If you want your Plex library to show the posters and artwork you choose, rather than whatever the online guide pulls in automatically, you need to turn off (or partially override) Plex’s automatic metadata matching. This guide walks you through disabling guide metadata matching, locking specific fields like posters and background art, and uploading your own custom images so they stick around after every library scan.

What you’ll need

  • A working Plex Media Server with at least one library already set up
  • Admin access to that server (either locally or through your Plex account)
  • The custom poster or artwork files you want to use, saved somewhere accessible to your computer
  • A stable place to store your media and artwork files, such as a NAS device or an external drive like a portable SSD

Before changing anything at the library level, it is worth taking a moment to back up your Plex server configuration. That way, if a change to your metadata settings does not behave as expected, you can roll things back without losing your existing library organisation.

Understanding how Plex guide metadata works

Plex normally relies on metadata agents to identify your movies and TV shows, then pulls in posters, summaries, cast lists, and episode guides from online databases. This is genuinely useful for most people, but it can also overwrite custom artwork you have added, rename items in ways you did not intend, or match a file to the wrong title entirely. Getting your file and folder names right in the first place makes a big difference here, so if matches keep going wrong it is worth checking how you name your files correctly for Plex before you change any agent settings.

Disabling automatic metadata matching for a library

  1. Open Plex on your computer and go to your list of libraries.
  2. Select the library you want to change, then open its settings or edit options.
  3. Look for the advanced or agent settings section, where Plex lists the metadata agent currently assigned to that library.
  4. Switch the agent to a “Personal Media” or “Local Media Assets” style option, which tells Plex not to fetch information from an online guide and to rely on local files and folder structure instead.
  5. Save the change and allow Plex to refresh the library. Existing metadata may not disappear immediately, so you might need to manually refresh individual items afterwards.

Switching agents affects the whole library, so if you only want to stop specific movies or shows from being overwritten, locking individual fields (covered next) is usually the better approach.

Locking metadata fields so custom posters stay put

Even with an online agent still active, you can lock down particular fields on individual titles so Plex leaves them alone during future scans. This is the most reliable way to keep a custom poster without switching off matching for an entire library.

  1. Open the movie, show, or season you want to customise.
  2. Select the option to edit that item’s metadata.
  3. Find the poster or artwork thumbnail and choose the option to upload your own image from your computer.
  4. Once your image is uploaded and selected, look for a small lock icon next to that field. Click it so the field shows as locked.
  5. Repeat this for any other field you want to protect, such as the background art, summary, or title, then save your changes.

Locked fields are skipped whenever Plex performs a metadata refresh, whether that happens automatically on a schedule or manually. This means your custom poster stays exactly as you set it, even if the rest of the library keeps its online-sourced details.

Uploading and organising custom posters

  1. Prepare your poster images ahead of time, ideally in a consistent portrait orientation and reasonably high resolution so they display cleanly across devices.
  2. Store these images somewhere you can browse to easily, such as a folder on your NAS or on a portable drive.
  3. Within the item’s edit screen, choose to add a new poster and browse to your saved file rather than choosing one of the online-suggested options.
  4. Lock the poster field once it is applied, as described above, so a future refresh does not replace it.
  5. Check the item on a few different Plex clients, such as a phone, a smart TV app, or a dedicated media player, to confirm the artwork displays properly everywhere.

If you are managing a large personal media collection, having enough dependable local storage for both your files and your artwork matters. A compact drive such as the Lexar Muse portable SSD can be handy for keeping poster sets and backups close at hand, separate from your main NAS or server drive. If you also stream to a dedicated media box, a device like the Dune HD Homatics Box R 4K Plus is a common Plex client choice for people who prefer a purpose-built player over a smart TV app.

Tips and troubleshooting

  • If a custom poster keeps reverting after a refresh, double-check that the lock icon on that field is actually enabled. An unlocked field will always be overwritten if a new match is found.
  • Switching a whole library’s agent to a personal or local media setting can remove episode summaries and cast details you may still want. Consider locking individual fields instead if you only have an issue with a handful of titles.
  • Clearing a library’s existing metadata before switching agents can help avoid duplicate or mismatched entries.
  • If matching problems persist across your library rather than on single titles, it is worth reading through a dedicated guide on Plex guide not updating metadata, which covers refresh timing and agent-specific quirks in more depth.
  • Large libraries with many custom posters benefit from a consistent naming and folder system, since disorganised files make it harder to reapply artwork if you ever need to rebuild a library.

Frequently asked questions

Will disabling guide metadata remove existing posters and info?

Not immediately. Existing metadata usually stays until the library is refreshed, so back up your configuration first and check individual titles before assuming everything has updated.

Can I lock a poster without turning off the whole library’s agent?

Yes. Locking the poster field on an individual title is generally the better option, since it keeps other automatically matched details like summaries and cast information while protecting only the artwork you have chosen.

Why does my custom poster look different on some devices?

Different Plex clients can cache artwork for a period of time, so a poster that looks correct on one device may take a little longer to update on another. Restarting the app or forcing a refresh on that client usually resolves it.

Does this affect how Plex organises multiple libraries?

No, agent and lock settings are applied per library or per item, so you can freely mix approaches. If you run several separate collections, it helps to review how you manage multiple Plex libraries so each one uses the matching and artwork settings that suit its content.