Plex on Synology - where do deleted files go?

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Server Version#: 1.20.1.3252
Player Version#: using web interface

I have Plex running on my Synology ds920+ I have my media stored in a shared folder called media and a folder structure

/media/tv shows
/media/movies

I have the Synology recycle bin enabled on the media share so manually deleting files via file station or over the network using a Mac or windows PC sends it to the recycle bin
/media/#recycle

When I delete a show via Plex it disappears from the /media/tv shows folder however it does not appear in the recycle bin? I also have

Plex -> Settings -> Library -> Empty trash after every scan disabled.

Scan my library automatically
Run a partial scan when changes are detected
are both enabled.

So where does the file go? I have accidentally deleted a entire season of shows by accident when trying to delete a single episode (I have a nightly backup so I restored the folder from backup)

However should the file not go into the recycle bin?

Thanks

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The recycle bin is only for the GUI operations.
Anything done by Linux itself (within a program such as Plex) are deleted immediately and permanently.

On my Synology, I set my media shared folders to grant Plex READ-ONLY access.
In those cases, if I accidentally delete something from Plex, the files are still there.
PMS removes them from its database but didn’t have actual permission to delete the file(s). I can recover from that by moving the media out to an unmonitored directory, scanning files, then moving it back and scanning again. Plex will add it again as if new.

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Thanks, I prefer to have Plex actually delete the media from the drive. I DVR tv shows and and delete the episodes after to free up space for more recordings. I just thought if Plex deleted the file from the file system it would go to the Synology recycle bin but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

My nightly backup will contain the shows until they eventually fall out of the rotation so I guess if I need to restore them I will need to do it from the daily backup.

Why doesn’t deleting them from Plex via the interface send them to the Synology recycle bin?

Thanks

1 Like
4

They aren’t sent to the recycle bin because a recycle bin is an artificial construction of the file manager (file station).

In Linux, rm filename (remove file) is precisely that – a hard and immediate removal.

5

Thanks for the explanation, Glad I have the daily backups just in case. but that does explain the behaviour.

Thanks again.

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