Why does some content appear as being duplicated when it isn’t.
Example - You add a new TV series to your library. You haven’t had the series in the library previously but it indicates duplicated items by having the small blue tag with a number in it on each episode.
How do i fix this without having to remove all the content that is showing as duplicated, emptying the trash, optimizing the database, cleaning the bundles, re-scanning the data-base and re-adding the content.
It doesn’t happen with every item added too.
I have looked through other posts with this issue but haven’t found a simple answer.
I try to ensure i name everything correctly using Filebot so i don’t think that’s the cause.
Tried to look for the " duplicate filter" mentioned in some responses but i couldn’t even find that.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thx in advance.
In the web client, to show duplicates for TV episodes, you must first select the “Episodes” view on the Library tab of your library:
You can then select “Duplicates” from the first drop-down box:
Plex will then display any duplicate episodes you have in your library. You can select the “Get Info” option from the ellipsis menu and it will show which files are associated with the episode. A screenshot of that may give a clue as to why the episodes are being matched as duplicates instead of individually.
Thanks for that. I had got to the episodes bit but didn’t realize i had to go back to the " All" drop down to locate duplicates.
Doing that now indicates Duplicates - Episodes - 230
So there is a few by the looks of it.
I know why some of these duplicates are showing up and that’s because some episodes are a comedy show which contain numerous sketches. Its due to the way the episodes are structured.
The others however display 2 entries exactly the same when Media Info is brought up.
both have Delete Files options in Red and choosing either of them deletes the content from the server.
Eg. \videos\TV Shows\Gold Rush Parkers Trail\Gold Rush Parker’s Trail - S04E09 - Future Ground.mp4
I’ve seen it suggested in another thread that duplicates with the exact same file path can happen if two processes initiate a library scan at the same time and find the same new items. There may be other ways to correct this, but you may be able accomplish it by performing the Plex Dance on the affected episodes or series. You could test this with one or two to ensure it works and then do the rest in bulk.
Plex Dance so that’s what it’s called…
When i first encountered this problem quite a while back this is basically the process i thought of to fix it. I hadn’t looked at any forums at that stage.
It is the process i still use but it can be time consuming. Some items just refuse to play ball and continually appear as duplicates. It seems as though despite being removed from the library and emptying the trash, optimizing the database and cleaning the bundles then scanning there must be some info regarding the file still there. When this happens i move onto the next one and continue in this manner until i have checked them all. I revisit the problem ones again later and sometimes that fixes it.
I wonder if turning off auto scan whilst adding files might prevent it. i will try that.
