L750Wr8R-plex2.png' alt='Plex Media Manager Windows 7' title='Plex Media Manager Windows 7' />How to use Plex media server to stream local media to Chromecast from your PCWhy do we need one more solution robust and free of streaming local media to Chromecast To stream local media to Chromecast is not as simple as many expected. Google intends to make Chromecast an internet thing, not a local media player. If you used Chromecast for online streaming, you probably are very happy with this 3. It works with more and more services, and the online streaming quality is quite impressive most of the time. But if you have a lot of media files in the hard drive of your PC, you may feel the pain to stream local media to Chromecast  to watch on the big screen. In the Chromecast how to guides section, I shared two methods of streaming local media to Chromecast Stream local video to Chromecast through a Chrome browser tab. Share the whole desktop screen and audio to Chromecast through desktop sharing. Both of the methods are not robust, with obvious limitations. Using a Chrome tab to stream local media to Chromecast is the simplest method. But it is severely limited by the media formats that you can play through Chrome browser. Very often, the user has to install additional software or codecs to play certain media files. Sometimes, it is frustrating to figure out what you need to install so that Chrome browser can play the video. Another limitation of casting a Chrome browser tab is that it is hard to use a playlist in Chrome browser. But for most people, a large portion of local media files are short home videos. It is painful to play them one by one. For the second method sharing the whole desktop is still experimental. So, for some people, it works. For others, it may not work, or it does not  work as expected, for example, a lot of Chromecast owners got problems in audio with this method if they want to stream local videos to Chromecast. Both methods of streaming are limited to 7. Plex Media Manager Windows 7' title='Plex Media Manager Windows 7' />So, I decided to find out some alternative methods that are more robust in streaming local media files to Chromecast. I also want to use a free solution only. The best solution I found is using Plex media server to stream local media to Chromecast, after about 2 month testing. Why streaming local media to Chromecast is not as easy as internet media streaming Some Chromecast owners are wondering why streaming local contents to Chromecast is so difficult,  but streaming Youtube or Netflix to  Chromecast is so easy. This is due to the nature of Chromecast. Chromecast has two working modes see this post for detailed discussion. In web apps mode, it is simply a web browser. You. Tube, HBO and many other internet streaming servers, send a web page to Chromecast with all media info, and Chromecast play it to your TV. So, Chromecast works nicely with internet streaming services if the service provider supports Chromecast. But in tab casting mode, Chromecast uses Web. RTC Web Real Time Communication. This technology is NOT suitable for video streaming, especially full HD videos. Plex/Plex14.jpg' alt='Plex Media Manager Windows 7' title='Plex Media Manager Windows 7' />Both methods of streaming local media files mentioned above are using Web. RTC. This is one of the reasons why the video quality is limited to 7. To stream local media to Chromecast smoothly, it is better to let Chromecast work in web apps mode. This requires a media server to serve contents and a web app to pass the content info to Chromecast. Why Plex media server There are many media servers. Most of them are free. Some are even open sourced. Because we need a media server AND a web app that supports Chromecast, the choice actually is very limited. Based on the apps listed on the official Chromecast apps page, the possible free solution  is only Plex. Of course, if you check Play store, you can find some decent free apps that support local media streaming to Chromecast, e. Convert Pdf Indesign Cs3. Bubble. UPn. P. But there are two problems in using  these apps to stream local contents to Chromecast You still need a local media server. The video format is  limited by Chromecast supported media, for example,  all RMVB files, most mkv files, some AVI files cannot be casted with these apps unless the media server also transcodes for the media. Windows Media Center WMC is a discontinued digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on. With Plex, the free Plex media server and the free web app for PC will solve both problems. Please note, Plex web app for PC is free, but the app for Android is not free. Anyway, as we intend to stream local media to Chromecast, it is not necessary to use Android app. What can be done What are the requirements with Plex media server solution to stream local media to Chromecast Before we start the setup, it is important to know what can be done and what the requirements are with  this solution of streaming local media contents to Chromecast. You can stream videos, music and photos to Chromecast from a PC. You can also queue with some twists media contents to Chromecast. This essentially makes a playlist for you. The requirements for this solution of streaming local media to Chromecast include Your PC must connected to internet, although we are just streaming local contents. Actually, Chromecast also requires this. You must have administrator privileges to install the Plex media server on your PC. You need register a free Plex account to use web app. Plex does not support disk image formats e. ISO, VideoTSLocal subtitle support is limited to SRT, SMI and SSA formats. Plex Media Manager Windows 7' title='Plex Media Manager Windows 7' />Hi Matt, if you are running a Plex media server on the Mac Mini, any Plex agent should be able to connect to it. It can be a Windows PC, Android phone, Playstation 3. Plex is a clientserver media player system and software suite comprising two main components. The Plex Media Server desktop application runs on Windows, macOS and. Safe. This software is 100 safe has been successfully scanned with 57 antivirus programs. Be patient In this guide, I use Windows 7, It should work with other platforms, including some NAS servers. Step by step guide on setting up Plex media server on your local PCStep 1 Sign up a free Plex account. To use Plex media server to stream local media for Chromecast, you must have a Plex account. The good thing is that the account is free. You can go to http plex. Sign up button  https plex. Write down your email and password for your Plex account. You will need them later. Step 2  Download Plex media server. Go to https plex. PC or for your NAS. The NAS support is limited to the following brands not all models of these brands Synology, Netgear, QNAP, un. RAID, Drobo and ASUSTOR. In this tutorial, I will assume you are using a PC with Windows 7. For other OSes, Linux, Mac, and Free. BSD, the procedure is similar. Click computer to download the installer for PC. Then click Download English to get the installer. Step 3 Install Plex media server on your PCOnce the download is finished, check the file size. For the English version, it should be more than 6. MB. Double click the downloaded file  Plex Media Server 0. US. exe the version number may be different for you if newer version is released. You should get a security warning as shown below. Click Run to install. Now you should get the installation window as shown below. Click Install. You will very likely get a security warning on installation user access control. You need click yes to proceed. After one or two minutes, the installation should finish without errors as shown below. Step 4 Start Plex Media Server on your PCOnce the Plex media server installation is finished, you can launch it immediately by clicking the Launch button. Once the Plex media server is launched, you should notice a Plex button in the notification area as shown below. Alternatively, you can start the Plex media server from StartAll ProgramsPlex Media Server Plex Media Server. Step 5  Add library to Plex media server. When Plex media server is running, right click the Plex icon in the notification tray in the taskbar If you want to run Plex media server automatically, you should check Start Plex Media Server at Login.