Openai/692c47be-1664-8012-80b8-2182a08b689e

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gpt-5-1

Assistant: It looks like you're asking why Sonarr on Windows Server 2019 suddenly stopped seeing mapped drives, based on the Reddi…

It looks like you're asking why Sonarr on Windows Server 2019 suddenly stopped seeing mapped drives, based on the Reddit post screenshot. This is a VERY common Sonarr/Radarr issue on Windows, and the cause is almost always the same:

✅ Why Sonarr cannot see mapped drives

Mapped drives do NOT exist for Windows services — only for the interactive user session. If Sonarr is running as a service, it will only see the real drives (C:, D:, etc.) and never the mapped ones (like X:, Y:).

That’s why it only sees C:.

Even if you change the service account, mapped drives won't appear because Windows does NOT mount them for services.

✅ How to fix it (3 reliable options)

Fix 1 — Use UNC Paths instead of mapped letters

Instead of:

X:\Media\TV

Use:

\\SERVER\Media\TV

Sonarr fully supports UNC paths and this works even when running as a service.

👉 This is the BEST fix.

Fix 2 — Re-run Sonarr not as a service

If you run Sonarr as a normal app (tray mode), mapped drives WILL appear.

But:

• It won’t auto-start after reboot unless you add it to Startup
• It's not recommended for servers

Fix 3 — Create mapped drives for the service account (hacky)

You can manually map drives for the user that the service runs under by running:

net use X: \\SERVER\Media /persistent:yes

But this only works if:

• The service is set to “Automatic (Delayed Start)”
• The network is ready before Sonarr starts

This method often breaks again later — so UNC paths are still better.

⭐ Recommended: Use UNC paths and you're done

If the Reddit poster replaces their root folder paths inside Sonarr with UNC paths, everything will work instantly.

If you'd like, I can write a step-by-step fix for your exact setup.