Repercussions of renaming files/folders of existing library

[skolli]

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Hey folks, I have a most likely stupid question. A few years ago when I got into this hobby I was not as careful with my naming schemes. Looking through my media I see a lot of stuff from before does not have the date in the folder or file, and some of the naming conventions are different (i.e., S01 x E01, S01E01, etc.). To be fair, everything works (though I definitely had to fix matches a lot in the past) but I was wanting to delve into custom title cards and such with PMM and it got me thinking it would be nice to have everything completely aligned with my updated naming conventions.

So, what will happen if I start re-naming the files? I guess my biggest concern would be Plex re-integrating it as a new show and losing watched history (I can deal with that but between my mother and wife I would never hear the end of it).

I figure it can go either way…either plex knows the matched file already exists and will accept as is (like updating a 720p to a 1080), or it will say look a new show and reload it entirely. Would disabling empty trash automatically for this endeavor sway it one way or another?

Any help from the pros would be appreciated.

[FordGuy61]

Enable Sync Watch State & Ratings on your account. Have those you share libraries with enable it on their accounts as well (not available for managed accounts).

Disable Settings → Library → Empty trash automatically after every scan.

Rename and reorganize the media files as desired. See Your Media for Plex naming & organization standards.

Scan the appropriate libraries to pick up changes.

If you look at the Get Info for each file, you should see duplicates. One will be unavailable, as it is the old file name which no longer exists (you can also sort movie libraries for duplicates).

Now that Plex has picked up the new location/naming, empty the trash to remove the old entries. When finished, clean bundles and optimize the database (Settings → Troubleshooting).

[skolli]

Thanks pal I appreciate your insight.