How To Name TV shows and Movies in Plex
How To Name TV shows and Movies in Plex
Hey there! Are you struggling with naming your TV shows and movies in Plex? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! I’m here to guide you through the process and make it super easy for you.
When it comes to naming your media files in Plex, consistency is key. Your files need to be organized in a way that Plex can easily recognize and categorize them. So let’s dive right in and learn how to do it!
Naming TV Shows
First things first, let’s talk about naming TV shows. The format you need to follow is: Show.Name_SxxExx. Let me break it down for you.
The Show.Name part refers to the name of the TV show, and the SxxExx part refers to the season and episode numbers. For example, if you have a TV show called “Friends” and you want to name the second episode of the first season, you would name it Friends_S01E02.
It’s important to use leading zeros for single-digit numbers. So if you have the second episode of the first season, it should be written as S01E02, not S1E2.
Naming Movies
Now, let’s move on to naming movies. The format for movies is a bit different. You simply need to use the Movie.Name followed by the release year in parentheses.
For example, if you have a movie called “The Shawshank Redemption” released in 1994, you would name it The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Easy, right?
Other Considerations
There are a couple more things to keep in mind when naming your media files in Plex.
Firstly, make sure to use underscores (_) instead of spaces in both TV show and movie names. This helps Plex to correctly identify and categorize your files.
Secondly, avoid using special characters or symbols in the file names. Stick to alphanumeric characters and underscores to ensure compatibility with Plex.
And that’s it! With these naming conventions, Plex will be able to match your media files with the correct metadata, including posters, summaries, and ratings.
So go ahead and organize your TV shows and movies in Plex using these guidelines, and enjoy a seamless streaming experience!
Hey there! I’m here to talk about Plex and how it can make your media life a whole lot easier. You see, Plex is this awesome system that helps you organize all your media from different sources and stream it to any device you want. It’s like having your own personal media library that you can enjoy at home. Pretty cool, right?
Now, at TechJunkie, we’re big fans of Plex because it’s so good at what it does. The user interface is easy to use and it streams content almost seamlessly. But, like anything else in life, Plex has its quirks, and one of them involves how it names your TV shows and movies. You see, Plex uses thetvdb.com as a reference for naming shows. So if the show you’re trying to watch doesn’t show up properly in Plex, it’s probably because it’s not in the database or it’s named differently. But don’t worry, because I’ve got a solution for you.
When you’re uploading media to your Plex Media Server, it’s important to use a specific naming convention. This helps Plex categorize and identify your media correctly. It’s pretty simple actually. Just make sure that your TV shows, movies, and music each have their own folders. That way, they won’t get mixed up and cause any confusion. Trust me, it’ll save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.
Now, here’s where things get really important. If you don’t name your files correctly, Plex might have trouble recognizing them. So if you come across a file with a weird name, you’ll need to rename it. The process differs depending on your platform, but it’s usually as simple as right-clicking the file and selecting “Rename” on Windows, or pressing “Return” and typing in the new name on MacOS. Easy, right?
Plex’s Guide to Naming Your Media Correctly
Hey there! If you want Plex to recognize your media accurately, it’s important to follow a specific format. Plex itself recommends this format to ensure that the link to TVDB and their metadata crawling app can properly identify and label your media.
So, let me break it down for you. According to Plex, here’s the correct naming convention:
/Media /TV Shows TV content /Movies Movie content /Music Music content
But hold on, that’s not the whole story, especially when it comes to TV shows. If you have a bunch of episodes spanning multiple seasons, you need to organize things properly in Plex to avoid any confusion or messiness.
Here’s a fuller picture:
/Media /TV Shows TV Show Name Season 01 Episode 01 Name (S01E01) Episode 02 Name (S01E02) Season 02 Episode 01 Name (S02E01) Episode 02 Name (S02E02) /Movies Movie Name /Music Album or Artist Name
If you want, you can also include the name and release date of each TV episode. And remember, the S01E01 part is optional, but it can help TVDB correctly identify every episode you upload. If the show or season you’re naming is similar to another, adding the season date really helps TVDB sort out the right details. Otherwise, Plex can end up pretty confused.
Hey there! So, according to the Plex naming convention guidelines, let me show you how a TV show listing should look like. I’ll use Grey’s Anatomy as our example:
/TV Shows
/Grey’s Anatomy
/Season 01
Grey’s Anatomy – s01e01.avi
Grey’s Anatomy – s01e02 – The First Cut is the Deepest.avi
Grey’s Anatomy – s01e03.mp4
/Season 02
Grey’s Anatomy – s02e01.avi
Grey’s Anatomy – s02e02.mkv
Grey’s Anatomy – s02e03.m4v
If you’re trying to name TV shows in Plex that go by dates, it’s important to use the correct format. Usually, this applies to podcasts, news reports, or episodes that don’t have a specific name.
Let me provide another example using Plex:
/TV Shows
/The Colbert Report
/Season 08
The Colbert Report – 2011-11-15 – Elijah Wood.avi
In this case, every episode is called The Colbert Report, so identifying it by date makes it easier for you to find it and for Plex to recognize it. You can use dashes, periods, or spaces to separate the date.
- Dashes (2010-01-20)
- Periods (2010.01.20)
- Spaces (2010 01 20)
Any of these formats will work within Plex and should be properly recognized in TVDB.
Music and Movies in Plex: A Guide to Naming
When it comes to naming movies and music in Plex, there are some conventions to follow. For movies, it’s usually as simple as using the Movie/Title format. As for music, you can organize it by album, artist, and/or track.
Let me show you an example using Plex:
/Music /Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here 01 – Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V).m4a 02 – Welcome to the Machine.mp3 03 – Have a Cigar.mp3 /Foo Fighters – One By One /Foo Fighters – There is Nothing Left to Lose /U2 – Joshua Tree 
The same approach applies to music as it does with TV shows. If albums have separate tracks, make sure to keep them in separate folders. Most MP3 files come with metadata, so you won’t have to do any extra work. However, some may not. By following the recommended naming format, Plex will automatically fetch the necessary information and correctly identify your content. This will help you maintain an organized and user-friendly Plex library for music, movies, TV shows, and more. While Plex Media Server is user-friendly overall, setting it up properly may require a little attention. Once you get the hang of naming your media and double-checking it before uploading, it will become second nature. Trust me, it’s worth the extra effort for the ease of use you’ll experience once everything is set up on Plex!
If you’re a Plex user, you might find this article on installing plugins for your Plex media center useful. Do you have any ideas on managing your Plex media center? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
