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Rollback and recovery

Read this page before installation. The normal uninstall is transactional at the file-copy level, records SHA-256 hashes, and saves the current state before changing it. The manual procedure exists for cases where PowerShell or the management script is unavailable.

Fastest safe response: disable rewriting

This retains the shim but passes all arguments through unchanged for new transcodes:

.\scripts\Manage-PlexTranscoderShim.ps1 -Action Disable

Existing transcodes are not changed. To restore rewriting later:

.\scripts\Manage-PlexTranscoderShim.ps1 -Action Enable

Normal full rollback

Open PowerShell as Administrator from the repository root:

.\scripts\Manage-PlexTranscoderShim.ps1 -Action Status
.\scripts\Manage-PlexTranscoderShim.ps1 -Action Uninstall -StopPlex

The script refuses to proceed unless all of these are true:

  • The active Plex Transcoder.exe identifies as PlexTranscoderShim.
  • Plex Transcoder Real.exe exists and identifies as a native executable.
  • The preserved native executable has a valid Plex, Inc. Authenticode signature, unless -AllowUnverifiedNative was explicitly supplied.
  • Plex is stopped, or -StopPlex was explicitly supplied.

It backs up the current state, restores the preserved native executable to Plex's active path, removes the redundant preserved copy, and leaves shim.ini and shim.log for diagnosis. Start Plex Media Server afterward and test local and remote playback.

Manual emergency rollback

Use this only when the management script cannot run.

  1. Stop Plex Media Server and all Plex transcoder processes.
  2. Open the Plex installation directory, normally C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server.
  3. Confirm that Plex Transcoder Real.exe exists and is substantially larger than the small managed shim. Do not delete or replace anything until this file has been verified.
  4. Rename Plex Transcoder.exe to PlexTranscoderShim.disabled.exe.
  5. Rename Plex Transcoder Real.exe to Plex Transcoder.exe.
  6. Start Plex Media Server and test playback.

File size is only a useful emergency clue, not proof of identity. A stronger check in PowerShell is:

try {
    [Reflection.AssemblyName]::GetAssemblyName(
        'C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Transcoder Real.exe'
    ).Name
} catch {
    'native executable'
}

The preserved Plex executable should report native executable. If it reports PlexTranscoderShim, stop: the original is not in the expected location. Also verify its signer before restoring it:

Get-AuthenticodeSignature `
    'C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Transcoder Real.exe' |
    Select-Object Status,@{Name='Signer';Expression={$_.SignerCertificate.Subject}}

The expected status is Valid and the signer should identify Plex, Inc..

Restore from an automatic backup

Backups are stored by default under:

C:\ProgramData\PlexTranscoderShim\Backups\YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS-reason

Each directory contains the files that existed immediately before the change and a manifest.json with original paths, sizes, timestamps, and SHA-256 hashes.

  1. Stop Plex.

  2. Choose the newest backup from before the unwanted change.

  3. Read manifest.json; do not assume the newest folder contains a native active transcoder.

  4. Verify a restored file after copying it:

    Get-FileHash 'C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Transcoder.exe' -Algorithm SHA256

  5. Compare the result with the matching SHA256 entry in the manifest.

  6. Start Plex and test playback.

If the backup contains both a shim at the active path and a native Plex Transcoder Real.exe, use the native file for a full rollback.

After a Plex update

A Plex update can create either of these states:

Active executable Preserved executable Correct action
shim native No repair needed; run the health check.
native native Build, then run -Action Repair -StopPlex.
native missing Build, then run -Action Install -StopPlex.
shim missing or shim Do not modify files; restore a verified native file or reinstall Plex.

Repair is specifically for the second row. It backs up both versions, copies Plex's newly updated active transcoder over the stale preserved version, and then reinstalls the shim.

When no verified native transcoder can be recovered, reinstall or repair Plex Media Server using Plex's installer before considering another shim install.