Import Library Issue

[garberfc]

Version
4.0.16.2946

.NET
Yes (6.0.13)

Windows 11

Database
Sqlite 3.36.0

Database Migration
217

AppData Directory
C:\ProgramData\Sonarr

Startup Directory
C:\ProgramData\Sonarr\bin

Mode
Service
Debug logs:
2026-01-04 13:14:23.0|Error|DownloadedEpisodesImportService|Import failed, path does not exist or is not accessible by Sonarr: F:\N\SAB\Complete\The.Copenhagen.Test.S01E05.1080p.WEB.h264-ETHEL. Ensure the path exists and the user running Sonarr has the correct permissions to access this file/folder
2026-01-04 13:14:23.0|Error|DownloadedEpisodesImportService|Import failed, path does not exist or is not accessible by Sonarr: F:\N\SAB\Complete\Down.Cemetery.Road.S01E03.2025.1080p.ATVP.WEB-DL.H.264.DDP.5.1.Atmos-FROGWeb. Ensure the path exists and the user running Sonarr has the correct permissions to access this file/folder
2026-01-04 13:14:23.0|Error|DownloadedEpisodesImportService|Import failed, path does not exist or is not accessible by Sonarr: F:\N\SAB\Complete\The.Copenhagen.Test.S01E02.1080p.AV1.10bit-MeGusta. Ensure the path exists and the user running Sonarr has the correct permissions to access this file/folder
202

Description of issue:
After performing a “Library Import”, I see Sonarr attempting to import files from the download client directory. The files shown in the log above are already within the Sonarr directory structure. Why is it doing this? Later in the day, Sonarr inexplicably deletes all the files that were added via “Library Import”.

[markus101]

What path did you use as the Root Folder in Sonarr that you did the Library Import from?

@garberfc

I see Sonarr attempting to import files from the download client directory. The files shown in the log above are already within the Sonarr directory structure. Why is it doing this?

If Sonarr sees completed downloads that it hasn’t imported from your client before then it will import them. Using a different category for files downloaded before Sonarr is the best way to avoid this if you don’t want it to import files.

@garberfc

Later in the day, Sonarr inexplicably deletes all the files that were added via “Library Import”.

Sonarr will delete existing files before importing new ones, the logs only show failed attempts to import that wouldn’t have lead to files being deleted, but if your Root Folder and completed downloads are pointed at the same folder you’re likely to have issues.

[MyUserNameIsUserName]

One of many reasons not to fully automate the use of Sonarr or Radarr.

[garberfc]

I first copied the episodes of interest into the folder structure shown below, then clicked on the link itself to start the import process.

Most, if not all of the files that were imported were previously imported by Sonarr / SABnzb.

Sonarr didn’t need to delete existing files, there was NO files in the directories prior to me placing them there and importing them.

Is there a chance that the Sonarr DB is corrupted? Is there a way to reset it other then doing a reinstall?

From the Activity Queue:

This morning when I checked what was present in Sonarr all of my files were gone, and replaced by about 7 series I had never heard of before. Most of them were X rated.

Is there a chance Sonarr has been hacked on my computer? I do expose it to the internet (with a password of course).

[markus101]

@garberfc

Most, if not all of the files that were imported were previously imported by Sonarr / SABnzb.

Sonarr didn’t need to delete existing files, there was NO files in the directories prior to me placing them there and importing them.

Were they imported then deleted? Since you were importing them again, it sounds like the series were removed from Sonarr so it would have no record of importing them previously.

@garberfc

Is there a chance that the Sonarr DB is corrupted? Is there a way to reset it other then doing a reinstall?

A corrupt DB wouldn’t really manifest in this way, but you could delete sonarr.db from the App Data Folder (Shown in System: About).

@garberfc

This morning when I checked what was present in Sonarr all of my files were gone, and replaced by about 7 series I had never heard of before. Most of them were X rated.

As in the files are there, but named wrong for the series?

@garberfc

Is there a chance Sonarr has been hacked on my computer? I do expose it to the internet (with a password of course).

It’s possible, but spam/garbage uploads under the wrong name seems plausible as well.

@garberfc

From the Activity Queue:

To Sonarr those downloads have not been imported and it’s trying to do that. Your best solution to clean those up is to remove them from SAB or use a different category.

It sounds like there are two different issues here, one is old downloads that need to get cleaned up, the other I’m not sure, it doesn’t make a lot of sense from what was explained so far (files were deleted, but there weren’t files to begin with and now there are garbage files there), without debug (preferably trace logs) it’s all pretty much guess work what’s going on.