Foldersync - Only Sync Unwatched Content?

[jon_ 27]

Hi

I am sure there used to be the option of using the "only sync unwatched content" when defining a sync job to a foldersync target, however it doesn't seem to be there anymore...

I have some older sync jobs, which obey this - as content is watched (by the user that created the sync job), the watched item drops from foldersync and is replaced with the next watched one.

But there are also others, where it will sync all episodes (up to the item limit), regardless of watched status, which is much less useful. 

Which should be the expected behaviour?

Thanks!

[jon_ 27]

@softworkz any thoughts on this? 

I've deleted all sync jobs, removed + re-added the plugin and now all shows sync all content regardless of watch state. Having the ability to create synced copies of unwatched media only is by far and away more useful. 

[jon_ 27]

Digging into this, it seems when a sync target is created (Android app, foldersync target etc), the capabilities of that sync target are stored, and one of these is if "sync unwatched content only" is displayed within sync menus. 

Within the CSS for the "Download To" menus, these capabilities are queried, and various bits of the menus are hidden on the fly - you can use the developer tools and breakpoints to see this query happening. 

As a workaround to the original issue, if you create a new "Download To" job, open up developer tools and search Elements for :

toggleContainer unwatchedOnlyToggleContainer

you can see the "hide" element afterwards. Delete this "hide" within the elements window, hit return to apply the changes and then the "Download Unplayed Videos" toggle will appear and be fully functional.

Someone cleverer than me can probably figure out how to update the capability for the client on a global basis by changing the sync target capabilities so that you don't need to do it for every sync job, or maybe the Emby devs can change the plugin itself to expose this...

[Luke 42077]

HI, due to folder sync not being a user-specific feature, that is the reason why this option no longer shows for it.

[jon_ 27]

I can understand that, but having the option is super useful for some use cases...

[Deesche 2]

simply removed a function that has been used for years, I don't find that very pleasing either

 

@sa2000

[sa2000 674]

On 15/01/2026 at 11:09, jon_ said:

I can understand that, but having the option is super useful for some use cases...

What are the Use Cases for this?

Folder Sync is intended to be for the whole server and is not related to any specific user accounts and watched status is for specific user accounts and would be incompatible with this. 

Are you envisaging each user account having its own Folder Sync setup?

Downloads and Download to options are user specific and that is where Watched status would be applicable

Edited January 29 by sa2000

[jon_ 27]

My specific use case - I use foldersync to create lower bitrate copies of media that *I* am currently watching. If I have an in-progress show that has 100 episodes, I don't want, or need to have 100 lower bitrate versions created. I only care about the next few unwatched episodes. 

If you want to really get into the specifics of how I do it, the Foldersync folder is then exposed via Nextcloud - any media in the foldersync folder can be synchronised to remote machines, without the need for the target machine to have an Emby player (the machine only needs a Nextcloud client or a webdav sync tool). This is useful when travelling for offline playback.  

As a bonus, the lower bitrate versions are available for remote playback (just to me) if I an using an online Emby client with a low bandwidth internet connection remotely. 

Should foldersync support multi-users. I think that would be nice, but less important to me, for my specific use case. 

As per the comment above, what is more annoying is that there used to be the option to foldersync unwatched content only, as far as I remember, but it was removed at some point without explanation (or consultation). 

 

On a side note - if the source media changes after a foldersync version has been created, the original sync file is 'orphaned' and a new foldersync copy is created in the same target folder (eg. if a proper is downloaded, you would end up with 2 foldersync versions, and the first would never be deleted). 

[sa2000 674]

3 hours ago, jon_ said:

My specific use case - I use foldersync to create lower bitrate copies of media that *I* am currently watching. If I have an in-progress show that has 100 episodes, I don't want, or need to have 100 lower bitrate versions created. I only care about the next few unwatched episodes. 

If you want to really get into the specifics of how I do it, the Foldersync folder is then exposed via Nextcloud - any media in the foldersync folder can be synchronised to remote machines, without the need for the target machine to have an Emby player (the machine only needs a Nextcloud client or a webdav sync tool). This is useful when travelling for offline playback.  

As a bonus, the lower bitrate versions are available for remote playback (just to me) if I an using an online Emby client with a low bandwidth internet connection remotely. 

Should foldersync support multi-users. I think that would be nice, but less important to me, for my specific use case. 

Well. this was not envisaged as a use case when it was reviewed last time and documentation brought up to date.

Folder Syncs are created by server admin and media stored within the folders can be accessible for all users or specifc users. I did not envisage that the watched state for the server administrator would be relevant to what potentially would be available as alternative versions for other users. It did not make sense that the server adminstrator playbacks would affect what converted / original extra copy media is potentially available to other users. 

I will discuss this with @Luke  - maybe it can be brought back for Folder Syncs that do not have the User Access option set to "Grant access to all users"

 

 

 

Edited January 29 by sa2000

[sa2000 674]

3 hours ago, jon_ said:

On a side note - if the source media changes after a foldersync version has been created, the original sync file is 'orphaned' and a new foldersync copy is created in the same target folder (eg. if a proper is downloaded, you would end up with 2 foldersync versions, and the first would never be deleted). 

I will look into this

[jon_ 27]

1 minute ago, sa2000 said:

I will look into this

Thanks. I seem to recall the same happens if you have a foldersync copy and the source file is deleted - ie. it's removed from your media library. The foldersync version will stay there on disk, even though it's not listed in the server Downloads section. 

[sa2000 674]

On 29/01/2026 at 10:36, jon_ said:

On a side note - if the source media changes after a foldersync version has been created, the original sync file is 'orphaned' and a new foldersync copy is created in the same target folder (eg. if a proper is downloaded, you would end up with 2 foldersync versions, and the first would never be deleted

 

On 29/01/2026 at 13:44, jon_ said:

I seem to recall the same happens if you have a foldersync copy and the source file is deleted - ie. it's removed from your media library. The foldersync version will stay there on disk, even though it's not listed in the server Downloads section. 

Thank you for reporting these anomalies. I have reproduced both and has been referred to the development team

 

[sa2000 674]

On 29/01/2026 at 10:36, jon_ said:

My specific use case - I use foldersync to create lower bitrate copies of media that *I* am currently watching. If I have an in-progress show that has 100 episodes, I don't want, or need to have 100 lower bitrate versions created. I only care about the next few unwatched episodes. 

If you want to really get into the specifics of how I do it, the Foldersync folder is then exposed via Nextcloud - any media in the foldersync folder can be synchronised to remote machines, without the need for the target machine to have an Emby player (the machine only needs a Nextcloud client or a webdav sync tool). This is useful when travelling for offline playback.  

I have discussed this further and I am afraid Folder Sync is a Server Admin feature and not a user specific feature and so watched status is not applicable and if it was there as an option before,  that was a bug.

You will need to look into using the "Download to ..." feature which is for users and does allow for picking unwatched episodes

 

[sa2000 674]

@jon_You could look into the Emby Windows app for downloads to achieve what you are trying to do.

I did not suggest it as an option before because of reported issues with the app's downloads functionality but these issues have now been addressed and resolved in the latest 2.295.x beta

[jon_ 27]

None of my machines are windows

As long as you don't take away the 'hidden' functionality to enable unwatched sync only for the admin user (via the browser developer tools as above) I can work around it...