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Immich can put your photo service and library storage on a server you administer, but moving away from Google Photos also means taking responsibility for the server, maintenance, and backups. The practical route is to export your library with Google Takeout, import it with the community-maintained immich-go tool, configure phone uploads if you want them, and back up both the media and Immich database.
What “under your control” means with Immich
Immich is self-hosted: you choose where it runs and where its files are stored. That gives you administrative control over the service and storage location, but it does not make the system maintenance-free or automatically protect the files from loss. You are responsible for keeping the server running, updating and maintaining it, and arranging backups that you can restore.
This is a trade-off, not a claim that Immich is a one-for-one replacement for every Google Photos feature. The available documentation establishes Immich’s migration and operating workflow, but does not provide a complete, current feature-by-feature comparison with Google Photos plans.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsHow to migrate Google Photos to Immich
- Set up a host and storage. Choose a supported host and decide where the library will live. Immich recommends Linux or Unix-like systems; it warns that Docker on non-Linux systems is less supported. Review the Immich requirements before choosing hardware.
- Export your Google Photos library. Use Google Takeout to create an archive of your photos and videos. Immich’s quick start points people migrating from Google Photos to immich-go.
- Import the archive with immich-go. Follow the immich-go documentation for its Google Photos import workflow. The tool parses media and accompanying JSON metadata; album synchronization can create corresponding albums. These capabilities do not guarantee that every item or metadata edge case will be preserved exactly, so check the resulting library before treating the migration as complete.
- Connect your phone if you want ongoing uploads. Sign in to the Immich mobile app with your server endpoint, then select the device albums to back up. A large initial upload can take a long time. Background uploads depend partly on the phone platform’s background-task behavior, so do not assume every new photo will upload immediately while the app is inactive. See the mobile backup documentation.
- Set up and test a separate backup. Back up the actual media files and the Immich database, then verify that you can restore them. The database alone is not a copy of the photos and videos.
Choose storage: Immich-managed files or an external library
You can use Immich-managed storage for an imported library, or configure an external library so existing files appear in Immich without moving them. An external library can be useful when you already organize files in a filesystem structure. If files change outside Immich, rescan the library so the service can reflect those changes.
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There is an important difference: metadata edits made through Immich, including descriptions or album membership, are stored in Immich rather than written back to the external asset files. If you remove or rebuild the Immich database, those Immich-side additions are not embedded in the original files. The external library documentation describes this behavior.
Check server capacity before importing
Immich’s requirements page lists 6 GB of RAM and 2 CPU cores as the minimum, and recommends 8 GB of RAM and 4 cores. It also estimates that generated thumbnails and transcoded video add 10–20% to the library size on average. These are Immich’s published figures, not a guarantee for every library or workload. Leave storage headroom for that generated data as well as future photos and videos.
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A GPU is not required for every installation. Immich describes GPU acceleration for machine-learning tasks such as Smart Search and Facial Recognition as optional and experimental; supported backends and limitations vary. Consider it only if those tasks matter for your setup, rather than treating it as a baseline requirement. Details are in the machine-learning hardware acceleration documentation.
Backups are your responsibility
Immich does not create filesystem backups for you. Its documentation recommends a 3-2-1 backup strategy and says to preserve copies of uploaded photos and videos as well as the database. In practical terms, keep multiple copies, store at least one copy separately from the server, and test a restore rather than assuming a backup job succeeded. The backup and restore guide explains the project’s approach.
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The Immich quick start states: “Do not use it as the only way to store your photos and videos!” That warning matters particularly when Immich is the only place holding a migrated library. A working server is not the same thing as an independent backup.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What changes compared with relying on a hosted photo service
- Hosting and storage: with Immich, you select and administer the host and storage instead of relying solely on a provider’s hosted service.
- Migration: Google Takeout and immich-go provide a documented path to import media and JSON metadata, with album synchronization available; verify the outcome rather than assuming perfect preservation.
- Phone backup: the mobile app can automatically upload selected device albums, but upload timing can depend on platform background behavior.
- Operations and recovery: you take on server upkeep and must arrange recoverable copies of both files and database.
Those differences describe the documented Immich workflow; they are not a full comparison of current Google Photos features or plans.
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