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Quick start

Here is a quick, no-choices path to install Immich and take it for a test drive. Once you've tried it, you might use one of the many other ways to install and use it.

Requirements​

Check the requirements page to get started.

Set up the server​

Follow the Docker Compose (Recommended) instructions to install the server.

Try the web app​

The first user to register will be the admin user. The admin user will be able to add other users to the application.

To register for the admin user, access the web application at http://<machine-ip-address>:2283 and click on the Getting Started button.

Follow the prompts to register as the admin user and log in to the application.

Try uploading a picture from your browser.

Try the mobile app​

Download the Mobile App​

The mobile app can be downloaded from the following places:

Login to the Mobile App​

Login to the mobile app with the server endpoint URL at http://<machine-ip-address>:2283/api

In the mobile app, you should see the photo you uploaded from the web UI.

Transfer Photos from Your Mobile Device​

  1. Navigate to the backup screen by clicking on the cloud icon in the top right corner of the screen.
  1. You can select which album(s) you want to back up to the Immich server from the backup screen.
  1. Scroll down to the bottom and press "Start Backup" to start the backup process. This will upload all the assets in the selected albums.

The backup time differs depending on how many photos are on your mobile device. Large uploads may take quite a while. To quickly get going, you can selectively upload few photos first, by following this guide.

You can select the Jobs tab to see Immich processing your photos.

Review the database backup and restore process​

Immich has built-in database backups. You can refer to the database backup for more information.

danger

The database only contains metadata and user information. You must setup manual backups of the images and videos stored in UPLOAD_LOCATION.

Where to go from here?​

You may decide you'd like to install the server a different way; the Install category on the left menu provides many options.

You may decide you'd like to add the rest of your photos from Google Photos, even those not on your mobile device, via Google Takeout. You can use immich-go for this.

You may want to upload photos from your own archive.

You may want to incorporate a pre-existing archive of photos from an External Library; there's a guide for that.

You may want your mobile device to back photos up to your server automatically.