Server Version#: 1.43.1.10611-1e34174b1
Player Version#: 4.159.0
Hi all,
Need help updating my Plex user account to become the Plex Server Home Admin for a newly re-installed Plex service on my Windows home pc. I initially removed and re-installed my Plex Service, however the re-install retained most of the original accounts for the service, except those I deleted because I knew the PIN associated to the accounts.
However, the user account functioning as the current Home Admin user was retained with the re-insall because I did not know their pin to delete their account, and I am no longer in contact with this person. Is there a method to have two Home Admins, or any method to demote or remove the current Home Admin account without a PIN? I purchased Plex with a Lifetime Plex Pass in 2019, but really need some method to assert my account as the Home Admin to configure the service as I would like to.
Googling this issue, I found some mention of a Plex preferences.xml file that could be modified to relieve this issue, but could find no such file on my PC.
So the primary issue is how to demote or entirely remove the current Home Admin, and reassert myself as the Home Admin. If this requires reinstalling the entire service, Iâm fine with that having the Lifetime Plex Pass. But Iâm not confident due to my recent re-install retaining the current Home Admin account information. Is there some method to change the Home Admin, even if its a full re-installâŠjust need the guidelines to do this and reassert my Plex Pass with my account as Home Admin.
Any help or direction is much appreciated, just frustrated lacking full control of the service.
As @napolij mentions, on Windows, Plex stores the information in the Windows registry.
You need to claim the server with the desired account. An uninstall/re-install will not do so, as it does not remove the necessary Windows registry settings.
To remove the current owner from the server (unclaim it):
Much much thanks for sharing your instructions, which Iâve tried to execute.
I proceeded to copy the text shared and created and then executed the reg file to reclaim my server. However, when I relaunched the Plex Media Server, and then clicked Open Plex, there was an old user still present configured as the Plex Admin, i.e. along with two other users after I logged in with this admin account. So still stuck with same problem.
Maybe I need to execute the reg file as the System Administrator of the PC, though I donât see a Run As Adminstrator option available for the reg file? Maybe thereâs a trick to show this? Or is something else wrong? Any advice is much appreciated, running this on Windows 11.
There is only one Home Admin user for my Plex Server, but its not the user associated with my Plex Pass account, and there is no option to remove this user? I am happy to re-install the server from scratch and associate the server to my Plex Pass account, but cannot figure out how to rid my current computer of these legacy Plex user accounts. Was hoping the reg file shared to me previously on this thread would do the job, but didnât work as I hoped. Maybe I did something wrong? I asked about running the registry edits with an admin account on my PC, but canât seem to do this with the reg file I created per instructionsâŠnot sure why?
Thanks again for your helpâŠstill find old user accounts (including a home admin account) after following your stepwise process, still not sure why it fails. But making me think about the nuclear option. If I take the nuclear optioin path, can I reassert my previously purchased Plex Pass license from Plex to the new install, and associate the install to a new Home Admin, presumably the same one that is registered as the purchaser of the Plex Pass?
Sorry, just a few more questions before I go nuclear. From the web page you shared the Uninstall Plex Server actions for my pc, the following steps are recommended from that page, some questions in BOLD:
Initiate an uninstall for the Plex Media Server as normal via the Control Panel in Windows. [THIS IS OK]
Delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc. registry key. [CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT I SHOULD DELETE THIS REGISTRY KEY?]
Tip! Youâll need to use the âregeditâ or similar Windows app to modify your registry. Itâs always a good idea to back up your registry before making any changes!
Delete the following directory:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server
[CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT I SHOULD ALSO DELETE THE %LOCALAPPDATA% DIRECTORY AS SHOWN ABOVE]
If desired, you can also remove the Plex Media Server entry from your account on the Devices page of Plex Web App. [IS THIS NECESSARY TOO? I WOULDNâT THINK SO, YES?]
SUBSEQUENT STEPS to re-implement Plex Server:
Download latest Plex Server version from plex web site.
Run the server install.
Once complete, start the Plex Server and Open Plex in a browser
On initial launch, should find interface to associate the Plex Server to my Plex Pass account (using correct Plex username and password).
Once account is established, open Plex to initial page where I can find menu options to begin rebuilding my Plex Server with related local content and metadata.
Sorry again for all the handholding, but desperately want to get this right finally.
I am trying to eliminate user gdoy2 so jbmeyer can function as the Home Admin for the Plex Server, this user is tied to my Plex Pass, and I donât have 4-digit code to access the gdoy2 account. But these users never go away, despite my efforts to eradicate any vestiges of the installation??
Always returns to this outcomeâŠcould this have something to do with your last comment about - âdelete the server from your lists of authorized devices:â? Are these user accounts somehow stored with Plex (not local, but Plex web services), and reinstated after a new install?
I have entirely uninstalled Plex from my local PC, but when I go to Plexâs web site, the site loads my jbmeyer profile which is fine with a simple online experience for standard web-based services, nothing related to any local content.
But when I click Account Settings underneath my jbmeyer profile, the web site takes me to the same page (screenshot showing in above entry) with the same User accounts displayed!! This happens after Iâve uninstalled everything on my local PC, I donât get it? Does Plex online retain these user accounts even after an uninstall, and in so doing makes me incapable of ever uninstalling these users, especially the Home Admin user? How do I unwind this?
The user accounts donât live on the server. They live on plex.tv.
Thatâs why you are still seeing the User Selector. Apparently, you still havenât left the previous ownerâs Plex Home, as instructed above.
When I try to login via Chrome to the Plex web site using the email associated to my jbmeyer profile via an Incognito window, I get this result, indicating that my user account is expired, see screenshot:
Which account should leave the previous ownerâs Plex Home?
Is it my jbmeyer account, which is tied to the Plex Pass purchase back in ~2020. With gdoy2 the current owner and home admin, am I essentially leaving the home occupied by gdoy2 , and then recreating an entirely new Plex Home where my jbmeyer account will be the Home Admin?
To make this happen, I just need to click the âxâ to the right of the jbmeyer account on the Plex Home page (where gdoy2 is the home admin) to leave this home, correct?
Precisely.
You donât need to create your own Plex Home, if you never need to âSwitch Userâ on one of your Plex clients, or if your shared users donât need the Plex Pass benefits.
