There was an unexpected error loading the dashboard -

computer restarted inadvertently while Plex was loading and then it got funky. I tried restarting and deleting library and reloading and I still have issues with Plex now. Don’t know what to do.

I usually just do ‘Libraries… - Optimize Database’ to sort out that error. Perhaps it’ll work for you?

thanks of the tip. I tried that and it did not work. My dashboard no longer shows up and any new movies I try adding to my library do not show up. I can see my libraries on my browser but my dashboard is defunct and where I get the message of “there was an unexpected error loading the dashboard”. I am using the new generation Apple TV with the Plex app and neither of them can access my Plex server. Everything was working just fine, for 2 years, and this is the first real issue I have had.

  1. activate debug logging (not ‘verbose’!)
  2. quit Plex Server
  3. wait 1 minute
  4. start Plex Server
  5. wait 5 minutes
  6. fetch log files and attach them here

Or inspect them yourself. Take a look at the Plex Media Server.log file and seek for messages about database corrupt or malformed.
If you find these, you may have to repair your database.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201100678-Repair-a-Corrupt-Database

okay great, “activate debug” was already on and Verbose was off… I quit Plex server for 1+ minutes and restarted. I will attach the logs ASAP. THANKS - my Plex server is useless at the moment…

okay, I followed your instruction and have downloaded the zip file… Let me know what next steps look like. THANKS

okay,
i followed the instructions and i think i got it to work. i am still messing around with it. my dashboard came back to life but i am still not seeing the movies that i have uploaded… Thanks so much for your help

It is very important that you do the database repair while Plex server is not running.

Even if your repair attempt may appear to have succeeded, there is a slight chance that you may have to revert to an earlier backup of the database.
(But do perform the repair procedure with it as well, just in case the damage was already growing inside of it.)

i had to delete all my libraries and start over and hopefully it’s fixed. what a pain.

Make sure you didn’t re-route the Plex data folder to a networked file share. I’d even consider an external USB hard disk as problematic, since some models do spin down rather aggressively.
Both are a recipe for disaster, when it comes to the Plex database.