Emby Separating Folders Sub-library in 4.9

[Halliphax 3]

Per the title, sinec Emby updated to 4.9 it appears that the Folders sub-library is now separated. I currently have five hard drives set up like this, as an example:

X:\Movies and TV Shows\movie 1 folder\movie 1 file

X:\Movies and TV Shows\movie 2 folder\movie 2 file

X:\Movies and TV Shows\tv show 1 folder\tv show 1 file

Y:\Movies and TV Shows\movie 3 folder\movie 3 file

Y:\Movies and TV Shows\movie 4 folder\movie 4 file

Y:\Movies and TV Shows\tv show 2 folder\tv show 2 file

 

In prior versions, the Folder sub-library merged these "Movies and TV Shows" folders but now they're distinct. Is there a way to change this?

[Happy2Play 9780]

There is a new per Library setting for this.

 

[Halliphax 3]

6 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

There is a new per Library setting for this.

 

I’m assuming this is in the Library settings itself in which case I don’t have the option. 
 

Sorry to be a pain but can you expand your screenshot so I can see the other options around it? 
 

I’ve right-clicked my Library, clicked edit and scrolled through the options but don’t see the one you’ve shown me. 

[Halliphax 3]

Apologies please ignore me - my app hadn’t updated along with the server 

 

thanks for your help!

[xLifu 18]

When the Library was set to be viewed by Folders, it used to combine both Movies and Shows, but now it doesn't. 

The Merge option does combine them again, but they are completely messed up. It shows the name of the folder instead of the name of the Movie/Show, and it opens the folder before it opens the Movie/Show content.

Is there a way to revert to the previous setting?

Thanks!

[xLifu 18]

Also, setting "Default screen" to Movies doesn't stick. It reverts to Shows. Folders and Genres work, the rest don't.

[xLifu 18]

Two of my Libraries lost their "Date Added" order, but the others are fine?

Those who lost their order also lost their customizations, reverting to the default pictures and other settings I had made for them.

Edited October 3, 2025 by xLifu

[spard4 12]

I've got the same problem as xLifu, someone have a solution please ?

Can we revert to the previous update until a fix come ? How ? 
Thanks

[Happy2Play 9780]

41 minutes ago, spard4 said:

I've got the same problem as xLifu, someone have a solution please ?

Can we revert to the previous update until a fix come ? How ? 
Thanks

I can only guess topics merged.  But folder issue fix is posted above. 

As for dateadded don't think there ever was a fix found or what actual conditions cause it.   Existing topic

 

As for reverting there is no way to revert any major version updates besides you having a full backup that can be restored as there are database changes between 4.8 and 4.9.

[xLifu 18]

28 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

I can only guess topics merged.  But folder issue fix is posted above. 

As for dateadded don't think there ever was a fix found or what actual conditions cause it.   Existing topic

 

As for reverting there is no way to revert any major version updates besides you having a full backup that can be restored as there are database changes between 4.8 and 4.9.

Not really a fix since the behavior is not the same, or is this the intended behavior?

[Happy2Play 9780]

4 minutes ago, xLifu said:

Not really a fix since the behavior is not the same, or is this the intended behavior?

Sorry technically there are two changes, one with the top level folder listed above and the other being per user setting in Display open single items in folder view instead of actual structure with additional folder layer.

Edited October 3, 2025 by Happy2Play

[xLifu 18]

9 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

Sorry you technically there are two changes, one with the top level folder listed above and the other being per user setting in Display open single items in folder view instead of actual structure with additional folder layer.

It works, but it's still not the same behavior as before. I was using Folders as a way to have both Movies and Shows in the same Library, which worked perfectly. Is there a way to do the same on the new v4.9?

[Happy2Play 9780]

4 minutes ago, xLifu said:

It works, but it's still not the same behavior as before. I was using Folders as a way to have both Movies and Shows in the same Library, which worked perfectly. Is there a way to do the same on the new v4.9?

Sorry I do not follow, and you may have to break it down for your library setup on this library.  As the two options listed are the only thing that changed and give the ability to have it the previous way.

 

Edited October 3, 2025 by Happy2Play

[xLifu 18]

The Library is set to Mixed Content because I have both Movies and Shows. There is no option to see them both on the same page, and that's why I was using Folders. When set to Folders, they were being displayed all together as content, not as Folder. 

Now they are together, but as Folders, and each Movie or Show has the name of the Folder instead of the actual Movie/Show.

[Luke 42077]

The folder view is more accurate though, no? I would say that is the general direction that's being taken with folder view.

What I think we need to do though for mixed content is not have separate shows and movies tabs. We should merge them into a single Movies & Shows tab.

[xLifu 18]

Exactly! But, before that's implemented, is there a workaround for the time being?

[Happy2Play 9780]

Still confused but will guess you it is specific to how you have your folders added to the library as I have not had any change here per given options.

But I guess if you have a nested folder structure then the new folder view can make it different as it does not collapse all folder levels.

Edited October 3, 2025 by Happy2Play

[spard4 12]

Actually, previously, in a “mixed content” library containing both movies and TV shows, in the folders view, when you added a movie (by putting the movie inside a folder with its name), only the movie itself would be displayed — the containing folder was hidden.

Now, when adding a movie, the containing folder is no longer hidden. I have to click on the folder to see my movie.

The problem this creates is with collections: at the root of the library, when you enable the option to group items belonging to the same collection, both the collections and the movie folders appear. It turns into a complete mess.

[xLifu 18]

7 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

Still confused but will guess you it is specific to how you have your folders added to the library as I have not had any change here per given options.

But I guess if you have a nested folder structure then the new folder view can make it different as it does not collapse all folder levels.

Some of them are showing as before, but some are as Folders with the name of the actual folder on the HDD. 

I uploaded a picture highlighting in green those that look as before, and in red those that show as folders.

[Happy2Play 9780]

4 minutes ago, xLifu said:

Some of them are showing as before, but some are as Folders with the name of the actual folder on the HDD. 

I uploaded a picture highlighting in green those that look as before, and in red those that show as folders.

Okay inconsistent folder structure with some content in folders and some not.  But this is the display you will get now but for behavior you will need to enable this option.

[Luke 42077]

4 minutes ago, spard4 said:

Actually, previously, in a “mixed content” library containing both movies and TV shows, in the folders view, when you added a movie (by putting the movie inside a folder with its name), only the movie itself would be displayed — the containing folder was hidden.

Now, when adding a movie, the containing folder is no longer hidden. I have to click on the folder to see my movie.

The problem this creates is with collections: at the root of the library, when you enable the option to group items belonging to the same collection, both the collections and the movie folders appear. It turns into a complete mess.

Yes and this behavior alone is extremely complicated and is often the primary reason for library scan anomalies - things not showing up when they should or vice versa, etc. Plus it led to a folder view that really wasn't an accurate folder view.

I think the problem is you don't actually want a real folder view. You want the special sauce folder view from the old Media Browser days. I understand that, but this is more flexible for more people. An accurate folder view is what most people expect when they click on Folders.

To try and save you the extra click layer we added the option to auto jump through single item folders. The next step would be merging Shows and Movies into a single tab.

[spard4 12]

For example, in this screenshot, all the TV shows are correctly recognized as series. The grouping by collection works fine.

But for the Ghost in the Shell movies (and actually ANY movie), they are displayed as folders instead. Yet they are all part of the Ghost in the Shell collection.

This clutters the entire library.

 

[Luke 42077]

3 minutes ago, spard4 said:

For example, in this screenshot, all the TV shows are correctly recognized as series. The grouping by collection works fine.

But for the Ghost in the Shell movies (and actually ANY movie), they are displayed as folders instead. Yet they are all part of the Ghost in the Shell collection.

This clutters the entire library.

 

I fully understand but this tab is a folder view, right? Will merging the Movies and Shows tabs help you?

[xLifu 18]

13 minutes ago, Luke said:

Yes and this behavior alone is extremely complicated and is often the primary reason for library scan anomalies - things not showing up when they should or vice versa, etc. Plus it led to a folder view that really wasn't an accurate folder view.

I think the problem is you don't actually want a real folder view. You want the special sauce folder view from the old Media Browser days. I understand that, but this is more flexible for more people. An accurate folder view is what most people expect when they click on Folders.

To try and save you the extra click layer we added the option to auto jump through single item folders. The next step would be merging Shows and Movies into a single tab.

I understand why it was changed, and I agree that now it is more accurate, but this is what we had to do because there was no other way. Mixed Content Library should have a Mixed tab. 

Changing this before we can have the same behavior made a big mess and is a pain.

[spard4 12]

The "auto jump through single item folders" option does help.

To fully solve my issue, I would need to remove all movies from their collections, and instead place the folders containing the movies inside the collections. Given the size of my libraries, that would be a huge amount of work, but I think I’ll do it this way.

Merging the Movies and Shows tabs would also help, but you’ve recently added a new feature that will be a big help with my organization: the ability to group items into collections inside folders. This allows for much cleaner and more advanced sorting methods than simply using the Movies and Shows tabs.