# Use local thumbnails for episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-linux\ **Created:** [March 4, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339 "2023-03-04T18:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/1 "2023-03-04T18:56:30Z")
When I match a TV Show I want Plex to use my local thumbnails I have in the metadata of the .mp4 file. How can I do this? ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/2 "2023-03-04T19:47:11Z")
I’m not sure Plex can distinguish embedded artwork as thumb vs. other media. Your best shot will be to place the thumb pic alongside the episode file in your library folder (see `Episode Artwork` in the related support article → [https://support.plex.tv/articles/200220717-local-media-assets-tv-shows/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200220717-local-media-assets-tv-shows/)) ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 1:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/3 "2023-03-05T01:40:36Z")
thanks for the reply! Unfortunately that is not working for me, I tried using .jpg and .png as the image type and the file names are the exact same. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/4 "2023-03-05T01:42:35Z")
Have you configured your library to `Use local assets` (`⋮` \> `Manage Library` \> `Edit...` → `Advanced`)? ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/5 "2023-03-05T01:45:18Z")
Yeah, I did that. After adding the images I scanned library files and refreshed the metadata. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/6 "2023-03-05T01:47:13Z")
Did you refresh the show’s or episode’s metadata since adding the thumb images? Can you share how the files in the season library are named? ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/7 "2023-03-05T01:49:09Z")
Yes, Here is an example: ‘10 Lost in Danville : The Inator Method.mp4’ ‘10 Lost in Danville : The Inator Method.png’ ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/8 "2023-03-05T02:00:57Z")
I tried adding a season poster as well and that did not work ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/9 "2023-03-05T02:24:46Z")
How are those files organized in your library folder? The episodes themselves are properly picked up and matched (names don’t seem fully in line with the official naming schema)? ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/10 "2023-03-05T02:31:31Z")
ya, the episodes are organized differently than the tvdb schema. There are 10 Seasons of Phineas and Ferb rather than 4. Regardless though, I should be able to force artwork to show up right? ---
**Author:** ![shark2k](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/shark2k/32/305908_2.png) [@shark2k](https://forums.plex.tv/u/shark2k)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/11 "2023-03-05T02:37:54Z")
@tom80H is referring to the actual naming of the files as per this Plex support document: [https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/) -Shark2k ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/12 "2023-03-05T03:01:17Z")
it goes like this `external_drive/TV Shows/Phineas & Ferb/Season 1` and then the episodes and images are inside that directory. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 9:07am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/13 "2023-03-05T09:07:03Z")
I recommend you try renaming the files according to the official schema, e.g. ```auto TV Shows Phineas & Ferb Season 1 Phineas & Ferb - s01e10 - Lost in Danville - The Inator Method.mp4 Phineas & Ferb - s01e10 - Lost in Danville - The Inator Method.jpg ``` Then try re-adding the files to your library using the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) procedure. If this doesn’t make a difference you should be able to collect your [server logs](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/) to see if they show what’s going wrong (either checking them out yourself or sharing them here) ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/14 "2023-03-05T16:18:13Z")
ok thanks, I’ll give that a shot and see how it goes. Plex finds the media files and plays them all fine how they are named now so I would think that would have been fine. It didn’t work, I’m not sure what plex is trying to do. When I unmatch the show, it pulls in thumbnails only for seasons 1-4 which is what the tvdb has (these thumbnails are just random clips from the episode not even the ones I have on the metadata). If it is unmatched I would think it should do the same thing for all seasons but that is not what it is doing. Here is the log file for localmedia: [com.plexapp.agents.localmedia.log](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/styrao0lySj0mFOeNRwLEvibftN.log) (19.9 KB) ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/17 "2023-03-06T00:12:19Z")
I suppose we really need the full package of logs. This particular file has no involvement in Plex not finding your local thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/18 "2023-03-06T00:26:34Z")
Here is the full zip: [Plex Media Server Logs 2.zip](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/aVSs6VeXMRscdAbaKkmsw5o6Klj.zip) (4.3 MB) ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/19 "2023-03-06T00:44:39Z")
Looks like there’s a problem with the permissions on your server data directory that’s preventing Plex from writing the file there. This ins’t only impacting your local thumbs but also storing thumbs from the online repositories. # Is `/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/` stored on a local share or did you move that to another drive? ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/20 "2023-03-06T15:10:04Z")
It’s on the internal drive, I changed the permissions from `drwxr-xr-x` to `drwxrwxr-x` and that didn’t do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Isaiah\_Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@Isaiah\_Weaver](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Isaiah_Weaver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/21 "2023-03-08T00:56:04Z")
I ran `sudo chmod -R 775 plexmediaserver/` and that still didn’t work. Am I doing that right? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/use-local-thumbnails-for-episodes/833339/22 "2023-06-06T00:56:25Z")
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