Plex not working on anything/can’t claim server?

[supergrendel]

For over a month now I can’t get any of my local content to play on any of my devices. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the plex media server app and the player. I can’t even download directly from plex on my Windows PC using any browser. Just says “oops, looks like we can’t retrieve downloads at this time, please return later.” I’m even having to post on the forums with my phone because if I go to sign in with my PC I just get a white “account sign in” box. What exactly is going on with Plex? I paid for the lifetime membership and literally NOTHING works.

Edit: I think there is some kind of glitch with my server name being unclaimed? I click “claim server” and absolutely nothing happens.

[SE56]

The correct way to uninstall plex, this may bring some light.

Uninstall Plex Media Server | Plex Support

[supergrendel]

I think I may have resolved the issue. I had Plex exclusions setup in my VPN app in Windows which made entries in my Windows Hosts file. I removed the plex Hosts entries and it seems now I can claim my server and all the content streams again. Still unknown if plex will work when I have vpn on though…