Plex Does Not Delete Older Episodes When Keeping "Latest Episode"

Live TV & DVR
1

Server Version#: 1.19.3.2852-219a9974e
Player Version#: 2.58.0.1076-38e019da
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun Extend
Guide/Lineup name: Broadcast TV Dallas-Ft. Worth OTA Broadcast
Channel number/Name: 5.1 (NBC)

I am having an issue with Plex not erasing older episodes when “Latest Episode” is indicated in the Advanced Settings when managing a recording.

I record the Nightly News and only want to keep the last episode recorded, however Plex is still keeping all episodes despite selecting “Latest Episode.” I checked the settings in both the PMS and PMP (as well as the Apple TV client), and the settings are universally showing “Latest Episode” for “Keep.”

Screen Shot 2020-05-26 at 11.04.21 AM
Screen Shot 2020-05-26 at 11.04.21 AM943×530 97 KB

2

Did you complete watching the other episodes? Partially watched episodes are still kept around until they are finished. If this is the case, mark the older episodes as played and they should get removed.

3

I tested this theory tonight but Plex still did not delete the old, previously-recorded episodes.

I marked all existing episodes of Nightly News as “Watched” but after tonight’s new episode was recorded, those old episodes still remain.

Any other ideas?

4

I don’t believe the files are removed as soon as the new file is added. This is done during the overnight schedules tasked routine. Wait until tomorrow and see if the file is still there.

5

Thank you for continuing to help me with this issue! Plex has been retaining old episodes for the last five days despite the the “Keep: Latest episode” setting.

I looked in the logs this morning after The Today Show aired (another daily news show I record with the “Keep: Latest episode” setting) and the new episode was added to my Plex library along with all of the previously-recorded episodes. I found this:

May 27, 2020 09:42:33.156 [0x700007a48000] DEBUG - Garbage Collector: Deleting expired unwatched content for Today (policy: 1)

This line would seem to indicate that the “Keep: Latest episode” setting is only looking for unwatched content to delete whereas the setting should be looking for unwatched AND watched content. I’ll test this tonight when The Nightly News airs.

6

Is this really the case? The text under the Keep setting says the following which implies that it will delete even if unwatched:

Set the maximum number of unplayed episodes to keep for the show.

7

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