HelpGuidesFile naming for media servers
plexembyjellyfin6 min read

File naming for media servers

How to name your movies, TV shows, and music so Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin identify them correctly.

Why naming matters

Media servers identify your files by their names and folder structure. Get the naming right and everything auto-populates: artwork, descriptions, ratings, cast info. Get it wrong and you'll spend hours manually fixing matches or staring at blank thumbnails.

All three servers (Plex, Emby, Jellyfin) follow essentially the same conventions. Name it right once, it works everywhere.

Movies

Each movie goes in its own folder. The folder and file should both include the title and year:

  1. 1Movies/The Dark Knight (2008)/The Dark Knight (2008).mkv
  2. 2Movies/Avatar (2009)/Avatar (2009).mkv
  3. 3Movies/Dune Part Two (2024)/Dune Part Two (2024).mkv

For multiple editions of the same movie:

  1. 1Movies/Blade Runner (1982)/Blade Runner (1982) - Theatrical.mkv
  2. 2Movies/Blade Runner (1982)/Blade Runner (1982) - Director's Cut.mkv

Tip

In Plex, you can also add IMDB or TMDB IDs for guaranteed matching: The Dark Knight (2008) {imdb-tt0468569}.mkv. Useful for obscure or ambiguous titles.

TV shows

TV shows need a folder per show, then a folder per season, then files with SXXEXX notation:

  1. 1TV Shows/Breaking Bad/Season 01/Breaking Bad S01E01.mkv
  2. 2TV Shows/Breaking Bad/Season 01/Breaking Bad S01E02.mkv
  3. 3TV Shows/Breaking Bad/Season 05/Breaking Bad S05E16.mkv

Specials go in Season 00. Multi-episode files use: Show Name S01E01E02.mkv. Date-based shows (talk shows, news): Show Name - 2026-04-16.mkv.

Important

Always include the year in the show folder name for reboots. "Scrubs" and "Scrubs (2026)" are different shows. Without the year, your server will mix them up.

Music

Music relies on file tags (ID3 metadata) more than folder names, but a clean structure helps:

  1. 1Music/Artist Name/Album Name (Year)/01 - Track Title.flac
  2. 2Music/Various Artists/Compilation Name (Year)/01 - Track Title.mp3

Tip

Tag your music files with MusicBrainz Picard before adding to your library. It's free and ensures accurate metadata. Plex and Jellyfin both use MusicBrainz for matching - tagged files match instantly.

Subtitles

External subtitle files sit alongside the video with a matching name:

  1. 1Movie (Year).en.srt - English subtitles
  2. 2Movie (Year).en.forced.srt - Forced English (foreign dialogue only)
  3. 3Movie (Year).en.sdh.srt - SDH subtitles (hearing impaired)
  4. 4Movie (Year).fr.srt - French subtitles

The language code (en, fr, de, etc.) tells the server which language the subtitle is in. Without it, the server has to guess.

When naming doesn't fix it

If you've renamed files but the server still shows wrong metadata, the old cached data is stuck. Plex users call the fix "The Plex Dance":

  1. 1Move the files OUT of the Plex-watched folder.
  2. 2Scan the library (so Plex notices they're gone).
  3. 3Empty Trash (marks items for removal).
  4. 4Clean Bundles (actually removes cached data). Find this in Settings > Manage > Troubleshooting.
  5. 5Fix your file naming.
  6. 6Move the files BACK.
  7. 7Scan the library again.

Important

Empty Trash first, THEN Clean Bundles. Order matters. Simply renaming and re-scanning is not enough - the old cached bundle persists.

Emby and Jellyfin are less aggressive with caching. Usually a metadata refresh or library re-scan after renaming is sufficient.

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