Plex showing duplicate entries for same file. Seems random

[Realfolkblues]

Hello. In my Plex library I see duplicate copies of the same video. It’s not every video but it’s a good amount of them. Maybe 25%?

Here is an example

If I edit each item to see the file path I can see they are actually the same file, it’s just got two entries in the library for some reason.

How can I fix this? thanks!

[CWallace]

You’re seeing Collections:

Collections | Plex Support

The ones that say “1 Movie” underneath them are collections.

[SuperPlexd]

What I’m seeing is one movie, Aquaman on the right. To the left you have the representation of a collection. In this case you have an Aquaman collection containing one movie. You may notice that you may also have a collection for, say Star Wars containing several movies, or Die Hard containing several movies. If you want to disable collections you can do so by editing the settings of the library.

There are numerous posts about this in these forums and I’m surprised you didn’t find any when you searched before posting.

[Realfolkblues]

I see. So then I have two more questions.

1. Why is a collection created for single movies? Makes no sense. And is why I ignored the collection posts when I searched.
2. Why are collections showing in the library view. I understand seeing them in the collection view but what is the reasoning of showing them both places?

[CWallace]

1. That’s the way it was designed. There have been thread after thread and even a feature suggestion to change a ‘minimum’ collection to two movies.

Implemented - [Feature Request] Hide Collections with only 1 item

I love the new collections overhaul, but I’ve noticed a lot of the movies I don’t have sequels for are being grouped into 1-movie collections. It would be nice to be able to turn on collections when there are greater than 1 (bonus: or any user-set amount) movies in the collection.

2. I assume a design decision. I’m not sure why that is either. I would have put Collections as a filter like Duplicates or Genres instead of on it’s own.

One other oddity about Collections in the Library view is that it only shows in sort by Title and changes the item count to reflect how you have them configured.

[FordGuy61]

@Realfolkblues

Why are collections showing in the library view. I understand seeing them in the collection view but what is the reasoning of showing them both places?

Edit your library. Under Advanced, change Collections setting to desired setting.

Plex Web → Select Library → Click on 3 vertical dots to right of name → Manage Library → Edit. Can also use Plex Media Player or Plex for Win/Mac.

[Realfolkblues]

Thanks

[CWallace]

No problem. Once you have played with Collections and figured out how to make them work for you they can be a nice organizational tool.