Skip to content

Metadata Exports

Control over your data does not end with the ability to create and restore a database backup. PhotoPrism also creates human-readable YAML files that let you view and restore album and photo metadata, even if you did not create a regular database backup or no longer have it.

If backups have not been disabled in the Advanced Settings, PhotoPrism automatically creates YAML exports for your albums and photos. Album backups are stored in the album backup directory, and photo metadata is written to your configured sidecar path. These files are updated when related records change.

Keep in mind that the original metadata remains in your database. Changes you make to the YAML files do not affect the user interface unless the index is later restored from those files.

Album Backups

Album backups are created for the following album types: album, folder, state, moment, and month. By default, they are stored in storage/backup/albums. Existing legacy installations may still use storage/albums.

Albums

Each album YAML file stores the following metadata:

  • UID, slug, type, title, location, category, description, sort order, country, creation time, update time, and photo assignments including the date each photo was added

Folder Backups

Each folder YAML file stores the following metadata:

  • UID, slug, type, title, location, category, description, filter, sort order, country, year, month, day, creation time, and update time

Month Backups

Each month YAML file stores the following metadata:

  • UID, slug, type, title, location, category, description, filter, sort order, country, year, month, creation time, and update time

State Backups

Each state YAML file stores the following metadata:

  • UID, slug, type, title, location, category, description, filter, sort order, country, creation time, and update time

Moment Backups

Each moment YAML file stores the following metadata:

  • UID, slug, type, title, location, category, description, filter, sort order, country, year, creation time, and update time

Photo Backups

PhotoPrism creates a YAML sidecar file for each primary photo in your configured sidecar path.

The following metadata is stored:

  • TakenAt and source, UID, type, title and source, caption and source, original name, time zone, place source, altitude, latitude, longitude, year, month, day, ISO, exposure, f-number, focal length, quality, favorite state, private state, keywords and source, notes and source, subject and source, artist and source, copyright and source, license and source, creation time, update time, edit time, and deletion state