PlexDeck

An unofficial Windows app for Plex, built for the desk and the couch: everything the Plex web app can do, plus a controller-first TV mode modelled on Plex's TV apps, a native mpv player that plays your files as they are, themes and a stack of small extras.

PlexDeck is a community project. It is not made by, endorsed by or affiliated with Plex, Inc. "Plex" is a trademark of Plex, Inc. You need your own Plex account and (for your own media) a Plex Media Server.

Screenshots

TV mode — Live TV	TV mode — Discover
PC mode — Live TV guide	PC mode — themes (paintbrush)
TV mode in Swedish — themes	Settings in Swedish — languages

Two modes

PC mode — the official Plex web app (app.plex.tv) in a clean desktop window: your libraries, Discover, Watchlist, Live TV, settings and server management — with PlexDeck's themes and extras on top.

TV mode — PlexDeck's own interface for a controller or remote, laid out like the Plex app on a Shield / Fire TV / Google TV:

• side menu that loads libraries as you move through it, a hero that follows focus, rows that remember where you were, Back that works like the TV app
• Home (Recently Added in each of your sidebar's libraries, in its order), libraries (Recommended / Library / Collections / Categories, sort & filters), show and movie pages laid out like Plex's (poster, seasons grid, a movie's collection, related titles, More with an actor), season pages with their episodes, cast & crew (an actor's page: photo, biography and everything they're in on your server), extras & trailers
• Search (your own media only), Watchlist (what's on your server), Playlists, Music with a Now Playing screen, Photos with a slideshow
• Live TV (Plex's free channels) and Discover: a title's own page with Watch free, its trailer, your Watchlist and where to watch it
• Plex Home profiles with PIN
• theme music on show pages and an artwork screensaver (pick its libraries in Settings → Experience; until you do, it shows just the clock)

Switch with the PC | TV buttons in the title bar or F10 — or let PlexDeck switch to TV mode by itself when you pick up a controller. TV mode works with the keyboard and the mouse too: click to pick, right-click (or C) for a title's menu, Esc for the quit menu (Settings → Key Bindings lists every key, and you can change them).

Native player (mpv)

Your own videos play in mpv straight from your server — HEVC, 10-bit, DTS / TrueHD, styled subtitles — without the server converting anything. In both modes.

• HDR to HDR screens, surround passthrough to an AV receiver (incl. TrueHD / Atmos / DTS-HD)
• match the screen's refresh rate to the video
• Skip Intro / Credits (optionally automatic after a delay you choose), Up Next (with specials where they aired, like Plex), chapters, audio & subtitle tracks, playback speed, audio / subtitle sync
• subtitle size, colour, position and background; preferred audio & subtitle languages
• mini player (PC mode): keep watching in a corner of the window while you browse — drag it to another corner, three sizes, double-click for full size
• shows up in Windows' media overlay; the keyboard's media keys (play/pause, next, previous episode) work even when PlexDeck isn't in front

A built-in player (your server converts the video) is there as a fallback.

Extras

• Themes — Plex, Midnight, OLED black, Forest, Mocha, Amethyst, Crimson, High contrast — applied everywhere, including Plex's older dialogs; quick switch with the paintbrush in the top bar. Text size and font.
• Audio & subtitle tool — set the exact audio / subtitle track for a whole show, season or movie at once (like PASTA).
• Controller support (PS4 / PS5 / Xbox), arrow-key navigation, mouse back/forward buttons
• Tray with play/pause controls (music and video): minimise sends PlexDeck there (✕ quits), start with Windows, custom title bar, remembered window
• Updates — one click: PlexDeck downloads the new version, checks it, and installs it when you restart (installed and portable alike; it asks first). In TV mode the update is in the sidebar, and you answer with the controller
• Languages — PlexDeck's own menus in English, Svenska, Deutsch, Español and Français (follows Windows, or pick one in Settings → Appearance); Plex's pages follow your Plex language
• Settings backup — export / import your PlexDeck settings (Settings → About); your sign-in and server address are never in the file
• Works fine with a Windows contrast theme on

Download

Grab the latest from Releases:

• PlexDeck-Setup-<version>.exe — installer (Start Menu & desktop shortcuts, uninstaller)
• PlexDeck-Portable-<version>.zip — no install: unzip it to a folder of its own and run PlexDeck.exe. Everything stays in that folder (settings in plexdeck-data next to it), nothing goes to Temp or AppData — you can carry it on a USB stick

Sign in to Plex on first start: in TV mode with a code at plex.tv/link (no mouse needed), or in PC mode. PlexDeck checks GitHub for new versions and shows an Update button in the title bar when one is out (Help → Check for updates… checks now). Both versions update themselves with one click (from 5.3.4 on; they ask first). The portable one downloads the new zip, checks it against the SHA-256 on the release, and puts it over its folder when you restart — plexdeck-data stays as it is. You can also unzip a new version over the folder yourself.

Coming from the older single-file PlexDeck-Portable-x.exe? Unzip the new version into its folder and move your plexdeck-data folder in next to PlexDeck.exe.

"Windows protected your PC"?

PlexDeck isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen shows a warning for new downloads. Click More info → Run anyway. To check that your download is the real one, compare its SHA-256 with SHA256SUMS.txt on the release page:

Get-FileHash .\PlexDeck-Setup-<version>.exe -Algorithm SHA256

Every release is built from this repository; you can also build it yourself.

Building

Windows, Node.js 20+.

npm install
winget install --id shinchiro.mpv -e
npm run vendor-mpv
npm start

npm run dist builds the installer and the portable exe into dist/.

Translating

PlexDeck's texts live in locales/<language>.json, keyed by the English text ("Settings": "Inställningar"). Anything a file doesn't have stays English.

1. Run node scripts/i18n-extract.js — it writes locales/template.json with every text and shows how complete each language is (--verbose lists what's missing).
2. Copy template.json to e.g. locales/it.json, set "_name": "Italiano" and fill in the values. Keep {placeholders} and <b>tags</b> as they are.
3. Pick the language in Settings → Appearance (or let it follow Windows) and open a pull request.

Credits

• mpv (GPL-2.0-or-later), Windows build by shinchiro
• hls.js (Apache-2.0)
• Electron (MIT)

License

PlexDeck is free software: GNU General Public License v3.0 or later — see LICENSE.