Completed Bring back the old folder view

[Luke 42077]

The option that was added is the necessary first step. Now we need to determine why some still have the folder layer. I don't think it is platform-specific but rather has more to do with the contents of the folder.

[mrmixed 77]

What do you need from us to take the next steps?  My folder structure hasn't changed, and my expectation is that the Legacy setting would scan and represent everything the way it did in 4.8.  Which ought to mean that single-title-folders would collapse to titles, and not to folders.

Again, I'm only able to test on the 4.9.4.1 beta due to upgrade restrictions on Synology relating to the release numbering, and have not been able to test 4.9.3.0 as a result.

I had sent you some server logs of my server scan demonstrating this issue way back on Dec 16 if that potentially sheds any light on what I'm seeing.

I did a quick test and removed all files (images, NFO) and subfolders (extras, etc.) from a single-title-folder, so that the structure is literally just "<movie>\<movie>.mkv", and it still shows up as a folder instead of a title following a rescan.  I'm not sure what else there might be to try.

[mrmixed 77]

Also, relating to platform-specific vs folder contents, @cp41has tested on two different platforms and only sees this issue on the Synology environment.  @cp41, can you confirm that you were testing the same folder structure in your two environments?  Or at least, some identical subsets of your two environments have the same folder structure, but work differently?  Thanks!

Edited January 19 by mrmixed

[cp41 42]

I have both my Synology NAS and me MacOS with libraries pointing to the same folder. It is a new library I created for testing purposes. It is set up with Legacy Scanning for both servers. The MacOS correctly flattens the single item folders to Media Items. The exact same folder in Synology is still presenting as nested folders. 

Here is visual side by side I posted earlier. To me, it really doesn’t seem like it is folder contents. 

 

Edited January 19 by cp41

[Luke 42077]

It is related to what else is in the folder, so we are looking at that. Thanks.

[mrmixed 77]

9 hours ago, Luke said:

It is related to what else is in the folder, so we are looking at that. Thanks.

Thank you very much for the update!  Please continue to keep us posted.  It sounds like you have an angle to replicate this behavior, but let us know if we can provide any logs or other information.

I did test what happens if I remove literally everything from the folder except the movie itself, and I still had the collapsed entry showing up as a folder instead of a title.  But my testing was on the beta; not sure if the 4.9.3.0 release changed anything relating to this function relative to 4.9.4.1.

 

[mrmixed 77]

@Luke

Just to ask, does the 4.10.0.1 beta have any additional changes relating to the Legacy scanning function that it would be worth trying out to solve the problems discussed recently in this thread?

I'm happy to test anything, but I'm also hesitant to move further along on the beta track without knowing when an on-ramp back to stable will be provided for this particular branch.

[Luke 42077]

30 minutes ago, mrmixed said:

@Luke

Just to ask, does the 4.10.0.1 beta have any additional changes relating to the Legacy scanning function that it would be worth trying out to solve the problems discussed recently in this thread?

I'm happy to test anything, but I'm also hesitant to move further along on the beta track without knowing when an on-ramp back to stable will be provided for this particular branch.

Hi, yes it does, so please try that. Thanks.

[mrmixed 77]

8 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, yes it does, so please try that. Thanks.

It is fixed!!!  At least based on rescanning a few folders.  I'm going to do a full rescan and will then start putting back a bunch of posters that got whacked over the past few months of many upgrades and db restores, and will keep an eye out for any further weirdness... but I think this is finally the complete solution to fully restore the legacy functionality (and hopefully for all platforms, too.) 

I am curious to see if @cp41can confirm on his Synology NAS installation as well.

I would write more effusive praise to the devs for making this fix, but I'm far too eager to get back in and start being a server admin again.

[cp41 42]

I was waiting to see what you @mrmixedsaid about the 4.10 beta. That is great news.

Assuming I still have power in the morning (got the ice storm headed our way), I will install the beta and see if I can get the same results.

[mrmixed 77]

So far so good.  There's some weirdness with similarly-named titles stacking up as "versions" of the same movie, which I don't remember happening before, but it's not too widespread, and fixable.  I remember @Lukesaying that this scan method is more prone to errors, so it's tolerable, and preferable to not having the legacy scan method.

Not that I get a say, but I'd just like to suggest that the "Legacy" configuration be renamed to something like "Collapsible" or "Collapsing Folders", so that it is more descriptive to users setting up libraries, and doesn't come across as some clunky old functionality that is eventually going to disappear again.  I mean, I get that Luke probably doesn't want more people starting to use this mode, but from my perspective it would be nice to ensure that this setting continues to stick around and doesn't accidentally get sunset again, and maybe there will be a handful of people that are curious enough to try it out and benefit from it.

Good luck with the ice storm!

[cp41 42]

Ice Storm thwarted. 
I installed 4.10.0.1 beta on my Synology NAS and am happy to report that the Legacy Scan is functioning as expected. 
This brings me tremendous joy.

I will be happier still when a stable release comes along where I can get out of beta mode.

Thank you for the turn-around on this.

[WinXP 15]

On 25/01/2026 at 14:38, mrmixed said:

So far so good.  There's some weirdness with similarly-named titles stacking up as "versions" of the same movie, which I don't remember happening before, but it's not too widespread, and fixable.  I remember @Lukesaying that this scan method is more prone to errors, so it's tolerable, and preferable to not having the legacy scan method.

Not that I get a say, but I'd just like to suggest that the "Legacy" configuration be renamed to something like "Collapsible" or "Collapsing Folders", so that it is more descriptive to users setting up libraries, and doesn't come across as some clunky old functionality that is eventually going to disappear again.  I mean, I get that Luke probably doesn't want more people starting to use this mode, but from my perspective it would be nice to ensure that this setting continues to stick around and doesn't accidentally get sunset again, and maybe there will be a handful of people that are curious enough to try it out and benefit from it.

Good luck with the ice storm!

What many of us are reacting to with the folder changes since 4.9.x isn’t really a bug, it’s a change in philosophy.
Emby appears to have shifted from a folder-first model (where a folder could effectively be the movie) to a metadata-first model, much closer to the direction Plex took years ago.
In that model, folders are just containers and the “truth” of the item lives in scraped metadata.
For users who organise intentionally via folders, this has a real impact:
*  Single-movie folders now appear as containers rather than as the movie itself (“ghost folders”).
*  Browsing by folders feels indirect and layered, even when the physical structure is simple.
*  The library experience starts to feel generic — closer to a streaming catalogue than a personally curated collection.
The new Legacy Scan option is appreciated, but it feels more like a compatibility shim than a solution. It restores some expected behaviour, but:
*  It’s labelled in a way that implies eventual removal.
*  It’s acknowledged to be more error-prone.
*  It doesn’t address the underlying shift away from respecting folder intent.
What’s interesting is that the moment you stop viewing by folders (e.g. switch to Genre or other metadata views), the problem largely disappears — which highlights the point: the system now works best when you don’t think in folders at all.
That’s fine for metadata-centric users, but it does mean Emby is moving closer to Plex’s worldview:
***  files are implementation details, metadata is authority, and libraries should broadly look the same.
Some of us chose Emby precisely because it wasn’t that.
This isn’t a demand to roll everything back — just an observation that this change affects more than UI polish.
It affects who Emby is for, and how much room there is for individual, user-authored organisation versus scraped consensus.
Renaming “Legacy Scan” to something descriptive like Collapsible Folders would at least acknowledge that folder-centric organisation is a valid, supported choice — not just a relic waiting to be sunset.

[Luke 42077]

1 hour ago, WinXP said:

What many of us are reacting to with the folder changes since 4.9.x isn’t really a bug, it’s a change in philosophy.
Emby appears to have shifted from a folder-first model (where a folder could effectively be the movie) to a metadata-first model, much closer to the direction Plex took years ago.
In that model, folders are just containers and the “truth” of the item lives in scraped metadata.

Hi, I don't agree with this. The metadata views have always been there (Movies tab, Genres, etc). It's more about making the folders tab a more accurate representation of your folders.

Quote

Renaming “Legacy Scan” to something descriptive like Collapsible Folders would at least acknowledge that folder-centric organisation is a valid, supported choice — not just a relic waiting to be sunset.

Yes this i can understand and perhaps a better name is needed.

[WinXP 15]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Hi, I don't agree with this. The metadata views have always been there (Movies tab, Genres, etc). It's more about making the folders tab a more accurate representation of your folders.

You’re right — metadata views have always existed; I just hadn’t been using them. Until I see what 4.9.4 and later bring, I’ve created .nfo files with my folder-specific genres as an interim workaround, effectively letting metadata reflect my curated folder structure.