# Plex Media Server data folder over 200gb **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-windows\ **Created:** [February 8, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247 "2021-02-08T16:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cHaOserveR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@cHaOserveR](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cHaOserveR)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247/1 "2021-02-08T16:53:32Z")
Hi All! This is kind of starting to get out of control… any ideas of what I can do? The library is 52.7TB / 22,931 files currently. The server files are using almost half of my boot NVME. Currently on Windows Server 1.21.2.3943. Thanks for looking! 🙂 ![Untitled](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/7/7/7757ddd085967d9e766f3a56a734f1d56c451bf0.png) ---
**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 8, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247/2 "2021-02-08T16:55:04Z")
> **[Why is my Plex Media Server directory so large? | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202529153-why-is-my-plex-media-server-directory-so-large/)** > > The Plex Media Server data directory contains nearly all the information about your server installation. This includes the database file... ---
**Author:** ![cHaOserveR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@cHaOserveR](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cHaOserveR)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247/3 "2021-02-08T17:02:25Z")
Thanks, missed that article when I searched. The article lists a few different possible causes, is there any way to determine which of them is the culprit? “\Local\Plex Media Server\Media\localhost” is where 99.9% of the size is. I would think it would possibly be thumbnail previews, but there are 138k+ files in the directory and I only have ~22k actual media files. ---
**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 8, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247/4 "2021-02-08T17:32:54Z")
It really only lists four - Metadata, media, video preview thumbnails, and sync jobs. The last two are features that you can enable/disable, so you should be able to figure out which, if either, is happening. If those are disabled, you’re left with metadata and media. You can’t really reduce the size, as these are the necessary information that allow Plex to display information, including images, about your media. This is, essentially, “the database,” and it will comprise a lot of files and folders. The more albums, artists, movies, TV shows, etc., you have, the larger the database will be. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247/5 "2021-02-08T18:00:19Z")
WinDirStat is listing the file type `.bif` as responsible for the main volume of the occupied storage space. And that is precisely where the “video preview thumbnails” are stored inside. So the link you’ve been given above is 100% correct. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-data-folder-over-200gb/688247/6 "2021-05-09T18:00:32Z")
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