diff --git a/client/src/main/java/ctbrec/ui/settings/SettingsTab.java b/client/src/main/java/ctbrec/ui/settings/SettingsTab.java
index 966bc280..e13e91ba 100644
--- a/client/src/main/java/ctbrec/ui/settings/SettingsTab.java
+++ b/client/src/main/java/ctbrec/ui/settings/SettingsTab.java
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ public class SettingsTab extends Tab implements TabSelectionListener {
     private PostProcessingStepPanel postProcessingStepPanel;
     private SimpleStringProperty filterBlacklist;
     private SimpleStringProperty filterWhitelist;
+    private SimpleBooleanProperty deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata;
 
     public SettingsTab(List<Site> sites, Recorder recorder) {
         this.sites = sites;
@@ -211,6 +212,7 @@ public class SettingsTab extends Tab implements TabSelectionListener {
         checkForUpdates = new SimpleBooleanProperty(null, "checkForUpdates", settings.checkForUpdates);
         filterBlacklist = new SimpleStringProperty(null, "filterBlacklist", settings.filterBlacklist);
         filterWhitelist = new SimpleStringProperty(null, "filterWhitelist", settings.filterWhitelist);
+        deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata = new SimpleBooleanProperty(null, "deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata", settings.deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata);
     }
 
     private void createGui() {
@@ -281,7 +283,8 @@ public class SettingsTab extends Tab implements TabSelectionListener {
                                 Setting.of("FFmpeg parameters", ffmpegParameters, "FFmpeg parameters to use when merging stream segments"),
                                 Setting.of("File Extension", fileExtension, "File extension to use for recordings"),
                                 Setting.of("Check online state every (seconds)", onlineCheckIntervalInSecs, "Check every x seconds, if a model came online"),
-                                Setting.of("Skip online check for paused models", onlineCheckSkipsPausedModels, "Skip online check for paused models")),
+                                Setting.of("Skip online check for paused models", onlineCheckSkipsPausedModels, "Skip online check for paused models"),
+                                Setting.of("Delete orphaned recording metadata", deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata, "Delete recordings for which the video files are missing on start")),
                         Group.of("Timeout",
                                 Setting.of("Don't record from", timeoutRecordingStartingAt),
                                 Setting.of("Until", timeoutRecordingEndingAt)
@@ -301,13 +304,13 @@ public class SettingsTab extends Tab implements TabSelectionListener {
                                 Setting.of("Steps", postProcessingStepPanel),
                                 Setting.of("", createHelpButton("Post-Processing Help", "http://localhost:5689/docs/PostProcessing.md")),
                                 Setting.of("", createVariablePlayGroundButton()))),
-                Category.of("Events & Actions", new ActionSettingsPanel(recorder)), 
+                Category.of("Events & Actions", new ActionSettingsPanel(recorder)),
                 Category.of("Filtering",
-                		Group.of("Ignore List",
-                				Setting.of("", ignoreList)),
-                		Group.of("Text Filters",
-                				Setting.of("Blacklist", filterBlacklist, "Default list of blacklist filters for site views, space seperated"),
-								Setting.of("Whitelist", filterWhitelist, "Default list of whitelist filters for site views, space seperated"))),                Category.of("Sites", siteCategories.toArray(new Category[0])),
+                        Group.of("Ignore List",
+                                Setting.of("", ignoreList)),
+                        Group.of("Text Filters",
+                                Setting.of("Blacklist", filterBlacklist, "Default list of blacklist filters for site views, space seperated"),
+                                Setting.of("Whitelist", filterWhitelist, "Default list of whitelist filters for site views, space seperated"))), Category.of("Sites", siteCategories.toArray(new Category[0])),
                 Category.of("Proxy",
                         Group.of("Proxy",
                                 Setting.of("Type", proxyType).needsRestart(),
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/Settings.java b/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/Settings.java
index d2194480..c49f80ed 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/Settings.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/Settings.java
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ public class Settings {
     public String contactsheetTimestampLook = "font=sans-serif:fontcolor=white:fontsize=60:box=1:boxcolor=black@0.5:boxborderw=5";
     public String dateTimeFormat = "";
     public int defaultPriority = 50;
+    public boolean deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata = false;
     public boolean determineResolution = false;
     public List<String> disabledSites = new ArrayList<>();
     public String downloadFilename = "$sanitize(${modelName})_$format(${localDateTime})";
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/RecordingManager.java b/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/RecordingManager.java
index a1f988ad..5b7901c1 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/RecordingManager.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/ctbrec/recorder/RecordingManager.java
@@ -104,7 +104,13 @@ public class RecordingManager {
         if (recordingExists(recording)) {
             recordings.add(recording);
         } else {
-            log.info("Recording {} does not exist anymore -> ignoring recording", recording);
+            if (config.getSettings().deleteOrphanedRecordingMetadata) {
+                log.info("Recording {} does not exist anymore -> deleting recording", recording);
+                boolean deleted = Files.deleteIfExists(new File(recording.getMetaDataFile()).toPath());
+                log.info("Recording {} has {}been deleted", recording, deleted ? "" : "not ");
+            } else {
+                log.info("Recording {} does not exist anymore -> ignoring recording", recording);
+            }
         }
     }