# Scan Library ignoring nested directories

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-linux\
**Created:** [December 3, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815 "2020-12-03T05:45:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mcandre](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mcandre/32/210047_2.png) [@mcandre](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mcandre)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815/1 "2020-12-03T05:45:01Z")

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Sometimes Plex fails to find video files when nested one extra directory deep, especially if the parent folder has no video files.

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**Author:** ![Volts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a5b964/32.png) [@Volts](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Volts)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815/2 "2020-12-03T06:16:23Z")

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And sometimes Plex does find video files nested extra deep. 🙂

But nesting extra deep doesn’t match the recommended naming scheme. There are quite a few things that work better, including file discovery, file discovery performance, matching, extras, and optimized versions, if you organize media the way Plex expects.

> **[Naming and organizing your Movie files | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-movie-media-files/)**
>
> The scanners and metadata agents used by Plex will work best when your major types of content are separated from...

> **[Naming and Organizing Your TV Show Files | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/)**
>
> The scanners and metadata agents used by Plex will work best when your major types of content are separated from...

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mcandre](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mcandre/32/210047_2.png) [@mcandre](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mcandre)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815/3 "2021-01-04T05:10:26Z")

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That’s silly. Why place an arbitrary limit on folder nesting, stricter than what the file system supports.

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**Author:** ![Volts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a5b964/32.png) [@Volts](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Volts)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:50am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815/4 "2021-01-04T08:50:54Z")

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Plex infers some information from the file and directory structure, and nesting contributes to how extras, movie names, seasons, and show names are matched.

You can add multiple directories to a Library in Plex.

For instance all of **/Movies/A** and **/Movies/B** … and **/Movies/Z** could be added to a Library.

Or **/Movies/Western** and **/Movies/Marvel**.

In both cases that will work better than adding **/Movies** at the top level.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 8:51am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/scan-library-ignoring-nested-directories/660815/5 "2021-04-04T08:51:08Z")

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