SparkBox / Guides / PhotoPrism setup

How to set up PhotoPrism

· Updated 31 July 2026 · SparkBox team

AI photo library with face and object search. This guide covers how to access it, log in for the first time, configure the basics, and where its data lives so you can back it up.

SparkBox Apps page — one-click install cards for every module
SparkBox Apps page — one-click install cards for every module
In this guide:
  1. What is PhotoPrism?
  2. Before you start
  3. How to access it
  4. First login
  5. Settings you can change
  6. Where your data lives

1. What is PhotoPrism?

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.

Immich — your own private Google Photos, on your box
Immich — your own private Google Photos, on your box

2. Before you start

Alternative to Immich. Both do photo backup with AI search but have different UIs. Try one - disable before enabling the other.

SparkBox dashboard login screen
SparkBox dashboard login screen

3. How to access it

Once it's enabled, PhotoPrism runs on your SparkBox at:

http://<your-NAS-IP>:2342

After first login, go to Library > Index to scan your photos. AI features require an initial indexing pass.

4. 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).

If it instead asks for a password you didn't set, check Settings → Passwords in your SparkBox dashboard — every auto-generated credential is listed there.

5. Settings you can change

You can set these when you enable the module, or later from Apps → PhotoPrism in the dashboard:

SparkBox Settings page
SparkBox Settings page
  • PhotoPrism Admin Password — Password for the PhotoPrism admin user (required, min 8 chars)
  • Photos Path — Where your photo library is stored

6. Where your data lives

PhotoPrism's config and persistent data are stored on the SparkBox host under:

/opt/sparkbox/modules/photoprism/config/

Backups via the SparkBox dashboard's Backup tile include this directory by default, so a single restore brings PhotoPrism back to its current state on a fresh install.

Next steps

That's PhotoPrism live on SparkBox.

If something doesn't match what you see, post in d/sparkbox or hit us up on YouTube. Every SparkBox bug gets patched; every UX-stumble in this guide gets rewritten.

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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.

Ask in the community →

We answer there rather than in a comment box, because that is where the people who have already solved it are.

About this guide: Generated from the SparkBox module manifest and verified against a live install. If you spot something that doesn't match your experience, tell us in d/sparkbox.