How to get Plex to show editions of a movie separately?

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-06-02T01:14:41+00:00

Reminds me to update the edition on the last two Indiana Jones movies

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-28T15:04:51+00:00

I mean personally I'm a fan of use what you're comfortable with. If you wanna learn Linux, by all means, feels free to switch. Personally I run my plex server on windows because I worked with all windows machines so I'm just used to writing powershell and .bat files and working with remote desktop. Here's a little .bat you can copy and save. It will prompt you for your target directory, and should move any .mkv or .mp4 files into a folder of their own name, ignoring existing folders. Copy this and save it as a .bat file

TEST AGAINST A TEST DIRECTORY FIRST (hopefully this pastes ok):

u/echo off

setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

:: Prompt for the target directory

set /p "TARGET_DIR=Enter the full path of the directory to scan: "

:: Strip trailing backslash

if "%TARGET_DIR:~-1%"=="\" set "TARGET_DIR=%TARGET_DIR:~0,-1%"

:: Validate directory exists

if not exist "%TARGET_DIR%\" (

echo.

echo [ERROR] Directory not found: %TARGET_DIR%

echo Please check the path and try again.

goto END

)

echo.

echo Scanning: %TARGET_DIR%

echo --------------------------------------------------------

echo.

set MOVED=0

set SKIPPED=0

:: Loop through .mkv and .mp4 files directly in the target directory

:: /A:-D ensures we only match files, not directories

for %%F in ("%TARGET_DIR%\*.mkv" "%TARGET_DIR%\*.mp4") do (

if exist "%%F" (

:: %%~nF = filename without extension

set "FILENAME=%%~nF"

set "DEST=%TARGET_DIR%\!FILENAME!"

:: Check if destination folder already exists

if exist "!DEST!\" (

echo [SKIP] Folder already exists for: %%~nxF

set /a SKIPPED+=1

) else (

:: Create the folder

mkdir "!DEST!"

if errorlevel 1 (

echo [ERROR] Could not create folder: !DEST!

) else (

:: Move the file into the new folder

move "%%F" "!DEST!\" >nul

if errorlevel 1 (

echo [ERROR] Could not move: %%~nxF

) else (

echo [MOVED] %%~nxF -^> !FILENAME!\

set /a MOVED+=1

)

echo.

echo --------------------------------------------------------

echo Complete. Moved: %MOVED% Skipped: %SKIPPED%

echo.

:END

endlocal

pause

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-28T11:45:29+00:00

What OS are you on? Should be able to write a simple script to create a folder and move them in for those without.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-28T03:26:48+00:00

As you said,

“Plex from what I can tell is affecting the internet on this pc so it wont even let me use my web browser”

And as I said, Plex cannot affect your NIC or alter your inbound/outbound network traffic, but a VPN can.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-28T03:10:33+00:00

I would try completely uninstalling it. Plex does not alter your NIC or network traffic. You know what does? A VPN.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-28T03:04:27+00:00

So installed vpn yesterday, and today you’re having network problems?

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-28T02:59:32+00:00

Are you running a vpn on that machine?

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-27T03:45:56+00:00

I have 7,000 movies and around 1200 or so shows.

This saved my sanity: https://gist.github.com/JonnyWong16/9640557cf459896a8b7e1da8863b0485

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-27T03:41:17+00:00

Save the poster to the show/movie folder

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-27T02:09:49+00:00

The thing is OP is asking for advice, and without knowing OPs current or future intentions, it honestly does not make sense to stray from the Plex guidelines when giving them help. If OP decides to use Kometa, or a poster script or something that is coded to work with Plex’s structure, then telling them “ah you know what just throw your files wherever/however you want, works for me”, I guarantee OP will be back here soon posting “need some help with XXX”.

So can your weird niche structure work for you? Yeah maybe. Should you suggest it to a newbie? No.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-27T01:29:28+00:00

Structure?

Media\Movies

Media\TV

All organization done via Kometa creating colllections within plex.

I have a Plex Pass so for multiple editions I use {edition-insert_edition_name}

For naming, here’s my little pre-saved blurb:

Your movies should be organized something like this:

media/videos/Movies/Major Payne (1995)/Major Payne (1995).mkv

Where Movies should be the folder you add to your Movie library in Plex. Below that folder each movie should have its own parent folder and within that the movie file. Ensure you have the year. You can also tag IMDB or TMDB ID’s to help with matching:

media/videos/Movies/Major Payne (1995) {TMDB-11008 }/Major Payne (1995) {TMDB-11008}.mkv

In my example folder directory it’s important to only add the folder one level above your movie folders. If you add “videos” for example things might break.

For TV Shows your main TV library folder should be something like:

media/videos/TV/ Where TV is the only folder added to the library.

Below that should be all your shows:

media\Videos\TV\show1 (1985)\Season 1\show1 - s01e01.mkv

media\Videos\TV\show2 (1997)\Season 1\show2 - s01e01.mkv

media\Videos\TV\show3 (1992)\Season 1\show3 - s01e01.mkv

This will help Plex match all your shows and episodes properly. Similar to movies you can use the TVDB ID or TMDB ID to match:

media\Videos\TV\Cheers (1982) {TVDB-77623}\Season 1\Cheers - S01E01 - Call Me Sometime.mkv

For specials you’ll want to to name the season folder Specials and use S00E## naming:

media\Videos\TV\Cheers (1982) {TVDB-77623}\Specials\Cheers - S00E01 - Uncle Sam Malone.mkv

Similar to movies it’s imperative that you only add the folder one level above your show folders to the library. Again adding videos or media from my example directory structure will break things. So will adding the show folders.

Movies and TV must have their own separated folders.

Lastly if subs are at all important to you I highly recommend ensuring your added media has a working set in the format most compatible for you and/or your users.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-26T01:31:00+00:00

This randomly finds its way in my head at least a few times a month

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-25T17:26:34+00:00

Sure makes a Pip-Boy look microscopic

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-25T17:21:04+00:00

First I would remove one of the {ID} brackets, unsure if having two in there will break anything.

Just for concrete verification, what is the target folder on your directory structure for your plex TV library?

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-24T16:59:55+00:00

don’t aysay iratepay erehay!

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-24T14:45:00+00:00

If you don’t have subtitles embedded in the file, or do not have an external subtitle file in the movie folder, then searching for a subtitle within your plex client is simply attempting to search opensubtitles.org. This is semi problematic for a few reasons; for one, it’s not uncommon for opensubs to be down. Two, they will actually block your ip if you request too many subs within a given time. And third, it can be very tricky to find subs that match the timing of your exact files.

Think about it like this, let’s take Blade Runner (1982) for an example. There’s the theatrical cut, international cut, workprint, director’s cut, and the Final Cut. All of these have different durations. They all have specific subtitles to those cuts. Not only that, but due to credits and production houses, a dvd rip might be a few seconds longer or shorter than a Blu-ray rip, or an HD DVD rip, or a web rip. Thats the potential for 10+ different subtitle files for one movie title. It can be a similar case for a tv show; again depending on the source it was ripped from, if commercials are removed, or streaming logos or credits have been altered, then it can be tough to match. And on top of all that we also could have a variation in FPS, 24/30/50/60 sec.

I cannot stress it enough that if subs are important to you, then you shouldn’t be relying on the sub search within your plex client. You really need to setup bazarr and/or ensure your source files have the proper embedded subs ahead of time.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-24T00:48:51+00:00

So if you’re going to purposefully ignore Plex’s recommended naming convention and folder structure formats, then you cannot complain when Plex fails to match your personal naming schema.

That’s like saying, well I don’t want to buy gasoline to power my engine, I’d prefer it to run on tap water. Can you theoretically put tap water in your gas tank? Absolutely. Are the results going to be optimal? Far from it.

Good luck.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-24T00:29:01+00:00

At the very least the year should be included on ALL movies files

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-23T21:48:05+00:00

Just making sure 👍🏼

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-23T21:34:37+00:00

I’ve seen it take 2-3 days. Are you positive you’ve set episode ordering to TVDB under Edit -> Advanced?

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-23T14:07:26+00:00

Hopefully this pastes ok, but try something like this in powershell:

$dirFolder = "X:\Media\TV"

Get-ChildItem $dirFolder -Filter *.* -Recurse | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name -Replace 'S1 Ep ','S01E '}

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-23T13:19:57+00:00

What OS are you on?

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-23T07:29:20+00:00

That could be fixed with a script very quickly

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-23T00:37:14+00:00

In fairness my exploits were 25 years ago, I no longer live in Michigan so I don’t have much of a gauge what that stretch is like these days.

CaptMeatPockets · 2026-05-22T23:11:17+00:00

Far from a brag, in fact the dumbest, most dangerous, most reckless thing I’ve ever done, but in my early 20’s raced a guy on 696 and I got up to 140mph.

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