How to Disable Web Shows in Plex

As part of its continuing efforts to introduce additional content options, Plex recently unveiled support for Web Shows. Currently in beta, Plex Web Shows are curated online video sources such as video podcasts and YouTube channels that can be viewed directly within Plex right alongside your local Plex media.
Intended both as a partial replacement for and improvement upon the deprecated video plugin infrastructure, Plex Web Shows offer a more accessible and cleaner interface for accessing online content without needing to have an established local media library. And although the feature is in beta and its current selection of shows is small, it works well in our testing, with online videos starting quickly and being delivered in high quality.

But many longtime Plex users prefer to maintain a completely local media library and don’t want these new online media sources such as Web Shows, Podcasts, and News to clutter up the Plex client interface for them and their users. Thankfully, just like those previously introduced Podcast and News features, Plex Web Shows can be disabled if desired. Here’s how to do it on your own Plex server.

Disable Web Shows in Plex

1. Turning off Web Shows requires access to Plex Web, so launch a supported browser on your computer, navigate to the Plex Web Interface, log in if necessary, and then click the Settings icon.
2. In the sidebar on the left side of the window, select Online Media Sources.
3. Find the entry for Web Shows on the right side of the window and click Edit.



4. Click the drop-down menu to change your Web Shows preference. Disabled turns off Web Shows for your account and any shared users connected to your server, while Disabled for Managed Users turns off Web Shows for every shared user but leaves it enabled for your own account.
5. Make your desired selection and then click Save to complete the process.

After saving your change, Web Shows will disappear from the Plex interface on both the web and in any Plex client that supports Web Shows. If you ever want to give Plex Web Shows another shot, simply repeat the steps above to re-enable the feature, either for all of your users or just for your own personal account.