# Plex not finding library

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-library/615365>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-mac\
**Created:** [July 20, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-library/615365 "2020-07-20T16:44:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mrfusiontm](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mrfusiontm/32/128480_2.png) [@mrfusiontm](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mrfusiontm)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-library/615365/1 "2020-07-20T16:44:41Z")

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Server Version#: 1.19.4.2935-79e214ead  
Player Version#: 4.30.2  
Restoring my machine after a hard drive failure. I’ve copied the all the Plex Media Server directories from the back up to ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/  
When I start Plex, it claims the library is empty. Any help resolving this would be greatly appreciated.

[Plex Media Server Logs\_2020-07-20\_08-54-18.zip](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/yh2uM8K7M6NCl1183D0mV2XyqxP.zip) (1.3 MB)

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**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-library/615365/2 "2020-07-20T20:43:12Z")

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From what I’ve seen, some users report issues when restoring Plex from a time machine backup in combination with some bad machine identifiers. Those identifiers are stored in the `com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist` which is the file where Plex stores some advanced/special configuration parameters.  
You could try:

1. Shut down the Plex Media Server
2. Open Finder and click `Go To Folder` / `⌘`+`⇧`+`G`
3. Enter `~/Library/Preferences/` and click `Go`
4. Locate the file `com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist` and rename it (e.g. by adding some suffix like `com.plexapp.plexmediaserver_old.plist`)
5. Restart the Plex Media Server and open it locally via your browser ([http://127.0.0.1:32400/web](http://127.0.0.1:32400/web))

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**Edit:** doing this you might need to re-claim / link your server to your Plex account under `Settings` \> `[Server Name]` \> `General`

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mrfusiontm](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mrfusiontm/32/128480_2.png) [@mrfusiontm](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mrfusiontm)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-library/615365/3 "2020-07-20T20:51:00Z")

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No change… 😢

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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:** [October 18, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-not-finding-library/615365/4 "2020-10-18T20:51:06Z")

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