SABnzbd File and Folder Management Guide

SABnzbd uses several directories during operation. These can be changed through the Web interface or by editing the sabnzbd.ini configuration file.

Folder Configuration in SABnzbd

SABnzbd uses a number of folders for different purposes. Understanding how these folders function and where they are located can help manage disk space and performance.

Folder Overview

Folder Type	Purpose	Windows	macOS	Linux
Temporary Folder	Stores incomplete jobs and par2 activity	`%userprofile%\Downloads\incomplete`	`~/Downloads/incomplete`	`~/Downloads/incomplete`
Complete Folder	Stores completed jobs in separate folders	`%userprofile%\Downloads\complete`	`~/Downloads/complete`	`~/Downloads/complete`
Admin Directory	Internal queue and history storage	`%userprofile%\AppData\Local\sabnzbd\admin`	`~/Library/Application Support/SABnzbd/admin`	`~/.sabnzbd/admin`
Log Directory	Logs for debugging	`%userprofile%\AppData\Local\sabnzbd\logs`	`~/Library/Application Support/SABnzbd/logs`	`~/.sabnzbd/logs`

You can find and change the locations of any of these folder by going to the Folders tab in the SABnzbd settings.

Use absolute paths (e.g., D:\Downloads or /Volumes/DriveName/Downloads) to move these to another location. For network shares, confirm write access and format paths accordingly (e.g., \\Server\Folder).

Note: On Windows, incomplete folders cannot be set to network shares due to a par2 limitation.

Article Retention Information

While SABnzbd displays an informational retention setting, the actual article retention is determined by the Usenet provider. For Newshosting, this means access to a long history of Usenet articles depending on the group's retention policy.

Managing PAR and Post-Processing Behavior

SABnzbd minimizes overhead by only fetching the number of PAR repair blocks needed. It starts with a basic check and only triggers full par2 repair if QuickCheck fails.

If you want to always download all par2 files, check Download all par2 files in Settings > Switched > Post processing

Post-Processing Modes (R/U/D)

Mode	Description
Blank	No post-processing
R (Repair)	Verifies and repairs articles
U (Unpack)	Repairs and unpacks
D (Delete)	Repairs, unpacks, then deletes temporary archives

Using these features properly can help organize and maintain SABnzbd's functionality without unnecessary steps.

SABnzbd Stuck Repairing an Article

If SABnzbd becomes unresponsive during repair, it may be due to a stalled par2 process. SABnzbd processes articles sequentially, so if one step is delayed, the remaining queue may not proceed.

To fix this:

Open your operating system's Task Manager (or Activity Monitor on macOS).
Look for a running par2 process.
End or kill the par2 process manually.

After stopping the stalled process, the affected job will be marked as failed. To recover the article, manually verify and unpack the job using external tools or restart the process with updated settings.