Plex Backup and Restore: How to Protect Your Server

Your Plex server holds years of customization — watched status, custom collections, poster selections, playlist orders, user accounts, and match corrections. Lose it to a failed drive or botched update, and you’re starting from scratch. Here’s how to protect all of it.

What Plex Actually Stores

Understanding what to back up starts with knowing where Plex keeps its data. The Plex Media Server data directory contains:

• Database files: com.plexapp.plugins.library.db (your library metadata, watched status, collections, playlists) and com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db (poster/art selections)
• Metadata folder: Downloaded posters, fan art, and thumbnails. This can be 10–100 GB on large libraries
• Preferences.xml: Server name, authentication token, network settings, transcoder settings
• Codecs folder: Downloaded transcoder codecs (safe to skip — Plex re-downloads these)
• Cache folder: Transcoder temp files, analysis thumbnails (safe to skip — regenerated automatically)

Where to Find the Data Directory

• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server
• Linux: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server
• Docker: Whatever you mapped to /config in your compose file
• Synology: /volume1/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server

The Essential Backup Strategy

Minimum viable backup

If you back up nothing else, back up the database files. They contain everything that makes your library yours — watched status, collections, playlists, match corrections, user accounts.

1. Stop Plex Media Server before copying. SQLite databases can corrupt if copied while Plex is writing to them
2. Copy com.plexapp.plugins.library.db and com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db
3. Copy Preferences.xml
4. Restart Plex

Full backup (recommended)

Copy the entire data directory minus Cache and Codecs. This preserves all poster selections, custom art, and plugin data. Schedule this weekly.

Automated Backup Options

• Linux/Docker cron: A simple bash script that stops Plex, tars the data directory (excluding Cache/Codecs), copies to a second drive or NAS, and restarts. Run weekly via cron
• Windows Task Scheduler: PowerShell script with Stop-Service, robocopy /MIR (excluding Cache), Start-Service
• Synology Hyper Backup: Point it at the Plex data directory. Set exclusions for Cache and Codecs folders
• Unraid: User Scripts plugin with a backup script, or the Appdata Backup plugin

How to Restore

1. Install Plex Media Server on the new machine (same version or newer)
2. Run Plex once to create the default data directory, then stop it
3. Replace the new data directory contents with your backup
4. If the server IP or hostname changed, re-claim the server through plex.tv/claim
5. Point your library locations to the media on the new machine (if paths changed)
6. Start Plex. Your library, watch status, collections, and users should all be intact

Common Mistakes

• Copying while Plex is running. SQLite corruption is real. Always stop the server first
• Only backing up media files. Your movies and shows are important, but the Plex database is what holds all your customization
• Forgetting the blobs database. This is where poster and art selections live. Skip it and you lose every manual poster pick
• Not testing the restore. A backup you’ve never restored is a backup you hope works. Test it at least once

Need Help?

Server migration, backup automation, or recovering from a failed drive — our Server Migration service handles the full process.