85 of my TV shows are now missing; they are almost the most recent files I added, although they are not the latest files, which is so odd.
The allow media deletion button was not checked.
I was trying to import two new series. I checked the names several times, moved them into the proper folder, but no matter how many times I hit the update button, nothing changed.
So I went in and manually added one of the new series folders by editing the library. This worked.
I then added the entire folder again to see if it would catch both of the missing series, and that worked.
I then went back to delete the folders within plex, and that is when some of the files went missing while most didn’t.
What is going on and why?
(I also don’t understand the purpose of the trash - if I can’t recover files from it, which seems to be the case from other posts, what purpose does it serve?)
So, the files was actually deleted from your disk? They are nowhere to be found on the phsycial drive outside Plex where they prev lived? If so, I’m sure the dev’s would very much like to see your logs - because that surely shouldn’t happen (Plex is built upon the foundation to never touch the files or folders they are situated in). Please gather them as the article below instructs, then zip and attach to thread
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files
Here is a zip file of all the logs - I noticed there are some in the logs folder itself, and then more in a plex logs folder - is that how it should be?
And yes, the files are gone from the desktop.
It isn’t there now, I should have taken some screen shots at the time, but in the system status screens there were about 6 screens of “item deleted” actions and then before that the items that I had added. The interesting part is that it didn’t delete everything - it just deleted a set of files that I had done a few weeks ago. It didn’t delete the older items or the most recent items.
thanks,
Robert
Do you have a time and date where this is supposed to have happened? So I have something to go on when looking through your logs.
It was on the 28th or 29th of July - I had just added Salem’s Lot and the Shining miniseries to my TV Shows section, and I couldn’t get Plex to see them, which is the start of the above.
Thanks,
Robert
Thanks. I’ll look into this now and get back as soon as I have found something. Just to confirm, how are your settings regarding deletion and empy trash? Have you enabled either or both of these under the advanced settings? Could you provide a screenshot of said settings?


I’ve checked your logs, and indeed something happened around the 29th. Plex soft-deleted items which means that Plex was unable to reach your files. Thus, Plex did not delete your files as such. It merely something that happened on hardware/OS/other program. Even if you had enabled the “allow media deletion” you would have gotten a “Are you sure?” question before anything was actually removed.
So, I’d advise you to search further into system logs, check your harddisks for errors etc.
Hello,
To your earlier note, I don’t have Allow media deletion checked, but I did have Empty Trash automatically after every scan checked - which I assume are the system defaults as I don’t remember updating them.
On the second note, after I deleted the folder in plex, which then ran a huge list of delete actions, I looked into the media folder on the finder, and the folders were gone (not even in the finder’s trash). So if this was a secondary issue, how do I find that out? Or could it be that Plex caused the secondary issue? Or is there a combination of system settings and plex settings that causes folders to disappear?
Thanks, Robert
If the entire folder is gone, most likely it was not caused by Plex. Plex may delete files, but not folders, which is actually a feature some users have asked for. Another thing to look out for is a failing hard drive. If you have any diagnostic/stress tools, I would run it and see if they find any issues.