# Ignore article when sorting

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670>\
**Category:** Metadata & Adding Files\
**Tags:** server-linux\
**Created:** [February 27, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670 "2023-02-27T18:16:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ansem93](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Ansem93](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Ansem93)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670/1 "2023-02-27T18:16:34Z")

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Server Version#: 1.31.0.6654-02189b09f  
Player Version#:1.64.2.3546-5107ec40  
Hi, can someone tell me where’s the option to ignore the articles when sorting films and tv series? I can’t fine it ☹

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**Author:** ![beckfield](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/beckfield/32/7227_2.png) [@beckfield](https://forums.plex.tv/u/beckfield)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670/2 "2023-02-27T18:21:52Z")

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Ignoring articles is Plex’s default behavior, but there’s no checkbox anywhere to enable/disable it.

You can configure which articles to ignore by editing the preferences.xml file. You can find info about this here:

[https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105343-advanced-hidden-server-settings/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105343-advanced-hidden-server-settings/)

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**Author:** ![Ansem93](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Ansem93](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Ansem93)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670/3 "2023-02-27T18:52:45Z")

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Maybe i’m confusing software, but I remember an option to ignore/not ignore articles.  
If I don’t want Plex to ignore “The” the only way is to remove it from the file?

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**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670/4 "2023-02-27T18:56:42Z")

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There has never been an exposed option in GUI. it is the advanced settings file @beckfield linked above.

What the setting does is remove it from the Sort Title automatically

 ![Plex](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/e/c/b/ecbd060aff56dfb6d2f7bc8a21099b30a6d5d906.png)

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**Author:** ![Volts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a5b964/32.png) [@Volts](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Volts)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670/5 "2023-02-27T18:59:06Z")

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The default value of **ArticleStrings** is `the, das, der, a, an, el, la`. Those are the ignored articles.

If you don’t want Plex to ignore _any_ articles, follow the instructions in that document, and set `ArticleStrings = ""` - an empty string.

After doing that, perform a `Refresh Metadata` on any affected items (or the entire Library).

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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:** [May 28, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ignore-article-when-sorting/832670/6 "2023-05-28T18:59:33Z")

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