Prefer X265 | Sonarr

This guide will show you exactly how to bend Sonarr to your will. We will cover advanced Custom Formats, scoring systems, and a "prefer/upgrade to x265" workflow that automates your library conversion. Before we dive into the code, a word of caution. If you set Sonarr to strictly require x265, you will miss downloads.

Go to → Profiles (or Quality Profiles ). Select the profile you use for TV shows (e.g., "HD - 1080p" or "4K"). sonarr prefer x265

Click . You now have a detector. Step 2: The Scoring Strategy (Crucial) To make Sonarr "prefer" x265, we need to assign it a positive score. However, we must also ensure that x265 doesn't break your quality standards. This guide will show you exactly how to

"name": "✅ x265 / HEVC (Prefer)", "includeCustomFormatWhenRenaming": false, "specifications": [ "name": "x265 or HEVC", "implementation": "ReleaseTitleSpecification", "negate": false, "required": false, "fields": \\bhevc\\b" , "name": "Not x264", "implementation": "ReleaseTitleSpecification", "negate": true, "required": false, "fields": \\bavc\\b" ] If you set Sonarr to strictly require x265,

Many older or niche TV shows are only available in x264. New episodes often appear in x264 first (due to faster encoding speeds), with x265 releases following hours later.

But there is a catch: Sonarr (and its cousin Radarr) does not have a native "I only want x265" button. Without proper configuration, Sonarr will grab the first release that meets its quality profile—usually the more common, larger x264 file.

"Sonarr prefer x265" is not just a keyword; it is a philosophy of efficient media archiving. By leveraging Custom Formats with a +100 score and the "Upgrade Until" logic, you create a self-healing library that automatically sheds gigabytes while maintaining visual fidelity.