Identify the library and source before cleanup
Record Kodi version, whether the task concerns the video or music library, and which source path is involved. The current settings page describes different cleanup behaviour in those two library sections. Do not transfer a music-library removable-drive prompt into a universal video-library instruction.
For a missing video, first check whether its storage is actually connected and accessible. A library entry can describe an item whose drive is temporarily absent. That observation is different from deciding the title should no longer appear in the catalogue.
Use current video-clean semantics
The current Video Library settings describe Clean Library at Advanced level as cleaning orphaned database entries, with not all tables covered. They explicitly state that disconnected storage contents are not removed, protecting the library when removable media is unplugged.
Kodi’s removal guide also warns that deleting video files and then running Clean Library is not the documented method for removing library items. Avoid an older recipe that assumes one cleanup action always rebuilds the entire catalogue from whatever storage happens to be visible today.
Choose a deliberate removal operation when that is intended
For one title, Kodi documents its context menu, Manage, Remove from library and a confirmation. Removing a file from the hard drive is separately controlled by file-renaming/deletion settings. Do not enable physical deletion merely to tidy a database entry.
For an entire source, the source-removal workflow asks whether its items should leave the library; declining can remove the source from File View while keeping its Library View titles. The documented final cleanup also presents an unavailable-source Keep or Remove decision. Read that question according to the intentional retirement task, not a temporary unplugged drive.
Verify the catalogue without assuming media deletion
After an authorised removal, check the intended title or source in Library View and separately confirm the preserved media remains where expected. Keep an export or appropriate backup before a broad library-maintenance operation.
No database was cleaned for this article. Its distinctions follow the current official wiki rather than a tested promise for every old Kodi release. A support note should preserve version and exact prompt wording, especially when an older installation behaves differently from the current documentation.
Sources and scope
Scope notes distinguish published documentation, supplied information and editorial methods. They do not report a hands-on service test.
- Kodi: current video versus music cleanup — Primary current wiki body: Advanced video cleanup, disconnected-source protection; music behaviour explicitly separate.
- Kodi: intentional video removal — Primary current body: individual/source removal, file deletion separation, Keep/Remove prompts and warning against delete-then-clean recipe.
