Updating Immich deployed via Docker Compose is quick and safe — the whole process takes under 5 minutes. Here’s everything you need to know.

1️⃣ Back Up Your Data First

Before any update, back up your photos and database. These two directories contain everything:

cp -r /path/to/immich/uploads /backup/immich-uploads-$(date +%Y%m%d)

cp -r /path/to/immich/postgres_data /backup/immich-db-$(date +%Y%m%d)

2️⃣ Navigate to Your Immich Directory

Go to the folder where your docker-compose.yml file is located:

cd /path/to/immich/

Not sure where it is? Run:

find / -name "docker-compose.yml" 2>/dev/null | grep immich

3️⃣ Pull the Latest Immich Images

This downloads updated versions of immich-server, immich-machine-learning, and related services — without stopping anything yet:

docker compose pull

4️⃣ Restart the Containers

Apply the new images by restarting all containers in detached mode:

docker compose up -d

Wait 30–60 seconds for Immich to fully initialize before opening the web interface.

5️⃣ Verify…