# Items Won't Delete or Restore **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Tags:** library-management\ **Created:** [August 3, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020 "2020-08-03T03:09:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/1 "2020-08-03T03:09:40Z")
Hi There Pretty new to Plex but know my way around it ok for the most part. I have had a lot of previous success adding and removing many files to sort or re-categorize them as needed. I deleted many files i had doubles of with no problems. Now that my main server is established for movies and music i’d say only about half the time now will it correctly delete an item completely. For instance i have some music that i had made changes to hoping the server would scan and correct. A few times i renamed the folders underneath the artists to the correct album name. I should have done this a different way as now one of the files is still visible on the server but with no play button and unavailable. I can no longer delete this item. When i delete the folder on the hard drive the server still displays the artist and corrupt file but cannot play or delete it. Ive tried the plex dance. Ive checked the permissions on the hard drives (read & write for all folders) have empitied trash, clean bundles etc. I then tried to put the files back in the folder and rescan so they would come online and then i could delete them but they never came back to visibly delete. Having same issue with movies. Deleted several items from the hard drive but they are still visible on the server with trash can icons. I cannot delete them, change their metadata or restore them. Its caught in a loop. Any way to not have to re-add my whole library to fix these files that seem caught between delete and not. ---
**Author:** ![Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Larr2000_Gmail_com)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/2 "2020-08-03T05:07:55Z")
Greetings Plex Server Users, I too have problems editing/deleting incomplete files on my server. First going straight to the file on the server, Plex will not let me delete the file because “You do not have permission”, but when opening security for the folder and subsequent files inside, I am the administrator and do have both read and write. OK, so now with the Plex app on my iMac, again will not let me delete the main files of folder contents. Has anyone encountered this? I have tried all the command line sets to rebuild/diagnose the database in case it is corrupted, but cannot tell if any of these commands ever work… Need some expert help figuring this one out Running on an iMac (10.15.6) / Catalina Netgear Gateway C7000v2 (ethernet To TVOS) TerraMaster NAS F2-210 / TOS: 4.1.24-2005180955 PLEX Server version 4.36.1 / 1.19.4.2935 Apple TV v13.4.6 TIVO Bolt Series 6/v21.9 PLEX on Tivo v3.13.14 [Larr2000@Gmail.com](mailto:Larr2000@Gmail.com) ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/3 "2020-08-04T18:01:58Z")
> [@rmarchin](#): > > Deleted several items from the hard drive but they are still visible on the server with trash can icons. do you have empty trash after every scan enabled? You can manually empty trash from the LIbrary menu. ![Plex](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/f/3/f39be35108814c3957836899b4f98303db2666ae.jpeg) > [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](#): > > Plex will not let me delete the file because “You do not have permission”, but when opening security for the folder and subsequent files inside I’m not really clear where the server is running. On your Mac or on your NAS. If on the NAS the user “Plex” needs wrote permissions to alter things afaik. ---
**Author:** ![Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Larr2000_Gmail_com)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/4 "2020-08-04T19:43:07Z")
Thanks for the tip, but after emptying the trash and restarting PLEX AND scanning the libraries again…still cannot delete movies inside of the folder. ---
**Author:** ![Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Larr2000_Gmail_com)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/5 "2020-08-04T19:48:19Z")
Sorry, I was not clear, Plex is running on the NAS. When inspecting privileges I do have read and write AND am listed administrator. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/6 "2020-08-04T20:11:28Z")
> [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](#): > > When inspecting privileges I do have read and write AND am listed administrator. Has nothing to do with what permissions your admin account has. Plex Media Server runs under a different user called `plex` that is not the administrator and needs write permissions for directories your media is in. ---
**Author:** ![Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Larr2000_Gmail_com)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/7 "2020-08-04T21:01:23Z")
Did not know that, I will try to find the Plex User… ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/8 "2020-08-04T21:13:51Z")
I dont have empty trash enabled but am aware of how to do it manually. Concerning the files that are stuck they wont delete for me to even empty the trash. Or sometimes they will but then get an error saying there was a problem emptying the trash. If im on a mac how do i go about checking the read/write permissions in the root folder? Is there something other than just clicking GET INFO on one of the drives and making sure they are all R/W? Not sure where else to look to make those changes. ---
**Author:** ![Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@Larr2000\_Gmail\_com](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Larr2000_Gmail_com)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/9 "2020-08-04T21:14:48Z")
Hay Big Wheel, I found where to set the privileges and it worked. Thanks, I have been fighting this for a week… Do you accept Pay Pal? Larr2000 ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/10 "2020-08-04T21:15:42Z")
Maybe this is part of my problem as well, where did you find those provileges to make the changes? ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/11 "2020-08-04T21:16:44Z")
> [@rmarchin](#): > > If im on a mac how do i go about checking the read/write permissions in the root folder? Is there something other than just clicking GET INFO on one of the drives and making sure they are all R/W? Not sure where else to look to make those changes. The info about permissions for the other user was because he was running his server on his NAS. You probably have a different issue if your server is running on your Mac. Are you getting an error message or is it just not deleting. ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/12 "2020-08-04T21:20:10Z")
Yes could be. I have three WD external drives plugged right into my Imac for my server. Im getting an error similar to when the metadata just wont update which i also get alot. For the files in question i removed them from the actual hard drives when they wouldnt delete from within Plex. The main folders are still present in the plex librabry with the garbage can icon. I can see the song that is an error because its the only one with no play button next to it. The file is unavailable but when i go to delete it or even the entire artist folder it returns the error “there was a problem deleting this file:” I then tried to readd the files and they arent even showing up after the plex dance and reboot. Thought if they showed back up i could try to redelete them but no go so far. ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/13 "2020-08-04T21:34:59Z")
A quick screen capture of whats going on for me. [https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0PJiEWZRcWSYDt59xQ7DVa7CQ#CHic](https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0PJiEWZRcWSYDt59xQ7DVa7CQ#CHic) ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/14 "2020-08-04T21:40:30Z")
OK. probably best to have a look at your server logs right after you get that error message. You can get them from the trouble shooting section that is towards the bottom of server settings. There is a button to download the logs to a zip file. ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/15 "2020-08-04T21:41:41Z")
Ok thanks let me try that. ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/16 "2020-08-04T21:46:59Z")
Here are the logs let me know what you think and thanks for taking a look. [Plex Media Server Logs\_2020-08-04\_14-44-16.zip](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/mJsb92kXGpjlHn3PKvhEeXzlk6E.zip) (8.9 MB) ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/17 "2020-08-04T22:03:18Z")
You have a bunch of `disk I/O` (Input/Output) errors after the delete request. The HD of your computer may be going bad or I think that can happen if it is very full. (I’m talking about your Macs drive not the USB drives you have connected.) ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/18 "2020-08-04T22:05:16Z")
It is an older imac and runs slow sometimes but the hard drive is almost all free out of 1000GB Anything to try and fix the issue? ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/19 "2020-08-04T22:13:45Z")
I would firs try to maybe restore a back up of the database. Make sure to quit the server so it is not running first then follow the restore instructions here. [https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/#toc-1](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/#toc-1) I would also maybe use Disk Utility.app and run first Aid to check the disk is not going bad. (don’t do this while doing other things) ---
**Author:** ![rmarchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@rmarchin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rmarchin)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020/20 "2020-08-05T20:52:13Z")
Few questions here. Going the backing up a database route and already having some issues. Seemed like in the below linked instructions that these two files should have the same backup date? I don’t have a pair that is matching is that an issue? com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-2020-07-31 com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-2020-08-02 AND com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db-2020-06-28 com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db-2020-07-04 com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db-2020-07-21 And the next BIG issue is when i go to copy and put this file in a second location it keeps failing to copy, failing to compress or failing to duplicate at all which means it may be corrupt? com.plexapp.plugins.library.db How will i ensure i keep all of my metadata if i need to do a full server restore? Hope there are steps before that. > **[Restore a Database Backed Up via 'Scheduled Tasks' | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/?_ga=2.265211531.544608870.1596575439-312175014.1595998774#toc-1)** > > One of the many Scheduled Tasks that a Plex Media Server performs is to make regular backups of the core... [Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/items-wont-delete-or-restore/620020.md?page=2)