Plex Web (Browser) Settings

This is a one-time change. Once you set it, Plex will remember it for every video you watch in the browser.

How to set it up

  1. Open Plex Web in your browser and sign in.

  2. Click the wrench/settings icon () in the top-right corner of the player bar.

    Plex Web settings icon

  3. In the left sidebar under Plex Web, click Quality.

    Plex Web quality sidebar

  4. Uncheck Automatically adjust quality (Beta).
  5. Under Internet Streaming, set Video quality to Maximum.
  6. Under Home Streaming, set Video quality to Maximum.
  7. Check Play smaller videos at original quality.

  8. Click Save Changes.

    Plex Web quality settings

  9. In the left sidebar under Plex Web, click Debug.

    Plex Web debug sidebar

  10. Make sure Direct Play is enabled.
  11. Make sure Direct Stream is enabled.
  12. Click Save Changes.

Plex Web debug settings

Why does this help?

By default, Plex sometimes re-encodes video before sending it to your browser, which can lower the quality and cause buffering. Setting quality to Maximum or Original tells Plex to send the file as-is, which means better picture and smoother playback when your browser supports the format.

Still not working?

Browsers have varying codec support. If a file still won't direct play, try a different browser (Chrome and Edge tend to support the most formats). If the issue persists, let your Plex admin know.