Audiobookshelf uses filesystem inodes to track library items. On network shares (SMB/CIFS, NFS), inodes can get reused or collide across mount points. When that happens, ABS thinks a newly added book is actually an existing one that was renamed, and merges them together. Your new book disappears and an unrelated book gets its files.

This has been a known issue for a while, but reports have increased significantly since late 2025. It mostly affects Unraid, Synology, and other NAS setups where audiobooks live on network storage.

Since v2.4.3, ABS checks the full file path first before falling back to inodes. But the inode fallback still kicks in for renames and folder watcher events, and that’s where the collisions happen.

There’s a community PR that fixes this by also checking the filesystem device ID (so inodes across different filesystems aren’t compared), but it hasn’t been merged yet. One user has been running a forked build that strips out inode matching entirely with good results.

The workaround

The most reliable workaround comes from multiple users in the GitHub issue thread and involves two changes:

1. Disable the folder watcher

The folder watcher is what triggers the inode-based matching when files change. Turn it off:

Settings → Libraries → select your library → disable Folder Watcher

2. Enable “Store metadata with item”

This stores a metadata file (.abs or metadata.json) alongside each audiobook. It acts as a backup identity for the book:

Settings → Libraries → select your library → enable Store metadata with item

Both changes together seem to be needed. Users report that doing only one doesn’t fully fix it.

After making both changes, add new books by copying them to your filesystem, then run a manual scan from the library menu instead of relying on automatic detection.

Other things that help

Upload through the ABS web interface instead of copying files to the filesystem directly. The web upload bypasses the folder watcher and inode matching entirely. The downside is that it won’t respect your existing folder structure.

Use a single filesystem for your library if possible. Inode collisions are more likely when ABS has library folders across multiple mount points, since inodes can be identical across different filesystems.

Avoid adding many books at once. Several users noticed the problem is worse when bulk-adding books. Adding them one at a time with a scan between each reduces the chances of collision.

If your metadata is already mixed up

If books are already swapped:

1. Note which books are affected
2. Delete the incorrect entries from ABS (this only removes the database entry, not your files)
3. Run a fresh scan. ABS will re-discover the files and create new entries with correct metadata
4. You may need to re-match metadata from the grabber for the re-added books

It’s tedious, but it fixes the state. The metadata files (if you enabled “Store metadata with item”) help ABS get it right the second time.

Affected versions

This bug has existed for a long time but reports increased significantly starting around late 2025. Versions v2.23.0+ are most frequently cited, though the underlying inode matching has been present since early versions. The path-first check added in v2.4.3 helps but doesn’t prevent all collisions.