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Archive Workflows

Archive tabs export media from a source to a local folder. They do not upload to Immich (except Archive from Immich, which reads from a remote Immich server).

Tab immich-go command Server required?
Folder archive from-folder No (serverless)
Google Photos archive from-google-photos No (serverless)
iCloud archive from-icloud No (serverless)
Picasa archive from-picasa No (serverless)
Immich archive from-immich Yes (source server only)

Serverless vs Server-Required

Serverless archive tabs

These four tabs operate entirely on local files or exports. They never send --server, --api-key, or --client-timeout flags:

  • Archive from Folder
  • Archive from Google Photos
  • Archive from iCloud
  • Archive from Picasa

You do not need Immich server credentials configured to run them. The primary output destination is a local write folder.

Archive from Immich

This tab connects to a source Immich server to download/export assets. It requires:

  • From server URL
  • From API key (and optionally from admin API key)

It does not use your main Config-tab destination server for the archive source — only the "from" credentials.

Common Fields

Field Description
Source path Takeout folder, iCloud export, or local directory
Write to folder Destination directory for archived files
Dry run Preview without writing files
Date range Limit by capture date
Include / exclude extensions File type filters

Archive from Folder

Command: immich-go archive from-folder <path> --write-to-folder <dest>

Copy or organize local media into an archive directory structure.

Notable options: recursive, folder-as-album, folder-as-tags, date-from-name, into-album

Archive from Google Photos

Command: immich-go archive from-google-photos <takeout-path> --write-to-folder <dest>

Extract media from a Google Takeout export to a local folder.

Notable options: sync-albums, include-archived, include-partner, takeout-tag, people-tag

Archive from iCloud

Command: immich-go archive from-icloud <path> --write-to-folder <dest>

Archive from an iCloud Photos export.

Notable options: memories, folder-as-album, recursive

Archive from Picasa

Command: immich-go archive from-picasa <path> --write-to-folder <dest>

Archive from Picasa-compatible exports.

Notable options: album-picasa, folder-as-album

Archive from Immich

Command: immich-go archive from-immich --write-to-folder <dest>

Download assets from a remote Immich server to a local folder.

Required credentials:

Field Description
From server URL Source Immich instance
From API key Source API key

Notable options: from-albums, from-tags, from-people, from-date-range, from-favorite, from-archived, from-trash

Running an Archive

  1. Select the archive sub-tab matching your source type.
  2. Set source and destination paths.
  3. For Archive from Immich, configure from-server credentials.
  4. Review the command preview — serverless tabs will not show server/API flags.
  5. Click Run.

Serverless tabs skip the Immich pre-flight connection check.

Further Reading