In some rare situations, you may find yourself “locked out” from being able to access your Plex Media Server and unable to directly access the server settings. One of the most common causes for this is if your server is signed in to one account (perhaps one used with an old, previous installation) and your web app is signed in with a different account that doesn’t have permission to connect to the server.

It can also occur after you change your password, remove your server “Device” entry, or otherwise invalidate the existing authentication token that your server uses.

You’ll often see this exhibited as a “You do not have permission to access this server” or sometimes a “No soup for you” message when viewing in the Plex Web App.

The most straightforward way to regain access is typically to remove the current account/authentication information from the server, which will then allow you to sign in or claim the server with your desired account. Correctly following these instructions will not wipe out a server installation or make you have to re-create libraries.

Access Special Server Settings

There are a number of “hidden” special settings related to your Plex Media Server, which are stored in a special location that varies by operating system. You’ll first need to go open those settings.

Windows

Certain Plex Media Server settings are stored in the Registry on Windows. In the Registry, they’re located under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server

Tip!: We strongly encourage you to make a standard backup of either the full Rregistry or only the specific “Plex Media Server” Registry key prior to making any changes.

Related Page: Microsoft – Back up the registry
Related Page: How to Modify the Windows Registry

macOS

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

~/Library/Preferences/

The file in question is the com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist file.

Tip!: We strongly encourage you to make a backup of the com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist file prior to making any changes.

Linux

In Linux, the Preferences.xml file in the main Plex Media Server data directory contains the corresponding settings.

Related Page: Where is the Plex Media Server data directory located?

Tip!: We strongly encourage you to make a backup of the Preferences.xml file prior to making any changes.

Open that file in a standard text editor.

Remove Certain Entries

Once you’ve opened the special settings for editing, you’ll need to remove some specific entries there.

Windows

1. Quit/exit your Plex Media Server, so it’s not actively running
2. Open the appropriate Registry area (as noted above) to edit
3. Highlight the following entries and delete them:
   • PlexOnlineHome
   • PlexOnlineMail
   • PlexOnlineToken
   • PlexOnlineUsername
4. Launch your Plex Media Server

Tip!: Scared of dealing with the registry? You can check out this forum topic for information on using a registry script to make the changes for you.

macOS

1. Quit/exit your Plex Media Server, so it’s not actively running
2. Open the macOS “Terminal”application
3. Run the following individual commands in Terminal
   • defaults delete com.plexapp.plexmediaserver PlexOnlineHome
   • defaults delete com.plexapp.plexmediaserver PlexOnlineMail
   • defaults delete com.plexapp.plexmediaserver PlexOnlineToken
   • defaults delete com.plexapp.plexmediaserver PlexOnlineUsername
4. Launch your Plex Media Server

Linux

1. Quit/exit your Plex Media Server, so it’s not actively running
2. In your text editor, remove the following attribute/key pairs from the Preferences.xml file:
   • PlexOnlineHome="1"
   • PlexOnlineMail="[email protected]"
   • PlexOnlineToken="RanD0MHex1DecIm4LtoKeNheR3"
   • PlexOnlineUsername="ExampleUser"
3. Save the edited file
4. Launch your Plex Media Server

Restore Access to Your Plex Media Server

Now that you’ve removed the values, you just need to get back in to your Plex Media Server.

Load the Local Version of Plex Web App

You first need to launch the local version of Plex Web App rather than the hosted version. For instance, if you’re on the computer running the Plex Media Server, you can go to: http://localhost:32400/web or http://127.0.0.1:32400/web

See the related article for details on how to access “locally”.

Tip!: If you’re opening the web app this initial time on a device other than the one running the Plex Media Server, you need to take extra steps. See the information in our installation article for Plex Media Server.

Related Page: Opening Plex Web App

Sign in to Plex Web App

Sign in to your Plex account in the local version of Plex Web App.

Tip!: If you’re already signed into Plex Web App there, first sign out and then sign back in. That will clear connection info for you.

Related Page: Plex Account

Sign Your Server in to Your Plex Account

Sign in to your Plex Media Server with your Plex account as normal.

Related Page: Sign in to Your Plex Account