Version: 1.28.2.6151

![plex2](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/5/7/e/57e77d3dc78d0670e13e9e96cd6148201d835c12.png)

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**Author:** ![FordGuy61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@FordGuy61](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FordGuy61)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 6:05am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/2 "2022-09-09T06:05:32Z")

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Which Plex clients exhibit the problem?

If you are not doing so, place each movie in its own folder.

```auto
/Movies
.../James and the Giant Peach (1996)
....../James and the Giant Peach (1996).mp4
....../James and the Giant Peach (1996).en.srt

```

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**Author:** ![pacey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@pacey](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pacey)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/3 "2022-09-09T06:21:01Z")

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I’ve tested it with Android, Android TV, Windows, and Roku. It is as if the subtitle file is not being detected once so ever. This is how it is structured.

```auto
/Movies
.../Kids Movies
..../James and the Giant Peach (1996)
....../James and the Giant Peach (1996).mp4
....../James and the Giant Peach (1996).en.srt

```

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**Author:** ![Phoenix501](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/phoenix501/32/288433_2.png) [@Phoenix501](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Phoenix501)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/4 "2022-09-14T22:12:42Z")

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Have you tried to “refresh metadata” on these items? Sometimes this triggers them to show up for me when they’re missing.

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**Author:** ![FordGuy61](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@FordGuy61](https://forums.plex.tv/u/FordGuy61)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/5 "2022-09-14T22:53:15Z")

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What encoding is used for the subtitle file? It should be UTF-8 without BOM.

Open the file in Notepad, Notepad++, or other text editor. If necessary save the file in UTF-8 format.

In Notepad and Notepad++ the format is displayed in the lower right corner.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pacey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@pacey](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pacey)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/6 "2022-09-14T23:07:15Z")

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Thank you for the recommendation. This seems to have fixed it. I can’t believe I didn’t do this lol.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pacey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@pacey](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pacey)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/7 "2022-09-14T23:08:14Z")

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Thank you for the reply. They are indeed UTF-8 without BOM. Refreshing meta data seems to have fixed it.

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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:** [December 13, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-subtitles-disappearing-from-plex/810020/8 "2022-12-13T23:08:24Z")

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