How to build a home theatre with Plex, Jellyfin or Kodi

By the end of this guide, one PC in your home will hold your films, series and music, with posters and episode lists, and every TV, phone and browser in the house will play from it. You need a Windows PC that can stay switched on and your own media files. Setting up takes about 45 minutes, plus however long renaming your files takes. Watching at home costs nothing.

How it fits together

A media server runs on one always-on PC. It reads your folders, fetches artwork and descriptions, and streams to players: apps on smart TVs, streaming sticks, consoles, phones and browsers. You choose one server, Plex or Jellyfin, and install its app on each screen. Kodi is different: it is the player itself, running on a PC or box plugged into the TV.

You need:

• A Windows 10 or 11 PC that stays on. A laptop works if it stays plugged in. Plex doesn't support Windows PCs with Arm processors.
• Storage: an internal drive, or a USB drive that stays connected.
• A wired connection if you can: an Ethernet cable from the PC to your router. Wi-Fi works, but it is a common cause of buffering, especially with 4K.

Name your files first

Servers recognise films and episodes from folder and file names. Name them well and almost everything matches by itself. Keep films and series in separate folders, and never point a library at a whole drive such as D:\.

D:\Media
├── Movies
│   └── Night of the Living Dead (1968)
│       ├── Night of the Living Dead (1968).mkv
│       └── Night of the Living Dead (1968).en.srt
├── TV Shows
│   └── Fawlty Towers (1975)
│       └── Season 01
│           ├── Fawlty Towers (1975) - s01e01 - A Touch of Class.mkv
│           └── Fawlty Towers (1975) - s01e02 - The Builders.mkv
└── Music
    └── Artist Name
        └── Album Name
            └── 01 - Track Name.flac

• Films: one folder per film, named Title (Year), with the file named the same. The year tells remakes apart.
• Series: a Show (Year) folder, then Season 01, Season 02 and so on, with s01e01 in each file name. Write "Season" in full. Specials go in Season 00.
• Music: Artist\Album\01 - Track. The tags inside the files matter more than the names.
• Subtitles: the video's name plus a language code, as above. Add .forced for subtitles that only translate foreign dialogue (Title (Year).en.forced.srt) or .sdh for the hearing-impaired version. Save .srt files as UTF-8 so accents display properly.

These names follow Plex's official naming guide and suit Jellyfin and Kodi too.

Set up Plex Media Server

Install and add libraries

1. Install Plex Media Server from its page here (the server, not the separate player app).
2. On the installer's last screen, click Launch. An icon appears in the system tray and your browser opens the web app. If it doesn't, right-click the tray icon and choose Open Plex….
3. Sign in, or create the free account the server needs.
4. Give the server a name you will recognise, such as Living Room PC.
5. If you will only watch at home, untick Allow me to access my media outside my home. You can change this later under Settings → Remote Access.
6. Click Add Library, choose Movies, then click Next.
7. Click Browse for Media Folder, select D:\Media\Movies and click Add.
8. Click Add Library. The library appears in the wizard's list.
9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 for TV Shows and Music, then click through to the end of the wizard.

Posters appear over the next few minutes as the server scans. If a title is missing, check its name, then open the library's … menu in the sidebar and choose Scan Library Files.

Fix a wrong match

1. Open the film's page (for a series, the show's page, not an episode's).
2. Click … in the row of buttons and choose Fix Match….
3. Pick the correct title from the list. If it isn't there, open Search Options, correct the title or year, and search again.

The poster and details change within seconds. If the wrong match keeps coming back, fix the file name and scan again.

Hide the built-in ad-supported channels

Plex's apps mix its own free, ad-supported films and live channels in with your library. To switch them off:

1. In the web app, open the user menu at the top right and choose Account.
2. Select Online Media Sources.
3. Set Movies & Shows to Disabled.
4. Set Live TV to Disabled.
5. In the Discover section, set Discover Source to Disabled.

Restart the app on your TV or phone; the tabs should be gone, though a few newer apps still show some. Anyone you share with must change their own setting.

Watch on the TV

There are free apps for Samsung (2016 onwards), LG (webOS 3.0 or newer), Vizio and Hisense TVs, Android TV and Google TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox, Android, iPhone and iPad. Any browser works too, at app.plex.tv. To sign in on a TV:

1. Open the app and choose Sign In. A four-character code appears.
2. On your phone or computer, go to plex.tv/link and enter the code.

Your libraries appear within seconds. If not, check the server PC is awake and on the same network, then make its network private: in Settings → Network & internet, open your connection's properties and, under Network profile type, choose Private.

Watching away from home

At home, on the same network as the server, playback is free. Away from home, Plex charges for video:

• Streaming your films and series remotely needs either a Plex Pass on the server owner's account, which covers everyone who watches from that server, or a Remote Watch Pass on the viewer's own account, which covers only them.
• Since 29 April 2025 this has spread to the apps for phones, smart TVs, consoles, Roku, browsers and computers, and since late September 2026 to third-party players.
• Music and photos still stream remotely for free.
• The server also needs Remote Access switched on, under Settings → Remote Access.
• If a device at home is asked to pay, check it isn't on guest Wi-Fi or a VPN: the server must see it on the same local network.

Details: remote playback requirements.

Transcoding, briefly

When a player can handle a file, the server sends it untouched (Direct Play) or repackages it (Direct Stream), which costs almost nothing. Otherwise, for example with DTS audio, picture-based subtitles that must be burned in, or a quality setting below the file's, it transcodes: it re-encodes the video live, which is hard work for the processor. Doing this on the graphics chip (hardware transcoding) needs a Plex Pass. To check, open Settings → Status → Dashboard while something plays. Files with H.264 video, AAC audio and .srt subtitles play directly almost everywhere.

Keep the server awake

A sleeping PC can't stream. Plex starts when the Windows account that installed it signs in, so after a restart, sign in again and check the server's tray icon is back.

1. Open Settings → System → Power (on a laptop, Power & battery).
2. Open Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts (Screen and sleep on older versions).
3. Set Make my device sleep after to Never for when the PC is plugged in. Letting the screen switch off is fine.

It applies at once. Or run these two lines in Terminal:

powercfg /change standby-timeout-ac 0
powercfg /change hibernate-timeout-ac 0

Or use Jellyfin: free, no account

Jellyfin does the same job with no account, no subscription and no adverts, and hardware transcoding is free. Its apps are a little less polished, and access from outside your home is up to you. It can run beside Plex on the same folders.

Install and first run

1. Install Jellyfin from its page here, keeping the default install type rather than the Windows service option.
2. On the server PC, open http://localhost:8096 in your browser. You should see the setup wizard. If the page doesn't load, start Jellyfin from the Start menu and reload.
3. Pick your language and click Next.
4. Create the administrator user with a username and a strong password, then click Next.
5. On Set up your media libraries, click + (Add Media Library).
6. Set Content type to Movies and fill in Display name.
7. Click + beside the folder list, choose D:\Media\Movies, and confirm each dialog.
8. Repeat steps 5 to 7 with Shows for D:\Media\TV Shows (and Music), then click Next.
9. Choose the language and country for film details, then click Next.
10. Leave Allow remote connections to this server ticked: the safe route below may need it, and it opens nothing to the internet by itself. Leave automatic port mapping off.
11. Click Next, then Finish, and sign in.

Your libraries fill in as the scan runs. If a title matches wrongly, open it and choose Identify from its menu.

Apps

Official apps cover Android, iPhone and iPad, Android TV and Fire TV, Roku, LG and Samsung TVs, and Xbox; see the full list. Most find the server by themselves. If one doesn't, enter the PC's address plus :8096, such as http://192.168.1.20:8096 (run ipconfig on the PC and look for IPv4 Address).

Watching away from home, safely

Don't forward a port on your router; Jellyfin's documentation calls opening the server directly to the internet insecure. The safe, simple route is a private network between your own devices, such as Tailscale, which the documentation covers and whose Personal plan is free.

1. Install Tailscale on the server PC and sign in. Its icon appears in the system tray.
2. Install Tailscale on your phone or laptop and sign in to the same account.
3. In the app's list of devices, note the server's address. It starts with 100..
4. In the Jellyfin app, add the server as http:// plus that address plus :8096.

Your library now plays wherever you have internet; if it doesn't, check Tailscale shows as connected on both devices. Every viewing device needs Tailscale, so most smart TVs can't use this route; phones, laptops and some TV boxes can.

Kodi: the player on the TV

Kodi is not a server but a full-screen player, built for a remote control, for a PC or Android TV box connected to the TV. Use it when that PC holds the files itself, or as a front end for your Jellyfin server. Install the stable release, version 21 "Omega" (22 is still in testing), on Windows, or from Google Play on an Android TV box.

To add a folder on the same machine:

1. Open Videos → Files → Add videos… and choose Browse.
2. Select your Movies folder and choose OK, then OK again to keep the name.
3. In Set content, set This directory contains to Movies.
4. Tick Movies are in separate folders that match the movie title and choose OK.
5. Choose Yes to scan.

Your films appear under Movies on the home screen. If they don't, check the folder names. Repeat for TV Shows, choosing TV shows.

Add-ons: install them only from the official repository. Open Add-ons, enter the add-on browser (the box icon at the top left) and choose Install from repository. For Jellyfin, the JellyCon add-on comes from the project's own repository: follow its setup steps, which have you turn on Unknown sources (Settings → System → Add-ons). Never turn it on for anything else. A community add-on for Plex exists in the official repository too, but the official TV app is the better choice.

Helpers

Convert a video with HandBrake

HandBrake re-encodes your own unprotected videos, such as phone clips, camcorder files or DRM-free downloads, into a format that plays directly almost everywhere.

1. Open HandBrake, click Open Source and choose the file.
2. Under Presets, choose Fast 1080p30 (MP4 with H.264 video and stereo sound). For surround sound, choose HQ 1080p30 Surround.
3. Beside Save As, name the file Title (Year).mp4.
4. Click Browse and choose the film's folder.
5. Click Start Encode.

Progress shows at the bottom of the window; a film can take a while. Check the new file in VLC before you delete the original. HandBrake cannot open copy-protected discs or files.

Fix tracks and subtitles with MKVToolNix

MKVToolNix changes MKV files without re-encoding, so it is quick and lossless. Use it to drop a commentary track, set the right audio as the default, or put an .srt inside the file.

1. Open MKVToolNix GUI; it starts in the Multiplexer.
2. Drag the .mkv, plus any .srt, into the window.
3. In the track list, untick any tracks you don't want.
4. Select a track and change its Language or "Default track" flag on the right.
5. Check the destination file name at the bottom, then click Start multiplexing.

You get a new file; the original is untouched. Once the new one plays properly, delete the old one.

Test a file with VLC media player

If a file won't play through the server, open it in VLC on the server PC with Media → Open File…. If VLC can't play it either, the file is damaged. If it plays, Tools → Codec Information shows its formats: HEVC video or DTS audio often explains why a TV needs transcoding.

Plex Media Server, Jellyfin or Kodi?

Your files stay ordinary files in ordinary folders, so you can switch at any time. Uninstalling a server from Settings → Apps → Installed apps leaves your media where it is.