Support long file paths on Windows

Feature Suggestions
1

For historical reasons, Plex Media Server is set up on a Windows machine. Historically, path length was limited to 260 characters, but Windows has supported UNC paths > MAX_PATH for some time now. Would it be possible to support long path names on the Windows version of Plex Media Server?

2

While I don’t know how long this suggestion would take to implement, I do know that there are a few simple workarounds.

  1. Bring up a Linux VM under Hyper-V and run Plex Server there. It can be set to start when the Host boots.
  2. Another simple workaround would be to use links to get to some of your stuff.
  3. Finally, you might want to arrange your library to have shorter directory/file names. Overall, this is probably the simplest workaround.
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3

Agreed - if Plex was longPathAware that would be great.

Have you tried using the “extended-length” path prefix?: \\?\

I haven’t tested but it might work for a Plex Library Folder, if you’re allowed to enter it in the first place. YMMV!

4

Thanks a lot!. I prefixed my directory paths with \\?\ and now all the long paths are recognised and the movies show up.

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