# Files not being seen

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [August 28, 2017, 6:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139 "2017-08-28T06:09:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![seaninsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seaninsa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/seaninsa)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 6:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/1 "2017-08-28T06:09:55Z")

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Many of the movies that I have on my hard drive are not being seen by the Plex Media Server. They are in .AVI format. It is weird that the majority which are the same format are being seen but quite a few are not. I would appreciate any help people could give me.

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**Author:** ![Peter\_W](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/peter_w/32/6556_2.png) [@Peter\_W](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Peter_W)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/2 "2017-08-28T06:13:50Z")

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Make sure it is following the naming guidelines - [https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200381023-Naming-Movie-files](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200381023-Naming-Movie-files)

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**Author:** ![seaninsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seaninsa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/seaninsa)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/3 "2017-08-28T06:17:23Z")

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I just tried that…not sure why some of the movies show up and others do not.

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**Author:** ![Peter\_W](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/peter_w/32/6556_2.png) [@Peter\_W](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Peter_W)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/4 "2017-08-28T07:02:08Z")

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If you’ve corrected the name of your files _after_ they were incorrectly matched you might have to do the Plex Dance - [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/277433/the-plex-dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/277433/the-plex-dance)

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**Author:** ![seaninsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seaninsa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/seaninsa)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/5 "2017-08-28T17:54:34Z")

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Why would it see some of them and not all of them ? I am so confused. This is getting to a bigger headache. I will try and do this Plex Dance. I am getting really disappointed in the Plex Media Server concept.

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**Author:** ![Peter\_W](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/peter_w/32/6556_2.png) [@Peter\_W](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Peter_W)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 7:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/6 "2017-08-29T07:09:17Z")

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There could be several reasons. One common issue is that Plex needs access to the files. So the correct permissions has to be set on the files and folders containing it. Another common issue is the naming of said files and folders. Your Plex tries really, really hard to achieve a match to the online source where it collects all that good looking metadata. If you’ve tried matching with incorrect names the files might have been bundled together with other files or gotten an incorrect match. If you then change the names of files not found, which has already been incorrectly matched, they need to be removed first with the Plex Dance.

If there are several files that needs to be renamed, tools exists to aid in this - [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/191687/plex-naming-schemes-for-filebot/p1](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/191687/plex-naming-schemes-for-filebot/p1)

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**Author:** ![seaninsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@seaninsa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/seaninsa)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/7 "2017-08-29T14:24:58Z")

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So how do you do the Plex Dance? How do you move them so they are not seen by Plex?

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**Author:** ![Peter\_W](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/peter_w/32/6556_2.png) [@Peter\_W](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Peter_W)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/8 "2017-08-29T16:37:01Z")

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As I stated earlier - [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/277433/the-plex-dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/277433/the-plex-dance)

During the “double check naming schema and move files back” you could then add in the Filebot option to do it automatically.

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**Author:** ![JuiceWSA](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/juicewsa/32/12253_2.png) [@JuiceWSA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JuiceWSA)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/9 "2017-08-29T16:54:46Z")

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Don’t be fooled by cheap or abbreviated imitations:

The Plex Dance®:

1. remove show/movie from library
2. update library
3. empty trash
4. clean bundles  
[https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions) \<— update library, empty trash, clean bundles
5. bring names and structures into compliance/ or the ultimate bundle reboot operation
6. replace corrected show/movie into library
7. update library

_ **All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.** _

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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:** [January 7, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/files-not-being-seen/204139/10 "2020-01-07T23:44:05Z")

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