Streaming content from your Plex Media Server is great, but sometimes—like when you’re going to be offline or stuck with cruddy internet speeds while traveling—there’s no substitution for having a copy of the media stored on your device instead of in the cloud. Fortunately, it’s easy to grab your media and go.
Downloading, Syncing, and the Premium Difference
In most cases, Plex's renaming behavior didn't just cause the titles to look ugly- it also interfered with Plex's ability to download relevant data for most of the films, particularly the movie poster box art. When I'm logged into Plex/Web for my own server, I see a link to let me download the raw media files. When I sign in with an account that I have shared my server with, however, this download link is not there. My initial Plex setup looked at my download folder. But it found some ancient porn in there and also confused The Office (US) season 3 as any movie with a title of a number from 1 through 20. I also wanted it categorized into 'Movies' and 'TV'.
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With Plex, there are two ways to approach this issue, dependent on whether you’re a free Plex user or a Plex Premium user. Both free and premium users can download content from their Plex Media Servers, but this download functionality is 1) manual action only; 2) simply downloads a copy of the media to the computer or mobile device you are using; and 3) does not automatically transcode your media (to make it smaller and more mobile-storage friendly).
The upside to this technique is that you get a copy of the media to do whatever you want with (like give to a friend) and that copy is in the original quality. The downside is that it does not automatically sync, you have to manually transcode if you want smaller file sizes, and you have to load the media in a third-party player (e.g. if you download a movie to your iPhone using the manual download method, the movie won’t load in the Plex app but it will load in any media player on your iPhone capable of playing it).
The other method, available only to Plex Pass premium subscribers, is the sync method. While the download method might be great for a one-off download (like grabbing a movie or two to copy to your laptop before you head to the airport), the syncing method is vastly superior for consistent use (like keeping the most recent episodes of your favorite TV show synced to your phone and ready for viewing on the commuter train). The upside to the syncing method is that it is fully automated and highly customizable, thanks to flexible syncing rules. You can sync files from your Plex Server to any Plex app that is registered to your Plex account, including Plex for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows desktop.
Let’s take a look at how to download and sync content, respectively, using a season of the TV show Archer as our sample media.
How to Download Content from Your Plex Media Server (Free or Premium)
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To download a couple one-off videos from your Plex Media Server, you simply need to be logged into your Plex account and access the web interface. You can do this either while your’e at home or while you’re away from home, as long as you have a good internet connection. The only real restriction on downloading is that you must be the owner of the Plex Media Server—this means you can download everything from your own server, but you can’t download content from a server someone has shared with you, nor can they download from a server you share with them.
From that web interface, it’s super simple to download content. First, navigate to the media you’re interested in. We’re interested in grabbing a few episodes from Season 1 of Archer to watch away from home, so we’ll head there now. Here in the Season 1 entry, we need to select Episode 1 and then click on the “…” menu icon, as seen below.
In the context menu, click “Download”.
The file will be downloaded, in it’s full original file size and resolution, to you computer or mobile device. Additionally, you can also click on the full detailed entry for any media item (individual TV episodes, movies, songs in your music library, etc.) and click on the “…” menu in the left side navigation bar to also select “Download”. You cannot download entire seasons of TV shows at one time and will need to repeat this process for every episode you wish to transfer.
As we mentioned, this does not sync the file to the local installation of Plex or your mobile Plex app, it merely transfers a copy of the file from the media server to your device. It is up to you, at this point, to load the file in an appropriate media player for your device (like VLC or another good multi-format media player).
How to Sync Content from Your Plex Media Server (Premium Only)
To sync content from your Plex Media Server, you can approach things one of two ways. You can use the same web-based interface we used in the previous section, but you can also use the interface in mobile apps like Plex for iOS to sync, too. Again, to avoid any frustration, you must have a premium Plex Pass account to use the syncing feature.
Let’s take a look at how to sync using the web interface first. Starting in the same place as we did in the previous section of the tutorial Archer Season 1, simply tap on the sync icon. Although we’re starting the process in Season 1, you can use the sync feature on an entire show (across multiple seasons) as well as on individual pieces of media.
You’ll be prompted to select a destination. The destinations listed below are the valid destinations for our particular account. “iPhone” is my personal phone and the only device I currently have a mobile Plex app installed on. You may see other options listed here like “Carl’s iPhone”, “Tim’s Nexus 7”, or “Win10” depending on what devices you have the Plex app installed on and what their names are. (Cloud Sync is a totally separate function and designed to sync your content to a cloud-based storage provider; we’ll ignore that for now.)
After a destination device, you’ll be prompted to make a handful of choices about the syncing operation, as seen below. The biggest force behind your choices will be, first and foremost, the storage available on your device, as well as its screen size. Let’s look at how the individual choices are influenced by those things.
The first choice is what to name the sync (normally you would simply leave it as is, like “TV Show – Season”, but if you are creating multiple syncing rules for different devices you might want to name them like “TV Show – Season – iPad” to indicate the settings are optimized for the iPad).
You can also specify “Unwatched only” to prevent it from syncing episodes you’ve already seen, and you can set a limit to X number of items (e.g. only sync the next 3, 5, or whatever number of episodes). Both of these techniques are useful if you want to keep storage demands under control.
Also useful is the playback quality setting, seen here set to “2 Mbps, 720p”. If you’re copying the files to your laptop or a nice big tablet, then perhaps you’ll want to sacrifice the space to go with a higher quality 1080p conversion, but if you’re watching sitcoms on your phone screen, you’ll likely want to dial back the quality to 720p or even 480p to save space. Once you’ve made your selections click “Sync”.
Plex will announce that the syncing process has started. If you click on the “here” link, it’ll take you to the syncing queue where you’ll see a general overview of the transcoding and syncing process—you can click on the entry for a more detailed view if you wish or simply wait it out.
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While that’s chugging along, let’s pop over to the mobile app to start the syncing process: while the process is almost totally automatic, it won’t happen unless you open the application on the device.
On your device—we’re using our iPhone—run the application. By default, you’ll be hooked into your default media server (in our case “plexmediaserver_1” because, clearly, we have a flair for creative names). Click on the menu button in the corner.
Within the menu click on “Sync”. Most of the time, the syncing process should happen automatically the moment you open the app (you can see that our device is already syncing). If the sync fails to start, though, you can come here to start it manually.
Inside the Sync menu you’ll see that our sync, while already started, is still in progress (if it had not started already, we could click the grayed out “sync” button to start it up. Here we can click on the syncing rule “Archer (2009) – Season 1” to both check on the progress and make changes.
Here, we see not only the sync options we set on the server (which we can change here) but also a rundown of which episodes are synced to the device already and which are in progress.
Episode 1 is already on the device, so let’s show you how to access synced media. Simply exit out of the menus back to the main screen and then, in the upper corner, tap on the server name to switch locations.
Select the local device, in this case “iPhone”.
Now you’ll be browsing the local device instead of the server, and whatever media you’ve synced (TV shows in our case, as seen below) will appear in your media menu.
The complete sleeklens lr collection download windows 7. You can navigate around the application just like you would as if you were connected to your home server: your media will have the same layout, same menus, and same metadata with the small (but important) difference that it is stored right on your device instead of the server.
That’s all there is to it. Whether you’re using the old school Download function to just grab a complete copy of something for your remote device or you’re enjoying the comforts of the premium Syncing feature, it’s easy to keep fresh media on your devices so you can enjoy offline viewing wherever you are.
READ NEXT
Want more Plex plugins? A Plex Channel can give you more options for both official and unofficial plugins.
One of Plex’s best features is Plex Channels. Some channels are official and available via the Plex Channel Directory. Others are unofficial and only available through the Unsupported AppStore.
Here are the best unofficial Plex channels you should check out. And you won’t need a Plex Pass5 Reasons Why You Don't Actually Need a Plex Pass5 Reasons Why You Don't Actually Need a Plex PassDo you actually need a Plex Pass? Is a Plex Pass worth it? Here are several reasons why you may not actually need it.Read More to use them.
How to Install the Unsupported Plex AppStore
Before you can watch the channels we’re about to recommend, you need to install the Unsupported Plex AppStoreHow to Unlock More Channels on Plex With the Unsupported App StoreHow to Unlock More Channels on Plex With the Unsupported App StoreThere are hundreds of Plex channels available through the Unsupported App Store. Here's how to install it and unlock the extra content.Read More.
First, download the WebTools plugin from GitHub. Once the download is complete, extract the file, and ensure the new directory is called WebTools.bundle.
Next, move the folder into your Plex plugin folder. You will find it at %LOCALAPPDATA%Plex Media Server on Windows and ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ on a Mac. The Unsupported AppStore is part of the WebTools plugin.
To access the store, open a browser and enter your Plex Media Server’s IP address followed by :33400. Log in using your Plex credentials and click on UAS in the left-hand panel to launch it.
Warning: The following channels are unsupported by Plex. As such, they may be unfinished, become buggy, or even stop working altogether.
1. C More Sport
Never let anyone tell you that cutting the cord means you’re going to miss out on live news and sport; it’s just not true. It’s easy to watch live news on PlexPlex News Should Help Keep Cord-Cutters HappyPlex News Should Help Keep Cord-Cutters HappyPlex has launched Plex News, which is comprised of news clips from an array of sources from across the political spectrum. Keeping you up-to-date with what's happening in the world.Read More, and C More provides a way to watch live sport.
C More Sport is a Scandinavian broadcaster that shows live soccer, ATP tour events, European ice hockey, NBA, UFC, and more.
2. FilmOn
FilmOn used to be a great way to legally watch U.K. TV networks from anywhere in the world for free. Today, the channels are behind a paywall.
Nevertheless, the app still boasts more than 600 channels that aren’t behind a paywall, so there’s plenty to watch.
3. Full Movies on Reddit
Reddit is a treasure trove of movie content. This add-on pulls data from seven subreddits: /r/FullMoviesDailyMotion, /r/FullMoviesOnGoogle, /r/FullMoviesOnline, /r/FullMoviesOnVimeo, /r/FullMoviesOnYouTube, /r/FullTVShowsOnVimeo, and /r/FullTVShowsOnYouTube.
Make sure you have the legal permission to watch the content before hitting Play.
4. Democracy Now
Democracy Now is a well-established name in the world of American political broadcasting. The content typically leans towards investigative journalism, though there’s a healthy dose of regular news as well.
The show has won countless journalism awards during its 22-year existence.
5. The Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a vast repository of old music videos, movies, and TV shows. You can find content such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1955 version of The Fast and The Furious, and the House on Haunted Hill.
6. The ITV Player
If you live in the UK, you can use the unofficial version of the ITV Player to access all of the network’s most recent shows on demand.
Non-residents will need to use a VPN like ExpressVPN (save up to 49% off using this link) or CyberGhost (get 6 months for free using this link).
7. LiveLeak
LiveLeak is a British video sharing site. It’s less strict than YouTube about what it allows users to upload, often leading to some rather edgy content.
8. MTV Networks
If you like the type of shows churned out by the former music-only channels, you need to install this plugin.
You can grab old episodes from channels like MTV, VH1, CMT, and LogoTV.
![]() 9. NBC Sports
In case you’re not aware, NBC Sports publishes lots of video clips on its official website. There are Premier League highlights, and the latest from the NHL, the NFL, NASCAR, and more.
The plugin pulls all the videos off the website and makes them available in the Plex app.
10. Old Movie Time
Old Movie Time is an online repo of classic movies from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.
We listed the same channel when we discussed the best private Roku channels20 Private and Hidden Roku Channels You Should Install Right Now20 Private and Hidden Roku Channels You Should Install Right NowHere's how to add private channels to your Roku, alongside some of the best hidden Roku channels you can install right now.Read More in an article elsewhere on the site.
11. CW Seed
CW Seed is an online-only offshoot of the CW Television Network. It features content that was specifically made for the web, with a particular focus on animation, game shows, and comedy.
Some of its most well-known web series include How to Be a Vampire, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and Constantine: City of Demons.
12. USTVnow
USTVnow is another name that’ll be familiar to many cord cutters.
The service is aimed at U.S. expats and military personnel. The free package includes The CW, ABC, PBS, and CBS. For $19/month, you also get FOX, AMC, Bravo, Nickelodeon, and more.
USTVnow also offers some TV shows and movies available on demand.
13. Webisodes
Webisodes can pull videos from shows on YouTube, Daily Motion, and Vimeo, then display them in your Plex library for easy viewing.
It also offers an RSS feed. Whenever one of your favorite shows pops up on it, Webisodes will make the video available.
14. Spotify
There is no official Spotify plugin for Plex. However, if you have a premium Spotify account, you can use this unofficial channel to listen to your music.
https://goqoeim.weebly.com/free-download-game-crazy-taxi-3-full-version-for-pc.html. As is the case with so many third-party Spotify services, this channel requires a premium subscription. It’s just one of the many reasons it’s worth paying for SpotifyIs Spotify Premium Worth Its Premium Price?Is Spotify Premium Worth Its Premium Price?Is Spotify Premium worth its premium price? Discover what Premium offers and whether you should upgrade from Spotify Free.Read More.
15. TuneIn
Similarly, there is no official TuneIn radio plugin. But once again, the Plex community has stepped up to provide a solution.
The TuneIn channel boasts many of the same features as the regular app. Free download photo frames background. You can even sign into your account for a customized listening experience.
16. IMDb Trailers
If you want to stay abreast of the latest upcoming movies, install IMDb Trailers. It lets you play thousands of movie trailers directly from the IMDb website.
17. Link TV
Link TV is an ad-free U.S. network that relies exclusively on contributions from viewers and other foundations for its funding.
It offers news, documentaries, music, and citizen-focused content. France24 provides the news programming. Additionally, you will often see English-language content from Deutsche Welle and NHK.
18. XKCD
Webcomic XKCD has earned itself cult status since launching in 2005. The comic strips usually feature one of either mathematics, programming, or science. These days, it’s become essential reading for anyone who either works or has an interest in such fields.
The strip has won countless web-based awards.
19. Facebook
If you’re a Facebook user, you might be interested in the unofficial Facebook channel. It can show your newsfeed and photo library via the Plex interface.
20. Library Updater
We end the list with a practical channel.
From time to time, the developers of these channels will release updates. Ordinarily, you’d have to re-enter the App Store and update each one manually. Library Updater removes that hassle. Just click the icon, and it will install any available updates for your channels.
How To Download Movies For Plex ServerKeep Digging for More Plex Gems
There are more than 170 channels in the Unsupported AppStore. In addition to video, music, and photos, they cover everything from subtitles to metadata. If these handpicked channels aren’t enough to satisfy you, have a dig and see what else you can find.
We’ve also compiled a list of Plex web shows to watch10 of the Best Plex Web Shows to Watch Right Now10 of the Best Plex Web Shows to Watch Right NowIn 2018, Plex launched Web Shows. Here are the best Plex Web Shows worth watching and how to access them.Read More. And when you’re finally happy, make sure you grab the best Plex plugins to supercharge your Plex experience. If you’re ready to upgrade your Plex hardware, have a look at these pre-built and DIY NAS solutions for a Plex serverThe Best Prebuilt, DIY, and NAS Solutions for a Plex ServerThe Best Prebuilt, DIY, and NAS Solutions for a Plex ServerLooking for the best Plex server? Here are some of the best budget, prebuilt, and DIY ways to run a Plex server!Read More:
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