In cases where Plex Media Server is actually crashing, the Server attempts to automatically gather crash information. When crash information is generated, details are also automatically submitted to Plex to help improve the product.

The crash logs can be very useful in helping to diagnose the cause of a crash. Log location and availability will vary by platform.

Tip!: If you’re sharing a crash log to get assistance, please also include the “normal” Plex Media Server.log file to go along with it.

Related Page: Plex Media Server Logs

Note: The next time you launch the application, the crash logs will be uploaded for aggregate analysis of crashes and will then be removed. Therefore, please retrieve the crash log prior to launching Plex Media Server again.

Windows

Crash Dumps Handled by Plex Media Server

Remember, these crash logs (or “crash dumps” in Windows terminology) will typically be removed the next time Plex Media Server is launched, so please retrieve them beforehand. The location of crash logs will be under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\Crash Reports

Crash Dumps Handled by Windows

In rare cases, Plex Media Server may fail in such a way that the automatic crash handling itself fails. In such a situation, it’s sometimes possible to have Windows still handle the crash information.

The following steps enable automatic crash dumps on Windows Vista SP1 and later:

1. Open the “RegEdit” program
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting
3. Under Windows Error Reporting, create a new registry key named LocalDumps.

If Plex Media Server crashes after this and the crash dump is not found in the above location, you may find a dump file under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps

The dump file will be named something along the lines of Plex Media Server.exe.5884.dmp.

Related Page: Collecting User-Mode Dumps
Related Page: Windows Error Reporting Settings

macOS

Before Plex Media Server is launched again, use the Finder’s Go menu, select Go To Folder… then enter the following in the dialog box that pops up:

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/

Crash logs will usually be located there.

In some rare cases, it’s possible that the crash logs may still be located in the OS’s standard location, so you can also look under the following locations if crash logs aren’t available in the above location:

~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/
~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

Linux

Remember, crash logs will typically be removed the next time Plex Media Server is launched, so please retrieve them beforehand. In general, crash logs for the various Linux versions of Plex Media Server will be found under:

$PLEX_HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/