# Plex Media Server is already running. Will not start

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231>\
**Category:** Plex Players\
**Tags:** player-linux\
**Created:** [June 15, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231 "2022-06-15T23:46:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jegler](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jegler/32/192648_2.png) [@jegler](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jegler)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231/1 "2022-06-15T23:46:09Z")

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Server Version#: 4.76.1  
Player Version#: 1.46.1

When trying to run the plex-desktop flatpak, nothing happens and the log in the title is all that’s displayed when attempting to run from CLI. Tried reinstalling the flatpak and removing ~/.local/share/Plex without any success.

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**Author:** ![sebastas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@sebastas](https://forums.plex.tv/u/sebastas)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231/2 "2022-06-23T22:58:21Z")

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Same here… Tried upgrading to the latest 1.47.1 tv.plex.PlexDesktop flatpak just now, but still getting the “Plex Media Server is already running. Will not start…” error. Running Pop OS 22.04, on a thinkpad t480s using x11. No idea how to troubleshoot or fix this… Server is running on another host, I am not trying to run server and client on same machine.

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**Author:** ![gte517z](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/gte517z/32/101785_2.png) [@gte517z](https://forums.plex.tv/u/gte517z)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231/3 "2022-06-28T17:37:55Z")

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Can confirm this is broken. If you wipe out the config dir in ~/.var/app/tv.plex.PlexDesktop, it will run once. Any subsequent attempts will fail until you delete ~/.var/app/tv.plex.PlexDesktop again.

Edit: so after deleting that directory a couple times, the problem went away… no idea.

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**Author:** ![jrohland](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jrohland/32/143884_2.png) [@jrohland](https://forums.plex.tv/u/jrohland)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231/4 "2022-06-29T19:54:47Z")

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I had this issue as well. Instead of wiping the whole ~/.var/app/tv.plex.PlexDesktop directory you can instead just delete the pid file with this: `rm ~/.var/app/tv.plex.PlexDesktop/data/plex/Plex\ Media\ Server/plexmediaserver.pid`. I think it happens if you shutdown your computer without shutting down plex player first but unsure.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-media-server-is-already-running-will-not-start/797231/5 "2022-09-27T19:55:29Z")

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