archive

Export photos to a date-organized folder structure with metadata.

Synopsis

immich-go archive [source-flags] --write-to-folder=<destination> [options] <paths>...

Output Structure

Photos are organized by year and month:

destination/
├── 2022/
│   ├── 2022-01/
│   │   ├── photo.jpg
│   │   └── photo.jpg.JSON
│   └── 2022-02/
├── 2023/
│   ├── 2023-03/
│   └── 2023-04/
└── 2024/

Each photo gets a .JSON sidecar with metadata.

Required Options

Option	Description
--write-to-folder	Destination folder

Source Modes

Flag	Source	Description
(default)	Local filesystem	Archive from folders
--google	Google Takeout	Archive from takeout
--icloud	iCloud export	Archive from iCloud
--picasa	Picasa	Parse Picasa metadata
--from-immich	Immich server	Archive from server

Metadata Files

Each photo gets a .JSON file containing:

{
  "fileName": "example.jpg",
  "latitude": 37.7749,
  "longitude": -122.4194,
  "dateTaken": "2023-10-01T12:34:56Z",
  "description": "Golden Gate Bridge",
  "albums": [
    {
      "title": "San Francisco Trip",
      "description": "Photos from my trip"
    }
  ],
  "tags": [
    { "value": "USA/California/San Francisco" }
  ],
  "rating": 5,
  "trashed": false,
  "archived": false,
  "favorited": true,
  "fromPartner": false
}

Examples

Archive from Immich Server

# Complete backup
immich-go archive --from-immich \
  --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
  --from-api-key=your-key \
  --write-to-folder=/backup/photos

# Specific year
immich-go archive --from-immich \
  --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
  --from-api-key=your-key \
  --from-date-range=2023 \
  --write-to-folder=/backup/2023

# Specific album
immich-go archive --from-immich \
  --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
  --from-api-key=your-key \
  --from-albums="Family" \
  --write-to-folder=/backup/family

Archive Google Photos Takeout

# Reorganize takeout by date
immich-go archive --google \
  --write-to-folder=/organized-photos \
  /path/to/takeout-*.zip

Reorganize Local Folders

# Transform messy folders into date structure
immich-go archive \
  --write-to-folder=/organized \
  /messy/photo/folders

Use Cases

1. Server Backup

Create a portable backup of your Immich library:

immich-go archive --from-immich \
  --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
  --from-api-key=your-key \
  --write-to-folder=/backup/immich-$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

2. Incremental Backup

Backup recent photos (last 30 days):

immich-go archive --from-immich \
  --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
  --from-api-key=your-key \
  --from-date-range=$(date -d '30 days ago' '+%Y-%m-%d'),$(date '+%Y-%m-%d') \
  --write-to-folder=/backup/recent

3. Yearly Archives

for year in 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024; do
  immich-go archive --from-immich \
    --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
    --from-api-key=your-key \
    --from-date-range=$year \
    --write-to-folder=/backup/immich-$year
done

4. Migration Preparation

Export for migration to another system:

immich-go archive --from-immich \
  --from-server=http://localhost:2283 \
  --from-api-key=your-key \
  --write-to-folder=/migration-ready

Important Notes

• Incremental: Running again adds new photos without duplicating
• Metadata preserved: JSON files capture all metadata
• Cross-platform: Archived photos work with any system
• No server changes: Archive is read-only for the source

Options Reference

Connection Options (for --from-immich)

Same as upload command.

Filtering Options

Same filtering options as the corresponding upload modes:

• --date-range / --from-date-range
• --from-albums
• --include-type, --include-extensions