PhotoPrism: open it, first login, settings, fixes
· Updated 18 September 2026 · SparkBox team
Self-hosted photo management with AI-powered face recognition, object detection, and location search. Browse, organize, and rediscover your photos. A mature alternative to Immich. This is the short card for it — the two minutes after you press Enable, and the page to come back to when something is off.
Before you turn it on
Alternative to Immich. Both do photo backup with AI search but have different UIs. Try one - disable before enabling the other.
Open it
Dashboard → Apps → PhotoPrism → Open. The direct address on your network is:
http://<your-box-IP>:2342After first login, go to Library > Index to scan your photos. AI features require an initial indexing pass.
First login
Log in with username 'admin' and the admin password you set during module install (see the PhotoPrism Admin Password field you filled in).
Any password the installer generated for you is under Settings → Passwords; the Open button offers to copy it.
Settings that matter
Change these under Apps → PhotoPrism (or when you enable it):
- PhotoPrism Admin Password — Password for the PhotoPrism admin user (required, min 8 chars)
- Photos Path — Where your photo library is stored
When it breaks
If it will not open, check the app card first — a red dot means it is restarting or unhealthy, and this walkthrough reads the reason from its log. Tom AI on the dashboard can do the same for you.
Where your data lives
/opt/sparkbox/modules/photoprism/config/Included in the dashboard's Backup by default. Restoring that backup on a fresh install brings PhotoPrism back exactly as it was.
Questions, or did this not match your box?
Every guide here came from a real problem someone hit. If yours behaves differently, say so — that is how these get corrected, and how the fix gets prioritised.
We answer there rather than in a comment box, because that is where the people who have already solved it are.