Applies to: Rolling official video-library maintenance guide
The useful distinctions
- Scanning adds newly discovered titles.
- Changing an existing NFO requires a metadata refresh.
- Moved or renamed files are treated as new titles rather than a simple metadata refresh.
- A source can be scanned independently through its context menu.
Name the change before acting
Three maintenance requests can sound identical when described as making the library update. Adding a new recording, correcting its description and moving it to another drive alter different parts of the catalogue. Write down which part changed before choosing an operation. This keeps you from repeating a scan that has already done its job while waiting for it to replace information that it was not intended to revisit.
Keep the scope small
Use one source or one title as the first maintenance unit. For a fictional workshop collection, a new film in the Workshops source calls for discovery, while a corrected plot for an already listed film calls for refreshing that entry. Preserve a copy of any carefully authored NFO before refreshing. It is easier to compare one before-and-after record than to understand a library-wide result with many simultaneous changes.
Interpret the result accurately
Check identity, description and file path separately. A corrected description with a broken media path is incomplete; a working path with the old description may mean the metadata operation was not applied. When a whole source is missing, investigate source visibility before repeating the scanner. Record the operation that finally resolved the issue so future maintenance uses the same decision rather than trial and error.
A focused way to proceed
- Identify whether the change is a new file, metadata edit or path change.
- For new files, highlight the source under Videos, Files and choose Scan for new content.
- For an existing metadata change, open the item information and use Refresh.
- Verify the intended item and inspect Event Log entries for missing titles.
Worked example · synthetic
New clip added at same source root → Scan for new content
Existing clip.nfo plot edited → Refresh that library item
clip.mkv moved to another root → Treat as path change and re-add deliberatelyRead the comparison
A scan that finds no new items can be correct even when an existing NFO has changed.
When to stop or ask for help
Escalate with operation, path change history and Event Log output; avoid deleting the library as an initial response.