# Plex Server won't empty trash **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** library-management\ **Created:** [September 19, 2024, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770 "2024-09-19T08:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/1 "2024-09-19T08:24:29Z")
Server Version#: Version 1.41.0.8992 Player Web Version#: Version 4.136.1 Plex Server running on Windows and is latest version. When I add a movie and scan the library, it shows up correctly. Now when I delete the movie folder, scan again and empty trash the movie still shows in my library. The specific file (after clicking Get Info) shows unavailable but the movie still keeps showing. No errors shown in the UI. I’m a long time plex user so I know I’m doing it right - this has worked fine in the past. Is my database corrupt? Or is this another bug, how can I resolve it? ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 8:27am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/2 "2024-09-19T08:27:42Z")
> [@plexUser07](#): > > Is my database corrupt? It’s one possibilty. Check your [server logs](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/) for words “malform” or “corrupt”. > [@plexUser07](#): > > Now when I delete the movie folder, scan again and empty trash the movie still shows in my library. If it was this specific folder that you added to your Plex library, Plex will assume a temporary unavailability of that hard drive, not a deletion of the whole folder. [Edit your library](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200289266-editing-libraries/), go to the “Add Folders” tab and verify that each entry in there is connected to a storage location that is still existent and accessible. Otherwise Plex will not empty out its trash. ---
**Author:** ![mtikoian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@mtikoian](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mtikoian)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 11:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/3 "2024-09-22T11:45:15Z")
I am having the exact same issue after installing 8992, I have tried going back to previous builds to no avail. In the past I had a similar issue where deleted library content wasn’t being removed from the library instead it would remain unavailable, I followed similar steps hoping the issue was with the scanner itself being out of date, this time that does not appear to be the case. My server is running on QNAP NAS but my issue is the same. In addition to going through the normal troubleshooting steps I used the [dbrepair](https://github.com/ChuckPa/PlexDBRepair) utility to analyze and fix any db corruption but that wasn’t the issue. Hopefully this issue will get some traction because it’s very annoying =) ---
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2024, 9:51am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/4 "2024-09-29T09:51:22Z")
I don’t see those words in the logs. Are there instructions you can share for attempting a db repair on windows? Thank you ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2024, 12:29pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/5 "2024-09-29T12:29:36Z")
Just use this .bat file: [PlexDBRepair/Windows at master · ChuckPa/PlexDBRepair · GitHub](https://github.com/ChuckPa/PlexDBRepair/tree/master/Windows) ---
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 8:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/6 "2024-09-30T08:09:42Z")
The script executed fine but the issue still persists. What is the path forward here? Is there a way to get support from Plex engineers on this issue? ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/7 "2024-09-30T08:13:21Z")
> [@OttoKerner](#): > > [Edit your library](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200289266-editing-libraries/), go to the “Add Folders” tab and verify that each entry in there is connected to a storage location that is still existent and accessible. > Otherwise Plex will not empty out its trash. Did you check the above? ---
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/8 "2024-09-30T15:28:03Z")
Yes, everything is already connected. But it reminds me of something… I had added a new hard drive few months back and my drive letters changed as result. I had edited library folder settings and added new drive paths, scanned library and emptied trash. Then removed old paths from library folder settings. It is possible this issue started sometime after that although I don’t know the exact time it started… ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/9 "2024-09-30T15:29:32Z")
> [@plexUser07](#): > > Yes, everything is already connected. That is not what I was asking. > [@plexUser07](#): > > I had added a new hard drive few months back and my drive letters changed as result. I had edit library settings and added new drive paths, scanned library and emptied trash. It is possible this issue started sometime after that although I don’t know the exact time it started… Verify that the old, no longer existing drive letter is no longer listed under Add Folders. Otherwise you will get exactly the behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/10 "2024-09-30T16:12:36Z")
Sorry, to clarify all the drives that appear in the library folder settings right now are connected and accessible. And again, adding a new movie in the library path is correctly picked up by Plex. But if I delete the movie file right after, then scan and delete trash it shows me a message saying trash was successfully emptied but the movie remains in my library. Only file behind the movie under Get Info changes state to “Unavailable” - but the movie still remains in my library which is the issue here. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/11 "2024-09-30T17:47:12Z")
> [@plexUser07](#): > > it shows me a message saying trash was successfully emptied but the movie remains in my library. Which client type are you using to check? Are you refreshing the library view after the deletion?? ---
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/12 "2024-10-01T03:58:09Z")
Ah I’ve figured it out now thanks to your help…and kicking myself for it 🙂 In short it was a combination of exactly the things you said - my old drive path being present in the library folders setting, which I deleted as per your instructions but then didn’t refresh the library view in my browser - this used to work fine without refreshing earlier but for some reason I’m finding it needs a refresh now. But after my attempt(s), I was reverting my plex server to my last backup so as to get rid of my experimental movie which was sticking around. The restore was resetting my library paths back to what they were 😮 One last question: It seems to work fine right now but I ran the bat file for db repair on a database that didn’t need fixing - is this OK? If the script can be unreliable would you recommend restoring a backup before I ran the script and repeating the steps to delete the paths and refresh the browser once again? Thank you again! ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 10:04am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/13 "2024-10-01T10:04:03Z")
> [@plexUser07](#): > > but I ran the bat file for db repair on a database that didn’t need fixing - is this OK? Yes, perfectly fine. If anything, it may have an effect of speeding up database access a bit. ---
**Author:** ![plexUser07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@plexUser07](https://forums.plex.tv/u/plexUser07)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/14 "2024-10-01T16:39:21Z")
Ok thank you again for all your help! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-server-wont-empty-trash/888770/15 "2024-12-30T16:40:08Z")
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