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Freedom251 › Blog › Home Server

I Stopped Hiding Movies from Friends and Gave Them Their Own Jellyfin View

By Freedom251 Team · · 3 min read

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To give a friend a Jellyfin view that fits them, create a separate user account and choose which libraries and features it can access. That lets you control what the person can browse without sharing your own login or hiding movies from a shared account. You can also limit playback, deletion, and remote access; server-management permission is much broader and should be reserved for trusted administrators.

How a separate Jellyfin view works

Jellyfin users are local to your server. The project’s user documentation says: “Keep in mind that Jellyfin users are entirely local and no information or metadata will ever be sent to remote servers during the login process.” Each account can have its own settings and permissions, so a friend’s view depends on the libraries and features you allow for that user.

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This is a practical way to keep your own account private while giving friends access to the media you choose to share. It is for access to your own lawful media server, not a Jellyfin-run hosting or paid server service: Jellyfin says it does not operate general-purpose servers for users.

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Create an account and choose what it can do

You can add users after completing the initial server setup. Exact labels and screen layouts can vary by Jellyfin version, so use the current user-management controls in your server rather than relying on a fixed sequence of menu names.

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  1. Create one account per friend. In the Jellyfin server’s user-management area, add a separate user rather than sharing your administrator login.
  2. Choose library access. Allow the libraries the friend should browse and play. If you want to hide some movies from a particular person, place them in a library that account cannot access, or adjust that user’s library access where your server version provides the control.
  3. Set feature permissions. Review playback and transcoding permissions for the account and allow only the functions it needs.
  4. Keep server management restricted. Do not enable the option to manage the server for an ordinary friend. Jellyfin warns that this grants full access to server pages and features.
  5. Review deletion permission carefully. If enabled, a user may be able to delete media; Jellyfin notes that media can be removed from the filesystem if the server has write permission. Leave deletion disabled unless that consequence is intended.
  6. Set account visibility or availability if useful. The user controls include disabling an account and hiding a user from the login screen. Hiding it changes the login screen, not the account’s permissions.

Choose local-only or remote access

If your friend will use Jellyfin only while connected to your home network, you may not need to expose the server to the Internet. For access from outside, Jellyfin’s networking guide explains that the server is self-hosted and must be made reachable through your network configuration. The guide says, “Opening a port directly to the Internet is therefore insecure and not recommended.”

Jellyfin provides global and per-user controls for external access, so you can decide whether remote use is available at all and whether a particular friend may use it. Common approaches described in the guide include a reverse proxy and a VPN. Which setup is appropriate depends on your network and how you administer it; remote access is not automatic, and configuring it requires care.

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Help a friend sign in on a TV or other device

On a supported client, Quick Connect can simplify first-time sign-in: generate a temporary code on the device, then authorize it from a Jellyfin client where you are already logged in. Support varies by app, so check whether the friend’s particular client offers Quick Connect. It only makes sign-in easier; it does not replace the friend’s account or change its permissions.

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Friends can use supported Jellyfin clients on their devices. The available apps and feature support differ, so check the client relevant to the device rather than assuming every app presents the same options.

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