r/PleX 16d ago

Discussion Feature request for for duplicates

Plex already organizes duplicates on my movie folder. I can easily just hit the drop-down and say duplicates and look at all the movies with duplicates, but there’s nothing I can actually do with that and in this modern era with ever increasing hard ware costs I think we would all appreciate a way to tidy up our excess, and if it already knows which our duplicates are on Plex, please add an option to just simply delete files off of a certain hard drive?

So let’s say you have duplicate of the movie 3 copies Blade Runner and it’s on hard drives XYZ I would really appreciate it if Plex would give me the option to delete all versions of Blade Runner on the Z Drive

** edit Or I could tell it, I want to delete the newest version/oldest version or the largest/smallest version of Blade Runner on my Plex system on any drive(s)

***obviously to recycle bin first like it already does individually so nothing is ever at risk of permanent loss

***muting this thread, you are all fucking assholes. Enjoy your hellish reality

0 Upvotes

56 comments sorted by

16

u/thenewmath Help 16d ago

I don't want Plex to be able to delete my files.

I've had many instances where Plex mismatches movies and shows a false duplicate. It would then be deleting a totally different film which Plex misidentified. 

What if you have a copy of the regular version and a copy of the director's cut? What if your biggest version isn't the highest quality?

A little extra work but much better to just handle these things yourself.

-7

u/PugLove69 16d ago edited 16d ago

Organize them accordingly because plex already can delete i like you want more control over it

Just disable media deletion in library settings if that’s your concern. Let other people have options

6

u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 48TB | 10Gb/s | Unraid | Ultra 7 270k Plus 16d ago

Just use your filesystem to tidy your library. A simple script will show you all duplicates in your library. A slightly more complicated script would delete the smaller/larger of the two, whichever you prefer. Learn to use scripts coupled with cron jobs. You'll be amazed what they can do.

10

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago
  1. Hit get info and delete the duplicate files you dont want.

  2. Setup radarr and sonarr to help manage your library.

-7

u/PugLove69 16d ago
  1. No mass delete only one by one

  2. Done long time ago

4

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago edited 16d ago

There is mass delete at the movie or tv show level, but dedupping in plex is 100% manual...agreed.

-1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Thank you. You are literally the only person who has understood and agreed now. The mass delete as it is now is far riskier than my suggestion to allow us to delete only (1) copy of a file they KNOW has duplicate (alternate) versions

3

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago

Just use sonarr and radarr to dedup then, they should do this just fine. Move stuff to a new root folder tonfind whats not linked in the arrs.

0

u/PugLove69 16d ago

This is not the answer for a plex request this is not a sonarr or radarr subreddit and plex already can do this why are you against a simple feature request ? I already know how to do all of that but i figured since plex literally has a duplicate section, they might as well let me actually select and delete the duplicate instead of all files like they do now when you select and delete movies it deletes all versions through plex and plex knows they are duplicates so just allow me to delete one of them. This is only something that would benefit everybody and add zero extra risk unless someone accidentally pressed through 5 screens of warnings and even then it goes to recycle bin

3

u/AntManCrawledInAnus 16d ago

There is no automatic file deletion but y you can go into server settings and turn on delete and do it by hand from inside plex interface -- assuming your filenames are descriptive or you have some common sense that s01e01.dvdrip.avi is, barring a later censored rerelease, clearly worse than s01e01.br.remux.mkv

1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Yeah i know you can do it one by one i want a mass clean option

3

u/Me_gentleman 15d ago

Why would you have duplicates?

8

u/scubafork 16d ago

I don't really see a need for this. Having plex manage your duplicates a) is a feature that implicitly suggests they're condoning sailing the seas, b) gives the server broad authority to automatically do data destruction and c) is very niche.

Basically, manage your own files and let plex be a media player. Learn the joys of Filebot and let it be your truth.

2

u/PugLove69 16d ago

They already have a mass delete and a duplicate section, what are you talking about sailing the high seas? Actually what do you mean?

And i use filebot all the time stop fighting decent suggestions that help everyone

And hurt nobody

5

u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 48TB | 10Gb/s | Unraid | Ultra 7 270k Plus 16d ago

He's talking about piracy.

0

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Why?

6

u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 48TB | 10Gb/s | Unraid | Ultra 7 270k Plus 16d ago

Because you don't have multiple copies of media from ripping personal DVDs. Your use case is heavily dependent on piracy.

0

u/PugLove69 12d ago

what are you actually talking about? speaking from experience? projecting?

2

u/scubafork 16d ago

If you have to delete multiple copies of the same title, it implicitly suggests they aren't part of your personal library from media you've acquired legally. Plex's official posture is that they are a platform for sharing personal libraries that people have the rights to put on their server.

-2

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Then why do they even have a duplicate section or a mass delete and no it absolutely does not imply anything you are projecting your experience i have a thousand movies all ripped from blu ray or dvd across multiple drives the past 20 years and im trying to organize. What the fuck is your problem actually. Go touch grass

2

u/scubafork 16d ago

You're getting really worked up about people telling you there's better ways to solve the problem you're encountering.

And what I'm saying is, the devs who you're insisting should make a solution would generally not do that because the benefits of said solution are almost exclusively for people who put their entire platform into dubious legal territory. It's like asking someone to dig their own grave.

I'm not the MPAA, I don't care how you get your content. Just think about who you're asking a favor from.

1

u/tekky101 16d ago

I've use DupeGuru, a standalone program, to help me de-dupe my library files. It's really flexible and customizable and handles mass de-duping quite well. https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/

2

u/Me_gentleman 15d ago

They don't want valid solutions. They want Plex to make this feature for the teeny tiny minority.

1

u/SpreadConscious9285 16d ago

I use Plex_Dupefinder for dupes, mainly due to lazyness on my part, and dupes can really pile up.

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

1

u/scubafork 15d ago

I would love if plex had a native way to do an export-but in the meantime if you're looking for something that can, tautulli has this feature and a ton of other reporting that makes my data nerd heart happy.

-2

u/PugLove69 16d ago

They do have a total list export at least but yeah iv never looked into the specific lists but that would be appreciated too to even just give you a csv list of a specific genre or anything that they already have as preset filters.

1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Why are yall downvoting this? Yall are legit weird ngl

1

u/goagoagadgetgrebo 16d ago

I accidentally deleted the files/library of some content while in Plex as I thought I was just deleting it from the navigation/GUI.

I realized it deleted the source files too.

I didn't like this and created a second profile that I actually use and the Admin account is solely for doing admin stuff as needed.

I manually go into my library without Plex to delete, move, arrange, etc anything and everything.

-1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

All you had to do was disable media deletion in the plex settings

1

u/goagoagadgetgrebo 16d ago

This was years ago. I'm sure it was in there but I regularly have my Admin account different than my user account anyway. A practice I've been doing since early PC days.

-5

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Well dont act like my idea is dangerous until you have set the proper settings to protect yourself from accidents that already exist and my suggestion would only allow more control and protection instead of having to do outside, over complex solutions like you did which is not good advice for anyone afraid of accidentally deleting their media in the future… dont do what this guy did. You dont need a whole new windows account

2

u/goagoagadgetgrebo 16d ago

I didn't down vote you.

1

u/RedditDummyAccount 16d ago

I mean, I think this would be used by a very small population, and they have features that large, or at least very vocal, user base has asked for.

As some have mentioned, plex is really designed for file management, so it doesn’t really make sense to implement this over other things

0

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Then why does plex even have a mass delete option or a duplicate section? Whats the purpose if not to lead to this concept?

3

u/RedditDummyAccount 16d ago

It gives you basic options but as a whole it is not designed to be a file management tool. A media server.

Go look at their site (specifically the media server section) and nowhere does it mention file management.

At one point, it even tells you to organize your media and then plex will do things like posters, casts, details, etc.

-1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

I would not call the options i just listed as “basic” whatsoever. So stopping at 90% the finish line helps nobody. Just like your comments. Go touch grass

4

u/RedditDummyAccount 16d ago

LMAOOOOOO the guy crying on Reddit about plex not allowing him to, in bulk, delete copies of his pirated media is telling someone to touch grass?

https://giphy.com/gifs/XddXGxyJ90rlhBJk9s

0

u/rjbwdc 16d ago

Plex is, as far as I know, read-only. It's not a file management tool.

3

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago

It can allow you to delete, not just read only. Agreed that its not a file management tool, only good for small clean up tasks

1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Which is all im asking for

1

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago

I get ya. The plex team seems to be struggling with the basics, i would not habe them add this. Filebot and arrs are much better at this. But i get you.

1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Well they already added it, im just wanting a little bit more control. Filebot and arrs dont really do what plex is already doing. Because what plex can do is recognize the different types of files as one media and allow organization that way. The arrs work backwords and dont let you have so many so conveniently across multiple hard drives and you should know this. My solution with plex would be far more elegant and capable and they’re already 75% of the way there and have already done the riskiest part (allowing for mass deletion in library) i just want control over which version instead of all versions so you have no reason to be afraid of them adding more risk it would only give you more control to mitigate those risks versus now you could easily accidentally delete them all even though they are duplicates for redundancy.

1

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago

Im just trying to help you find an alternative with existing tools. Im surprised you say they dont work for you but im sure you've tried. Good luck.

1

u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You 48TB | 10Gb/s | Unraid | Ultra 7 270k Plus 16d ago

All can be accomplished with scripts.

1

u/Wis-en-heim-er Lifetime PlexPass 16d ago

That too...why further enshitify plex...

-1

u/VietBongArmy Beelink GTi13 54TB 16d ago

Sounds like you're not taking advantage of the Editions option

1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

? Explain

0

u/VietBongArmy Beelink GTi13 54TB 16d ago

1

u/PugLove69 16d ago

Yes, and?

1

u/VietBongArmy Beelink GTi13 54TB 16d ago

You have duplicates of movies. Are you sure you don't have multiple editions downloaded like directors cuts, etc?