Folder Overview
The following gives you an overview of the most important folders that PhotoPrism uses:
Originals¶
The originals folder contains the original photo and video files of your library. PhotoPrism will not move or rename the files in this folder without a user requesting it. Unless read-only mode is enabled, new files can be added using the web upload dialog, the import functionality, or by mounting the folder via WebDAV.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_ORIGINALS_PATH environment variable.
Import¶
When importing, files are copied or moved from the import folder to the originals folder. In the process, duplicates are automatically skipped, and the imported files are given a unique file name and are sorted by year and month.
The location of the import folder can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_IMPORT_PATH environment variable.
Storage¶
Unless you use a custom configuration, the storage folder is used to keep config, cache, backup, thumbnail, and sidecar files.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_STORAGE_PATH environment variable.
We recommend not to configure the storage folder to be inside the originals folder unless the name starts with a . to indicate that it is hidden.
Cache¶
The cache folder contains the subdirectories json and thumbnails for storing ExifTool JSON files and thumbnail images.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_CACHE_PATH environment variable.
JSON¶
Unless you have disabled ExifTool in Settings > Advanced, it may used to create JSON files with the metadata of a file in this directory e.g. when indexing or importing new files.
Thumbnails¶
PhotoPrism creates thumbnails in different sizes for each photo. Those are stored in the thumbnails directory.
More information on thumbnails can be found here.
Sidecar¶
The sidecar folder contains YAML backup files for each picture as well as e.g. automatically generated JPEG versions of RAW images. Both can be configured in Settings > Advanced.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_PATH environment variable.
Config¶
The config folder contains configuration files and certificates.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_CONFIG_PATH environment variable.
Backup¶
The backup folder contains database dumps as well as album backup files and is located in the storage folder by default.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_BACKUP_PATH environment variable.
Temp¶
Uploads, downloads, and other temporary files may be temporarily stored in the temp folder.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_TEMP_PATH environment variable.
Assets¶
The assets folder contains static resources such as machine learning models, icons, and templates.
Its location can be changed by setting the PHOTOPRISM_ASSETS_PATH environment variable.