Plex is a fantastic media server. It's easier to use and simpler to maintain than its big rival, Kodi. However, that doesn't mean things can't go wrong.

One area where lots of users appear to have problems is with automated metadata. Plex can scrape several agents and match your content to the correct poster art, season description, and episode titles. But many users claim it doesn't work.

Almost always, the issues stem from how you've named your files. You have to follow a very strict format for the metadata scan to function.

File Naming Techniques for TV Shows

How you name your files depends on what type of content they are. Movies, TV shows, and music all need to be named using different formats.

For TV shows, there two possible options. Either each file represents an individual episode, or multiple episodes are rolled together into one file.

Place the files in the following folder structure:

  • /ShowName/Season XX/

For single episodes, name each file as:

  • sXXeYY

For multiple episodes, name the file as:

  • sXXeYY-eYY

Users also frequently fail to tag non-sequenced episodes correctly (for example, pilot episodes and Christmas specials).

Specials should be put into the following folder structure:

  • /ShowName/Specials/

And the individual episodes should be labeled as season zero (i.e. s00eYY).

File Naming Techniques for Movies and Music

Labeling movies is much easier. Just make the filename match the official name of the movie, following by the release year. For example, Titanic (1997).mov.

Lastly, set up your music files. If they already have metadata embedded, Plex will find and use it. If they don't, Plex uses the following structure to scan metadata agents for the right tags:

  • /ArtistName - AlbumName/TrackNumber - TrackName

Renaming all your content could be a time-consuming task, but you'll enjoy a much better Plex experience if you invest the time.

Have you encountered problems with Plex metadata? Let us know in the comments below.