For investigating some issues, we may ask you to share your logs. There are two logs most commonly of interest in these situations:

• Logs from the iOS device
• Logs from your Plex Media Server.

Logs from the iOS Device

When you need to retrieve logs from the iOS app, there are a few ways to do so. Emailing the logs and device data directly from the app gives you the most comprehensive information. If you have an active network connection, you can use “Network Logging”, though the information that can be logged is limited. You can also gather the logs manually by connecting the iOS device to your computer and running a utility that reads and captures the logs directly.

Email Device Logs

The best way to get detailed logs and device data for troubleshooting is to make use of the Email Debugging Data functionality. This will open an email in your default email application. The message will have a zip file attached that will include detailed app logs (often up to several days’ worth) as well as local device state data that’s useful for investigation.

Reproduce the Issue and Email the Logs

To email the debugging logs:

1. Make sure you’ve signed in with your Plex account in the app under Settings > Account
2. Reproduce the issue you’re having
3. Go to Settings > Help & Support > Debugging and tap Share Debugging Data
4. Your default email program will open with a message that has a zip file already attached to it
5. Enter your email address (unless a different address was specifically given to you) and send the email to yourself

Related Page: Settings: Plex for iOS

Report the Issue

Post a description of the problem in the forums if you haven’t already. Then attach the logs zip file to your forum post.

Related Page: Plex Support Forums
Related Page: How do I attach files in the forums?

iOS Console Logs

You can also gather deeper, system-level logging when running the app, if you have a macOS computer. Though not typically needed, this can sometimes be useful for situations where the activity cannot be logged by the Plex app (such as when the app crashes).

On recent macOS versions (at least macOS 12 Monterey or newer), you can use the standard macOS “Console” app to access the logs.

1. Connect the iOS/iPadOS device to your Mac via the normal cable
2. If prompted on the mobile device, verify and allow the connection
3. Launch the “Console” app on the Mac
4. In the sidebar, select the mobile device under the “Devices” section
5. If logs don’t appear, choose to Start Streaming the logs
6. Choose to Clear the logs at the top
7. Reproduce the issue you’re reporting
8. Do a “select-all” of the logs and copy them
9. Paste them into a new text document (e.g. in the “TextEdit” app)
10. Save the logs document with a descriptive name

Once you have the log file, you can attach it to a post on the support forums.

Related Page: How do I attach files in the forums?
Related Page: Plex Support Forums

Crash Logs from iOS

If you’re experiencing crashes with the iOS Plex App, then it can be useful to share the crash logs for investigation. You can retrieve crash logs from your iOS device in multiple ways.

Syncing with iTunes

This method requires that you sync your device with iTunes as normal. After syncing, the crash reports will be copied to a specific location on your hard drive. This method is also documented at https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#qa/qa1747/_index.html.

1. Sync your device with iTunes on your desktop
2. After syncing, look for crash logs in the appropriate directory as listed below
3. In this directory, look for files starting with Plex_

Windows

On Windows installs, these log files can be found under:

%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice\<DEVICE_NAME>

macOS

Using the Finder’s Go menu, select Go To Folder… then enter the following in the dialog box that pops up:

~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/

The log files will be located under a directory there named after your device.

Emailing from the iOS Device

It’s also possible to access the crash log from within your iOS device itself.

iOS 11 or later

1. Open the (system) Settings app.
2. Navigate to Privacy > Analytics > Analytics Data.
3. Select a Plex crash from the list. This will start with Plex_ and contain the timestamp of the crash.
4. Tap the crash
5. Tap the Share icon at the top right
6. Email it to yourself

Pre-iOS 11

1. Open the (system) Settings app.
2. Navigate to Privacy > Diagnostics & Usage > Diagnostic & Usage Data.
3. Select a Plex crash from the list. This will start with Plex_ and contain the timestamp of the crash.
4. Tap on the crash and you will see a text field with a crash log. Long press to Select All and then Copy the crash text.
5. Paste it into something you can get off of your device (for example, an email to yourself).

Plex Media Server Logs

Your Plex Media Server keeps a log file that’s often useful: “Plex Media Server.log”. Where exactly the file is stored depends on your operating system.

Related Page: Plex Media Server Logs