Get started to Stream Video from PC to Roku using Plex Media Server

You can play videos from Youtube or ANY website on your TV through your Roku. However, Roku can’t stream video from PC without other third-party software. But don’t worry! Here I’ll show you how to stream video from PC to Roku via Plex.

Everybody loves how simple it is to combine all their favorite media streams through their Roku player, and Plex, enhances that functionality by turning your Roku player into a window for all your personal media. With Plex on Roku, you have the ability to better organize your videos, photos, music and movies and stream them to your big screen. Let’s see how to get started:  (Besides that, here are streaming methods for Xbox One, PS3 and VLC)

Step 1 is to download the Plex Media Server software

There are options for Windows, Apple OS X, a wide variety of Network Attached Storage, and more. We’ll be using the Windows version in this tutorial.

Step 2 is to install the media server software

During installation, Plex will ask you to name your server. Because mine runs on a computer in my spare bedroom, I’ll call it “Bedroom Plex.” When the Installation is complete, Plex Media Server will now run in the background, even if you restart your computer, unless you tell it not to. Plex will ask you to create a login ID. This allows you to view your content and make system changes from any internet connected browser.

When you want to make changes to the server settings, simply login at plex.tv, or right click on the taskbar icon, and select “Media Manager.” All the configuration is done through a simple web interface.

Step 3 is to add your content to libraries

Libraries are how you add and organize your content in Plex. You simply select what type of library you want (i.e. Movies, TV Shows, Music, Photos, or Home Videos), and then tell Plex which folders it should pull that content from.

Step 4 is to create libraries to add and organize content

To add a library at anytime, login to Plex and click the “plus symbol” next to your server name. Movies and TV libraries will match show descriptions based on the file name, Music will use metadata tags, and Photos and Home Movies will simply display the name of the file itself.

A single library can point to multiple folders, so if you have one folder for lossy mp3s, and one for lossless audio, you can select both folders for “Music”. For more advanced users, you can create multiple libraries. For instance, you can create a library called “Kids TV” and only allow your children access to that library through their devices. You can save your “Grownup TV” library for your Game of Thrones episodes.

That’s it, your content is now being served up. Let’s move onto Part 2, setting up a client.

Step 5 is to add Plex channel

Then add the Plex channel to your Roku and choose this channel on your TV screen. You should see the selected media files, which you can now browse and view as you like.

While, before you can stream video, music to Roku from PC via Plex, first of all, you’d make sure that these videos/movies are in the compatible format for Plex/Roku. If you have other videos like MOV, MKV, TiVo, WMV, AVI, FLV, VOB, MTS, M2TS, etc and wanna stream to Roku using Plex Media Server, you need to convert these video files to Roku/Plex video format H.264 mkv/mp4 in advance. In this case, Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate is the key which is especially designed for to reach the roku video conversion quickly and easily.

Or get this money-saving bundle to convert common videos like YouTube video as well as DRM iTunes video to Roku for playback.