Troubleshooting and FAQ

❓ Troubleshooting & FAQ

Common questions, media server tips, and solutions when working with .nfo files and Metadata Editor.

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1. My Movie Folder Has Both movie.nfo and <MovieFileName>.nfo — Which One Should I Edit?

Many media folders end up with two .nfo files if multiple tools (like Radarr, TinyMediaManager, Emby, or Kodi) have scraped the same folder:

• movie.nfo
• <MovieFileName>.nfo (e.g., A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 - The Dream Child (1989).nfo)

How Media Servers Prioritize Them:

• Kodi, Emby, and Jellyfin prioritize <MovieFileName>.nfo over movie.nfo when both exist in the same folder.
• Best Practice: Edit <MovieFileName>.nfo (or delete the duplicate movie.nfo if your media server writes <MovieFileName>.nfo) so your media server immediately picks up your changes on its next metadata refresh.

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2. Why Didn't My Media Server (Emby / Jellyfin / Kodi / Plex) Show My NFO Edits Yet?

After saving changes to an .nfo file on disk (Ctrl + S):

• Jellyfin / Emby: Open the item in your Jellyfin/Emby web interface → click the ... (More) menu → click Refresh Metadata → select Scan for new and updated files (do not select "Replace all metadata" from online providers if you want to keep your local NFO edits).
• Kodi: Open the Movie/TV Show Information screen (I key) → select Refresh → when asked "Locally stored information found. Ignore and refresh from Internet?", select No so Kodi reloads your local .nfo file.
• Tip — Lock Metadata (<lockdata>): In Emby and Jellyfin, setting <lockdata>true</lockdata> (in the Custom & Extra XML Tags section or Raw XML Editor) prevents scheduled library scans from overwriting your custom edits.

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3. How Do I Link All Folder Images (poster.jpg, fanart.jpg, clearlogo.png, landscape.jpg) into the NFO XML?

1. Open your .nfo file in Metadata Editor.
2. Click the 🖼️ Artwork & Details tab.
3. All images in the directory are automatically listed in the Detected Folder Artwork gallery with their resolution, file size, and type (Poster, Fanart / Backdrop, ClearLogo, Landscape / Thumb, etc.).
4. Click the 🔗 Link All Artwork in NFO XML button (or choose Import → 🔗 Link Local Artwork into NFO XML).
5. Press Ctrl + S to save the updated NFO file.

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4. A Scene .nfo File Shows Weird Characters in Notepad, Ready to Fix in Metadata Editor?

Windows Notepad defaults to UTF-8, which mangles classic MS-DOS CP437 box-drawing characters (╔═╗, █▓▒░) into ??? or accented letters.

• Simply open the .nfo file in Metadata Editor — it automatically detects CP437 (DOS / Scene ASCII) and renders the ASCII art properly in the 📝 Raw Text / XML Editor tab.
• If a file was misidentified, select CP437 (DOS / Scene ASCII) from the Encoding dropdown in the top toolbar.

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5. How Do I Convert a Plain Text Scene NFO into a Kodi / Jellyfin Movie XML NFO?

1. Open the plain-text .nfo file in Metadata Editor.
2. In the top toolbar, change the Format: dropdown from PlainText to Movie (or go to Import → Convert Active Format To → 🎬 Movie).
3. Switch to the 📋 Metadata Form tab, fill in your movie details, link your folder artwork, and press Ctrl + S.

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6. How Do I Reset My Settings to Default?

Close Metadata Editor and delete the configuration file at:

%AppData%\MetadataEditor\settings.json

The next time you launch the application, a fresh default settings.json will be generated automatically.