I am new to Plex so still trying to find my way around what is easy but also quite complex. One thing I am finding a challenge is I have all my media in a specific folder on a hard drive (one of 3) in a Windows 10 Pro PC. I have easily directed all my Plex folder links to each media type. What I dont like is that anyone else in the house using the Plex Media Player app can see ALL of my folders and contents if they connect in.
Perhaps I am missing something as I see it as a massive security issue. I am not sure if making the folders private is the answer as I plan on using Windows Remote Access for myself to access all the contents and I don’t want to accidenatlly forget to change a new folder status later and inadvertently give someone access to something they shouldn’t see. And I haven’t even considered remote access or file sharing yet
I haven’t upgraded to Plex Pass yet but not sure I will if it is this easy to overlook the overall security of your server in a less complex user-friendly way.
Is Plex Home or plexignore the answer? and how do you apply it to ALL the folders (current and future) except the media folder(s) you are directly Plex to?
Don’t direct Plex to the root folder of a whole drive. Always use subfolders.
Create separate folders to hold Movies, TV Shows, and Music. Separate your media files into these folders. Direct Plex’s libraries to look only within these folders for media files.
See https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/media-preparation/ for optimum organization within these ‘media type’ folders.
Thanks Otto
Everything has been set up to specific subfolders matching each media type within an overall ‘Media’ folder (7th folder down in the image above - one of many root folders) on one specific drive. TV in TV subfolder, Movies in Movies subfolder etc. When I go to add a folder (even within an existing Library section) Plex can see EVERYTHING on the machine including all other drives AND contents allowing anything to be linked and viewed. Not just the overall media root folder. Not just that existing library folder. EVERYTHING. Massive security issues with this.
And yes, fully aware that a paid subscription allows shared access - but there is zero chance I will pay to upgrade if I can’t even protect what is on my own network from prying eyes using this software.
Otto The access to the home network and adding folders SHOULD be via the Plex Server ONLY. However, my point is unless you have a Plex Pass there are massive security flaws. We currently have one home Wi-Fi network and are using the Plex Media PLAYER with one log-in. Just like we would with Netflix. Anyone can use the Plex Media Player app on any device in the house. This still allows them to add a library via the player app - NOT just via the server - and any user can see and access ALL of the drives, folders and files on the home network server. ZERO security.
I get the family profiles and sharing are ‘upgrades’ with the Plex Pass but such basic security for the Media Player should NOT be limited to a paid subscription. … the Plex Server log-in details are the same as Plex Media player so it seems that without a paid Plex Pass subscription to set up additional user profiles that this is another possible security access point.
I just took these screengrabs on my laptop with the Media Player. Not the PC server or the Plex Server URL log-in. All of the drives, folders and files are accessible.
