Excluding Files & Folders

Media files can be excluded during a library scan. This article shows how this can be done and gives details of the feature update that came in Emby Server version 4.9.

Emby Server 4.9 and later

Media files can be excluded by adding a file named .embyignore containing the filename(s) path and/or pattern(s) to exclude. This can be added in the root folder of a library or within sub-folders.

On Windows. the .embyignore file can be created using Notepad with the "Save as type" set to "All files (*.*)"

When adding the .embyignore to a root folder of a library, the rules would apply to all folders.

Contents of the .embyignore file

  • Comment lines can be added by having a # character at the beginning of the line.
  • Blank lines are ignored.
  • Multiple patterns / names / paths can be entered on separate lines.
  • A wildcard * can be used for file name / folder name pattern.
  • Use forward slash character / for directory separator - even on Windows.
  • When a directory separator is used, the pattern is relative to the directory holding the .embyignore file. Otherwise, the pattern may also match any level below the folder holding the .embyignore file.

Examples

  • To ignore all .png files in a photos library, place an .embyignore file containing *.png in the root folder(s) of a photos library.
  • To ignore all files in a folder, place an .embyignore file containing a * in the folder that is to be ignored.
  • To ignore a folder private-vids and all files and folders below it, place an .embyignore file containing private_vids/ or /private-vids/ in the parent folder.
  • To ignore a specific file e.g. private-video.mp4, place an .embyignore containing private-video.mp4 in the folder and lower sub-folders.
  • To ignore files with names starting with private in this folder only, place an .embyignore containing private* in the folder.

The following are specific examples for a Home Videosa and Photos library with two root folders. The names have been chosen to make it easier to see the folder levels and where the files are located. The two root folders for the library identified as Root1 and Root2 with subfolders identified as A, B and C amd lower levels ientified as I, II and III.

We have an .embyignore in each of the two library root folders Root1-Videos and Root2-Photos and an .embyignore in folder Root2-Photos\R2-Folder-A to ignore a specific photo in that folder. The media files and folders are as follows:

My Videos and Photos
├───Root1-Videos
│   │   .embyignore
│   │   R1-Video1.MOV
│   │   R1-Video2.mp4
│   │
│   ├───R1-Folder-A
│   │       Private-Video.MOV
│   │       R1-A-Video1.MOV
│   │       R1-A-Video2.mp4
│   │
│   ├───R1-Folder-B
│   │   │   R1-B-Video1.MOV
│   │   │   R1-B-Video2.mp4
│   │   │
│   │   ├───R1-B-SubFolder-I
│   │   │       R1-B-SubFolder-I-Video1.MOV
│   │   │       R1-B-SubFolder-I-Video2.mp4
│   │   │
│   │   ├───R1-B-SubFolder-II
│   │   │       R1-B-SubFolder-II-Video1.MOV
│   │   │       R1-B-SubFolder-II-Video2.mp4
│   │   │
│   │   └───R1-B-SubFolder-III
│   │           R1-B-SubFolder-III-Video1.MOV
│   │           R1-B-SubFolder-III-Video2.mp4
│   │
│   └───R1-Folder-C
│           R1-C-Video1.MOV
│           R1-C-Video2.mp4
│
└───Root2-Photos
    │   .embyignore
    │   R2-Photo1.jpg
    │   R2-Photo2.jpg
    │   R2-Screenshot1.png
    │   R2-Screenshot2.png
    │
    ├───R2-Folder-A
    │       .embyignore
    │       R2-A-Photo1.jpg
    │       R2-A-Photo2.jpg
    │       R2-A-Screenshot1.png
    │       R2-A-Screenshot2.png
    │
    ├───R2-Folder-B
    │   │   R2-B-Photo1.jpg
    │   │   R2-B-Photo2.jpg
    │   │   R2-B-Screenshot1.png
    │   │   R2-B-Screenshot2.png
    │   │
    │   ├───R2-B-SubFolder-I
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-I-Photo1.jpg
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-I-Photo2.jpg
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-I-Screenshot1.png
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-I-Screenshot2.png
    │   │
    │   ├───R2-B-SubFolder-II
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-II-Photo1.jpg
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-II-Photo2.jpg
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-II-Screenshot1.png
    │   │       R2-B-SubFolder-II-Screenshot2.png
    │   │
    │   └───R2-B-SubFolder-III
    │           R2-B-SubFolder-III-Photo1.jpg
    │           R2-B-SubFolder-III-Photo2.jpg
    │           R2-B-SubFolder-III-Screenshot1.png
    │           R2-B-SubFolder-III-Screenshot2.png
    │
    └───R2-Folder-C
            Private-Photo.jpg
            R2-C-Photo1.jpg
            R2-C-Photo2.jpg
            R2-C-Screenshot1.png
            R2-C-Screenshot2.png

The .embygnore in Root1-Videos has the following content:

# This is the .embyignore file stored in the library root folder: Root1-Videos

# ignore all files and folders with names starting with "private-"
private-*

# ignore lower sub-directory R1-B-SubFolder-I
/R1-Folder-B/R1-B-SubFolder-I/

The .embyignore in Root2-Photos has the following content:

# This is the .embyignore file stored in the library root folder: Root2-Photos

# ignore all files and folders with names starting with "private-"
private-*

# ignore folder R2-Folder-B and all contents and children. the R2-Folder-B is directly below Root2-Photos
/R2-Folder-B

# ignore all images saved as *.png files 
*.png

These will result in all media or folders with names starting with "private-" getting ignored. All screenshots which would be png files get excluded from the photos folders. A specific photo folder and all its content excluded R2-Folder-B. A specific video folder R1-B-SubFolder-I getting excluded.

The 3rd .embyignore file is in photo folder Root2-Photos\R2-Folder-A to exclude a specific photo. The .embyignore content is:

# This is the .embyignore file stored in folder Root2-Photos\R2-Folder-A

# ignore a specific photo in this folder
/R2-A-Photo2.jpg

Support for .plexignore

For your convenience, Emby Server now also supports .plexignore. An option has been added to Library settings for enabling this.

Note

There may be some differences in outcomes between our support of this feature and Plex. The Emby behavior would not match any that are defects in Plex.

Emby Server 4.8

To exclude a folder from the library scan, place a file named .ignore inside the folder.

This will cause Emby to ignore all sub-folders as well.

On Windows. the .ignore file can be created using Notepad with the "Save as type" set to "All types (*.*)"