Im looking to move my server to a new computer (Windows 10 → Windows 10) but the Plex Media Server folder in my appdata/local folder is HUGE! PLUS, the fact that using Plex tends to run slowly in places and tends to crash on my Roku tv.
My question is, is there come temp files or a cache that I can easily delete to not only shrink the size of this folder, but to help speed Plex up for everyone using it, whether its local or remote.
Plex tends to do that housekeeping on its own during maintenance.
So unless you have manually disabled all those maintenance tasks, you should be good.
In case of an issue at hand it can be helpful to force some of those tasks – you can e.g. do that in the troubleshooting section of the Plex Media Server Settings:
Settings > [Server Name] > Manage > Troubleshooting
Clean Bundles will remove no longer used assets/foldersOptimize Database will do some clean-up in the databaseok. Do you know which of these settings I SHOULD have enabled…just in case I might have messed with them?
Sticking to the official rules for organizing your media can significantly speed up responsiveness of Plex in daily use. No, really.
The rule to store every movie in its own subfolder in particular.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/your-media/
Placing the Plex data folder on a SSD can do the same if your collection is rather extensive.
Placing your media on hard drives which are not set to spin down after a while increases responsiveness too.
Plenty of RAM in the server allows it to dedicate more of it for drive cache, thus speeding up data access.
Using a hard wired Gbit-Ethernet connection for both server and media storage is highly recommended.
I recommend the following:
ok, yeah, I have most of that done, ill double check my scheduled tasks once Im done moving my files over, although Im sure it should be very close to your setup.
thank you,
The best thing you can do to speed things up and TBH I am really surprised by how few people actually do is use a Single dedicated SSD/NVMe (you run more than one in raid etc if you want just as long as they are SSD/NVMe drives and are used ONLY for Plex) for just the Plex DB and Metadata.
To do this, Shut down Plex Get the drive ready by cutting and Pasting the enter Plex Media Server folder that’s under “appdata/local” to this drive,
Then you need to do a Registry tweak on windows to make it work ( Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\LocalAppDataPath) Set this to what ever Drive Letter the dedicated drive is.
Once it has all been done, start Plex back up and run a Library scan, then go to troubleshooting in settings and hit “Clean Bundles” and your done, you will find that plex runs a lot quicker and loading metadata/artwork is incredibly fast
Question? Why isolate Plex to NVMe exclusively. I use my OS NVMe without issue and it’s lightning fast
thanks, ill take a look at that. I do have an extra 1TB SSD drive I can stick in here for anything from cache or whatever else I can throw at it.
Please see [HowTo] An extended guide on how to move the Plex data folder on Windows for the full procedure of moving the data folder.
Like I said NVMe or SSD, this is to not only make Plex a hell of a lot quicker than using mechanical drives, it has the added benefit of if you ever need to move to a different machine or you upgrade your hardware it is just a case of drop the drive in, change the reg and bingo your set.
Also it means your main OS drive is not being bogged down with all the Plex meta
I have my database on a 3TB WD Green 5400rpm Model T Corn Binder - and I’m not sure how much faster than instant I really need to get. Sure, I’ll probably stick it on a TB of NVMe in the next build, but it’s not because I can’t stand sitting around waiting for Plex to do something.
I saw on a NOVA once that Birds experience time differently than we do. Makes it easier to snatch a fly out of thin air at 90MPH. I guess in my advanced years my time sensor may be off, but it would have to be off only when I’m watching Plex, 'cause at all other times I seem to be on the express elevator to the grave.
I suppose its also down to the size of your library as well, when you have a massive library (182043 media files made up of TV/Films that’s without the music library )like me you do notice the different especially when multiple people are browsing at the same time.
What you need to keep in mind is each time you or someone is browsing your library scrolling up/down/left and right on a normal HDD this has to call each bit of art work to populate and the more people doing it the more its got to read in very very short space of time and it can course crashing, slowdowns and even no artwork loading at all, with a SSD or NVMe drive its all loaded instant so the browsing is much quicker for all and will just work 
6333 Movies
13,704 Episodes
Spread across 6 HDDs (2 Externals) with literally hundreds of Media Folders added to the Libraries.
With Video Preview Thumbs/Chapter Thumbs/Skip Intro
Serving up to 6 streams - 3 remote.
Of course, with such a small library, and bog standard serving requirements I won’t need much more than my wristwatch.
Lmao, hay if it works it works.
I just know from personal experience having all my metadata and the DB on a dedicated SSD has been a god send for my server, not to mention got me out of a jam when my OS drive died a few years back, I didn’t have to refresh everything cos it was all just there
Oh yea, and while those multiple (Direct Play) streams are going on, it’s very likely I’ll be having my head ripped off by some giant monster, or army guy in a Video Game 'cause my Steam Library is on the same machine.
Cutting Edge is way overrated… and very expensive…lol
With my NVMe OS drive 80% empty, there will never be a problem. The drive is still showing Read and write speeds at about 2800/2600 MB/s. If your OS Drive is of a decent size there will never be an issue.
If it ever does become a problem, my Thunderbolt or USB 4 ports will come in handy for another NVMe.
My buddy Juice has only got spinner drives and here in Australia his Plex rocks, Alice Cooper had my Roos and such a dancing… Lol 
That wasn’t Alice had your Roo Dancing - that was Nita Strauss:
She’s the reason that old man still gets out of bed in the morning to go to work…lol
What would be considered “extensive”?
and
That sounds crazy to me … way more movie titles than video stores I worked (not counting the porn room). I could see TV shows building up large numbers of files so maybe that’s typical these days though?
I only have like 500 movie titles currently and that seems like a lot to me (but I’m also not a hoarder of digital files - I have no problem hitting delete). I also don’t keep much TV around so I’m sure I’m in the smaller side of collections but I’m curious what “average” and “extensive” is now.
Are movies the only media type on your server?
If you only have 500 movies and nothing much else, you should be good with a regular hard drive.
However, if you are a fan of photographs and have thousands of them on your Plex server, you might benefit from a fast SSD.
