I apologize for my earlier rant. I just found my log files still intact but I have no idea which ones to look in or what to look for in order to share them here. I did open a few and do a word search for “delete” and found a few things but not many and anyway, it’s really like to Greek to me. There are a bunch of different titles to the log files like “Plex Media Scanner Analysis” etc. Which ones are the ones that would tell why my files were deleted?
If you want to upload your logs, provide all of them.
To be clear, there is nothing in Plex that will automatically delete things. Even the option I mentioned above is off by default and must be enabled manually. If you want to be extra cautious in the future, mark your folders as read-only that way nothing can delete them, not just Plex. Enable write access only when you need to add things.
I found this thread because like others I thought the DVR function should not impact other libraries. Like others I have spent a ton of time ripping and organizing my media. Lately Plex seems to have forgotten many users bought Plex for a single reason, to play media they ripped and own. The DVR function is ok and I’m sure it will get better but me recording Big Bang Theory off live TV and owning a few seasons should not mix. The DVR setting should only apply to the files the DVR records. I have most of the files backed up but I will have to re-rip a few series.
Plex Devs, please figure out what you want Plex to be. I would like a version of Plex that is only focused on playing my media, nothing else. I don’t want you to recommend or rate things, show the cast, show my related shows or shows I might like. I own all of it and I know what I like. just leave my stuff alone.
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-02-29_20-49-25.zip (3.9 MB)
I obviously did something wrong judging from the feedback here. I just can’t figure out what when I obsessively checked to make sure that I thought that I had my settings set correctly not to delete and all had been working like I wanted it to for a couple of months until I updated. I uploaded my logs in hopes that someone might tell me how I screwed up…THANKS!!
I just discovered that Plex deleted all of my Late Night with Stephen Colbert shows - all 3 seasons! I checked that my series is set to keep all episodes and never delete after playing. This was completely random. The files are gone from my hard drive, and I didn’t delete them. There were at least 100 episodes across 3 different seasons, and it seems EXTREMELY unlikely that I accidentally did this.
Even more interesting - I had a collection called _Late Night Talk Shows, which this series was a part of. Now, Late Night with Stephen Colbert is REMOVED from this collection.
Any idea what may have happened?
Update: I just discovered that these files were in my recycle bin. It appears that when plex deletes files, it deletes them to the recycle bin. All these files were deleted at the same time on 3/3 at 10:27 PM. Again, seems unlikely I accidentally deleted these files - I don’t think I was doing anything at that time. I’ve enabled debug logging so if they go away again, hopefully there will be a trace of why.
If anyone has experienced an issue like this, please let me know. Otherwise, I guess I’ll have to chalk it up to user error (unless it happens again).
Does Plex not put these files it ‘auto-deletes’ into the recycle bin?
When I delete one (on purpose) manually - it goes to the recycle bin.
I just tested with an episode of Grey’s Anatomy (who cares, right?).
Went to the bin and I restored it (hadn’t seen it yet…lol).
What gives?
@JuiceWSA For me, it appears to do this. I feel so dumb not looking in the recycle bin first - like saying “my computer won’t turn on” and not checking the plug / power switch.
I deleted a TV show (from my phone, after watching it) and sure enough, it is in the recycle bin. I didn’t realize it deleted it to there. Apparently I have 72 shows taking up 100 GB there.
The ‘Hail Mary’ paid off, you caught it and SCORED!
Well, at least it’s not Plex that has totally dropped the punkin’.
I would keep an eye on anything that’s gonna be turned on, afterward taking upon itself deletion duties. <—that seems like a “Me” thing.
It’s Looney Tunes month in Juicetown and I’ll bet I’ve got 400G in my bin right now…
Do you have your PMS logs for that time period?
I’m not sure what the PMS logs are. My debugging option was set to disabled at this time, so if that’s the case, I guess there wouldn’t be any. If PMS logs are something else, then maybe you can help identify a specific file?
I see in my AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Logs folder files named “plex media server.log” through “plex media server.5.log”. Neither the first nor last ones go back to 3/3, and all have a last modified date of 3/9 to 3/10 (as of now, 3/10 11 AM). Maybe because I turned debugging on it is now writing more data and is erasing old data faster?
Please let me know if I should turn debugging off, and if simple user actions would still be logged for a longer period if I did this (just in case something like this happens again). Please also let me know if i should look at a different file.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/
“Debug” level for logs is on by default; do NOT enable “verbose”.
Those are the correct files, but if they do not go back to 3/3, then there is no point is reviewing them at this point. We will never be able to confirm if PMS did delete your files or if something else did it.
As mentioned, you should leave the debug logging enabled. If you see files go missing again, grab the files right away. Zip them up and post them here so we can review.
Thanks for the info. I was not aware of where they were located. At the moment I guess I’ll chalk it up to somehow I did something (maybe while my phone was in my pocket it hit the exact right combination to delete things? shrugs)
I had the same problem recently and it was difficult to find out what was causing the delete. In my case it was not the server deleting the files, but it was the windows client. As soon as I start running the client, the files would disappear. I suggest shutting down all your clients and starting them one at a time to find out which one is causing the issue.
Long story short, re-installing the windows client did not solve the problem because uninstall does not remove everything from your PC. I had to delete folders under app data and program files. After that no more deletes.
hope this helps…
This my 3rd time coming back to this app because I always forget why i left it. YesThis is the reason, and you guys are still not actively trying to fix the issue, it shows how trash this company is on being active and taking customer concerns seriously, or even its users period. Majority of these posts are of a large amount complaining about the same issue, and clearly its an issue with y’all server app. The rest are of ppl figuring out what they did wrong, but to those posts specifically i see the plex Evangelist Claiming that this must be the issue for everyone else… not verbatim. Seriously your saying the vast majority of your users are idiots. How about you directly tackle one of your users problems. Yes we know it goes to the trash, yes we know its your app that does this, yes we know in the settings we can override settings that was already in place to stop accidents like this From happening, so its pretty repetitive to tell us to go on the settings to configure something preset to not have a problem. How about y’all just fix it:eyes: instead of worrying about bringing new features. Yes this is a customer complaint, I don’t want to have to manually search for files so than i can manually organize them myself. That’s what the Half the app is for. You had one job 
so thank you for your bullshit effort.
I’ve been reading this thread for months and haven’t seen an incident where the Plex Server is the problem. It doesn’t seem to be a problem for the “vast majority” of users.
@Canavar has found where the Windows Plex client did cause the issue. Haven’t seen any Plex followup on that though.
Without logs there’s nothing to follow up on.
Ok, no followup from either side.
It would have been interesting to see how, or if, the client could automatically delete specific files.
I just ran into this issue and I can reproduce, I attached the log. I was able to reproduce when cousin logged in with his Galaxy S9 running android 8.0.0.17276, Plex for Android (Mobile), model SM-G960U). I assume it is an issue with his plex app client (probably old). I am running plex server version 1.19.2.2737 as of today 4/29/2020, which should have the fixes for legacy samsung phones.
For now I am setting every file as read only as a temp fix.
I should note, I even set him as a separate NON-ADMIN user but somehow he has admin access on my account??? even though my admin account needs a pin and he does not know that? very strange.
Plex Media Server.log (3.1 MB)
I think I have a situation with logs showing Plex deleting movies. I am ignorant of what the logs say, though. It could be something I misconfigured or something else that is expected behaviour.
This has happened to me 3 times since the start of the year. I dread adding movies now since I will invariably see the UNAVAILABLE badge. Since you cannot search for UNAVAILABLE, I do not have a true sense of how many movies are deleted.
I am pretty sure it is plex doing the deletion since I have some of the deleted files on an external drive from my last backup. They are not in the recycle bin. I am version 1.19.1.2621. I am a plex pass subscriber.
This is a snippet of the log showing the removal. If someone could tell me what caused the deletion it would be super. Again, I am not blaming plex for this as it is probably a misconfiguration that somehow was introduced at the beginning of the year that only affects some of the files some of the time.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.753 [4012] DEBUG - HTTP requesting PUT http://127.0.0.1:32400/activities/?percentComplete=99.000000
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.754 [4012] DEBUG - HTTP 200 response from PUT http://127.0.0.1:32400/activities/?percentComplete=99.000000
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.754 [4012] DEBUG - Removing 3 media items that were left.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.755 [4012] VERBOSE - Permanently removing media item 626462 part 627540: G:\movies\f\Ford V Ferrari (2019)\Ford.V.Ferrari.2019.mp4
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.755 [4012] DEBUG - Deleting media item 626462.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.756 [4012] DEBUG - Downloading document http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/changestamp
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.756 [4012] DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/changestamp
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.766 [4012] DEBUG - HTTP 200 response from GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/changestamp
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.766 [4012] DEBUG - Was connected to metadata item 224598, count is now 0.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.767 [4012] DEBUG - Destroying metadata item 224598 (Ford v Ferrari)
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.767 [4012] DEBUG - Deleting media item 626464.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.767 [4012] DEBUG - Downloading document http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/changestamp
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.767 [4012] DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/changestamp
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.768 [4012] DEBUG - HTTP 200 response from GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/changestamp
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.768 [4012] DEBUG - Was connected to metadata item 224600, count is now 2.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.770 [4012] DEBUG - Updating deletion state for metadata item 224600, is has a dead item count of 0.
Apr 28, 2020 15:32:54.770 [4012] DEBUG - Deleting media item 626465.```