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Tools & Utilities

The Tools page is a collection of built-in utilities for managing your Plex server. Each tool opens in a modal with its own search, selection, and action workflow.

More tools are in development and will be added based on what's most requested by users. Have an idea? Open an issue on GitHub or drop a message in the Discord.

Date Added Editor​

Fix the "Date Added" timestamp on movies and shows that were redownloaded to your library. When Plex re-imports media, it resets the added date to today - which buries older content at the top of your "Recently Added" row and throws off sorting.

How to Use​

  1. Open the tool and search for a movie or show by title (or browse recently added items)
  2. Filter by library if needed
  3. Select one or more items using the checkboxes
  4. Choose a date strategy:
    • Custom - Pick any date from a date picker
    • 30 Days Ago - Sets the added date to 30 days in the past
    • Release Date - Matches the media's original release date
  5. Click apply to update all selected items

Works with both movies and TV shows across any library.

Watch History Cleaner​

Mark TV shows as unwatched to fix issues with Plex's "Continue Watching" row. This is useful when:

  • A show disappears from "Continue Watching" because Plex thinks you've finished it
  • You want to do a fresh rewatch and reset your progress
  • Watch state got out of sync across devices

How to Use​

  1. Open the tool and search for a TV show
  2. Filter by library if needed
  3. Each result shows watch progress - how many episodes you've watched out of the total, color-coded:
    • Green - All episodes watched
    • Amber - Partially watched
    • Gray - Never watched
  4. Select one or more shows
  5. Click to mark all episodes as unwatched

The footer shows a summary of your selection: how many shows and watched episodes will be affected.

note

This tool is for TV shows only. It marks all episodes in the selected show(s) as unwatched.

Unwatched Report​

Find content that's collecting dust in your library. Search for items that have never been watched or haven't been watched within a specified time period. Useful for library cleanup decisions - figuring out what to keep, what to remove, or what to recommend to your users.

caution

This tool requires Tautulli to be connected, since it queries watch history data from the Tautulli API.

How to Use​

  1. Open the tool and select a library
  2. Choose a filter mode:
    • Never Watched - Items with zero plays ever
    • Not Watched Since - Items not played after a cutoff date
  3. If using "Not Watched Since", pick a time period: 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, 1 year, or a custom date
  4. Click Generate Report
  5. Browse the paginated results (50 items per page)
  6. Click Export to CSV to download the full report

CSV Export​

The exported CSV includes: Title, Year, Type, Library, Added Date, Last Watched Date, and Total Plays. The filename is automatically generated with the library name and timestamp.

Collection Import / Export​

Share your Plex collections with other homescreen-hero users, or back them up for safekeeping. Export collections as a JSON file or a compact share code, then import them on any other instance.

Exporting​

  1. Open the tool and select a library
  2. Choose which collections to include (or select all)
  3. Optionally enable Include Metadata to export item details (titles, years, IDs)
  4. Choose your export format:
    • Download JSON - Saves a file you can share or store
    • Generate Share Code - Creates a compact, copyable string you can paste in Discord, forums, etc.

Importing​

You can import from either a JSON file or a share code:

  1. Select the target library where collections will be created
  2. Upload a JSON file or paste a share code
  3. Click Preview to see what will be imported:
    • Which collections will be created
    • How many items matched your library
    • How many items are missing (not in your Plex library)
  4. Review the preview, then click Apply to create the collections

During import, homescreen-hero matches items to your Plex library using TMDb and IMDb IDs. Items that don't exist in your library are tracked as missing.

tip

If you have Seerr configured, missing items from an import can be automatically requested after the import completes.

Missing Items​

After an import, you can view and manage items that weren't found in your Plex library. This list persists until you clear it or the items are added to your library and matched on a subsequent import.

Copy Watch History​

Sync watched/unwatched status between Plex Home users. If you've got a shared server with family members or alternate profiles, this tool lets you copy one user's watch history to another so you don't have to manually re-watch or re-mark hundreds of items.

Common use cases:

  • Merging watch history after creating a new Plex Home user
  • Keeping profiles in sync (e.g. a shared "family" profile)
  • Migrating from one user account to another
note

This tool requires at least 2 Plex Home users. It only works with home users on your Plex server, not friends or shared users.

How to Use​

The tool walks you through a 4-step wizard:

1. Configure

  1. Select a source user (copy from)
  2. Select a target user (copy to)
  3. Choose a conflict resolution strategy:
    • Add Only - Only marks items as watched. Never removes existing watch history from the target. This is the safe, conservative option.
    • Mirror - Makes the target's history identical to the source. Items the source hasn't watched will be marked unwatched on the target.

2. Preview

Click Preview Changes to see exactly what will be updated before anything is applied. The preview shows counts for movies and episodes to be marked watched (and unwatched, if using Mirror mode).

3. Apply

Click Confirm & Apply to start the sync. A real-time progress bar shows which library is being processed and how many items have been updated.

4. Complete

A summary shows the total movies and episodes updated, along with any errors that occurred.

caution

Watch history changes cannot be easily undone. The preview step exists for a reason- review it carefully before applying!

Clear User Targeting Labels​

Remove all Hsh-hide-* labels from collections and clean user sharing filter settings. This is the reset button for per-user targeting.

Use this when:

  • You want to disable per-user targeting entirely and start fresh
  • Targeting labels got out of sync and you want a clean slate
  • You're troubleshooting visibility issues with collections

How to Use​

  1. Open the tool
  2. Click Clear All (requires confirmation)
  3. The tool removes all Hsh-hide-* labels from every collection and cleans all users' sharing filter settings

The results show how many labels were removed, collections cleaned, and filters reset.