Is it possible to shuffle a whole home video library with folders?

[baronvonj]

I have a library set to type Home Videos, with animated shorts in it. Browsing the library there's no option to shuffle

   

until I navigate into a folder

   

Is there any way to shuffle the whole library?

[TheDreadPirate]

I can't say whether this is a deliberate choice or not. But I'd assume that shuffling whole libraries was purposefully left out due to issues with potentially huge libraries and the resulting queue.

[baronvonj]

How would the queue size be any different if I had all the files in one flat folder? Is there a limit on how many files in one folder will be displayed in the library?

[TheDreadPirate]

Flat folder structures wouldn't change how Jellyfin shuffles since it uses item IDs, and not paths, for the queued items.

In the web UI the default is 100 items per page. You CAN set the number higher. Or you can set it to zero and it will load everything (not recommended). Still doesn't change the shuffle behavior.

Shuffling is mostly handled by the client, btw. And different clients will handle shuffling differently and have different maximum queue sizes. But I'm not aware of any clients that will shuffle entire video libraries. Some don't even have a shuffle option (Findroid).

[baronvonj]

So you're saying the shuffle button will only shuffle the items displayed on the current page? I was only speaking about the web client when posting this thread.

[Efficient_Good_5784]

There is a sort by random option in libraries now after v10.9.

You can technically enable that and have things be shuffled and reshuffled as you click the page arrows.

[GorillaBasho]

There is a sort by random option in libraries now after v10.9.

You can technically enable that and have things be shuffled and reshuffled as you click the page arrows.

The current version of 'shuffle' needs a 'do not repeat' setting if possible as sometimes the next page can be up to 50% of the previous page(s.) A little too shuffley.

[Efficient_Good_5784]

The current version of 'shuffle' needs a 'do not repeat' setting if possible as sometimes the next page can be up to 50% of the previous page(s.) A little too shuffley.

That's why it's called random and not shuffle. Even if the next page has repeats from the previous page, it's still random.

There's usually a limit to how many objects that can be shuffled and sorted without repeats. It's a resource intensive task once the list amount gets large enough. The computer would need to keep track of objects already in the queue, or things not yet in the queue, to make sure there are no repeats. Imagine doing that same checking for repeats task for each item added to the shuffle queue.

[baronvonj]

There is a sort by random option in libraries now after v10.9.

You can technically enable that and have things be shuffled and reshuffled as you click the page arrows.

I have 10.9.8 server. Where do I enable that?

Flat folder structures wouldn't change how Jellyfin shuffles since it uses item IDs, and not paths, for the queued items.

It looks like if there are any directories in the library at the level I am viewing, then shuffle is disabled for that page even if there are files found at that level (so if I have both files and directories in the root of the library, I can't shuffle the files which are at the root). I observed this on web, windows desktop, and android clients.

[Efficient_Good_5784]

There is a sort by random option in libraries now after v10.9.

You can technically enable that and have things be shuffled and reshuffled as you click the page arrows.

I have 10.9.8 server. Where do I enable that?

In any show or movie library Web UI view, there should be an icon that has an "AZ" image.

Click on that and choose "random".