If your Plex app is not finding or connecting to your Plex Media Server, please first ensure that:

  1. You are running a current version of the Plex Media Server. Check our Downloads page for the latest version.
  2. You’ve signed into the Plex Media Server using your Plex account
  3. Your app is signed in and connected to your account

Related Page: Plex Downloads
Related Page: Sign in to Your Plex Account

General Troubleshooting

Here are some general troubleshooting steps you can take:

  • Ensure you have the current version of Plex Media Server installed
  • Ensure that Plex Media Server is actually actively running
  • Verify that your Server is listed on your Devices page
  • Disable any VPN on your computer or router
  • Disable any proxies being used on your computer or router
  • Make sure you aren’t requiring secure connections on the server while using an app that doesn’t support them (see below)

Once you’ve checked those:

  1. Sign out of your Plex account in both the app and Plex Media Server
  2. Sign in to your Plex account in the Server
  3. Then sign into your account in the Plex app

Depending on whether your app is local or remote to the Server, there are also other things to check. If you continue to have an issue, then posting details in our support forums will be the best resource for you. See the Related Page information for additional information you can gather.

Related Page: Plex Support Forums
Related Page: Using plex.tv resources information to troubleshoot app connections

App and Server Are on the Same Network

When both your Plex app and Plex Media Server are on the same local network:

  • Make sure both the Server and app are on the same subnet of the network

Tip!: Make sure the subnet mask (netmask) is set correctly, so that the devices are actually treated as being on the same subnet.

App Is Remote from the Server

If your app is not on the same network as your Plex Media Server:

  • Ensure that Remote Access has been successfully enabled for the Server

Related Page:

Can’t Access Server Settings

In some cases, you may find that the Server entry doesn’t appear for you under Settings in the web app and thus you can’t try to sign in to the Server. This often occurs when you’re not yet signed in on the Server and you’re using the hosted Plex Web App.

  1. Load the “bundled version of Plex Web App” on your Server computer using http://localhost:32400/web or http://127.0.0.1:32400/web, for instance
  2. Sign in to the Plex Web App
  3. Access the Server settings and sign in to the Server

Once you’ve done that, your Plex Media Server should appear when using the hosted Plex Web App, too.

Note: Starting with Plex Media Server v1.29.2 on macOS, if your server is unclaimed, using Open Plex… will initiate the process to claim the server.  If you do not wish to claim your server, you have to set the enableLocalSecurity advanced, hidden server setting to false, then follow the method of opening Plex Web directly in a browser as describe earlier in this document.

Related Page: Opening Plex Web App
Related Page: Why am I locked out of Server Settings and how do I get in?

Using a Third-Party App That Cannot Sign In

Starting with version 1.1.0 of Plex Media Server, security improvements were made to help protect users. Basically, if you are signed in to Plex Media Server, then apps accessing the server must also be signed in.

In rare cases, you may have an old, deprecated app that does not support signing in such as LG’s “Media Link” or “Smart Share” apps. To allow such apps to access your Plex Media Server, you will need to make a specific exception for them.

  1. Find out the local IP address of the device on which the app is running. You will typically be able to find this in the device’s system settings.
  2. In your Plex Web App, go to Settings > Server > Network.
  3. Enter the IP address from step one into the List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth setting and save.

Related Page: Server Settings> Network