Sharing

Everyone on your server has their own private library. Sharing is how you bring them together.

Way to share	Who it’s for	What they get
Partners	Someone on your server	Your whole library, to view and download
Shared albums	People on your server	One album, as an Editor or a Viewer
Shared spaces	A family or group on your server	One library everyone adds to
Shared links	Anyone, with or without an account	The photos or album you choose, through a link

Partners

Share your whole library with a partner on your server. They can view your photos and videos and download them.

Open Settings from the sidebar and go to People & sharing.
In Partners & recipient groups, select Add partner.
Choose their account and review what they’ll be able to see.
Select Confirm. They’re listed with Can see your library.

Partner sharing is one-way. To see your partner’s photos, they need to share with you too. Each partner who shares with you gets their own library link in the sidebar, such as “Jamie’s library”.

What a partner sees

A partner sees	A partner doesn’t see
Your photos and videos, except the archive and trash	Your albums
All their details, including location	Which items you’ve favourited
	Your people and face data
	Locked items, ever

Partner photos in your timeline

You decide whether a partner’s photos also appear in your timeline:

On the web, in Settings, then People & sharing, then Partners & recipient groups, turn on Show shared photos in my timeline for that partner. Partner photos in my timeline in the same section controls whether partners’ photos appear in your timeline at all.
In the mobile apps, open the partner’s library and turn on the option there.

Select Stop sharing next to the partner and confirm. They can no longer see your photos. Anything they share with you stays.

Shared albums

Share an album with people on your server and choose a role for each:

Role	Can
Owner	Everything, including sharing, options and deleting the album
Editor	View the album and add their own photos and videos
Viewer	Only view

Open the album.
Select Share in the album header.
Under Invite someone, search by name or email and pick the person.
Choose Editor or Viewer.
Select Done.

You can change someone’s role, or remove them, later from the same dialog. When their role changes, they’re told straight away. A removed member loses access, and you can invite them again later.

In the mobile apps, open the album’s menu and choose to add people.

Likes and comments

In a shared album, members can like and comment on the album and on the photos in it, in the Activity panel. The owner can turn this off under Options, then Likes and comments.

Leave an album

Members can choose Leave on an album shared with them. It disappears from their library; the owner keeps everything and can invite them again.

Email when you’re added

Your server can email you when someone adds you to a shared album, or when new photos are added to one you’re in. See Notifications.

Shared spaces

To build one library together with family or friends, use a shared space. Everyone keeps ownership of what they add.

Shared links

Create a link for someone who doesn’t have an account:

From a selection: select photos or videos in the timeline and choose Share link.
From an album: open the album and choose Create link.

Every link gets a long random address that works like a secret, so it can’t be guessed, for example:

https://photos.example.com/share/JUckRMxlgpo7F9BpyqGk_cZEwDzaU_U5LU5_oNZp1ETIBa9dpQ0b5ghNm_22QVJfn3k

The Create shared link dialog lets you set:

Option	What it does
Description	A title viewers will see
Custom address	A readable address instead of the random one
Password	Viewers must enter it to open the link
Expiry date	The link stops working after this date
Allow download	Viewers can download the photos
Allow upload	Viewers can upload their own photos and videos to your account
Show metadata	Viewers can see details such as dates, places and tags

Select Create link to finish. Change these options later with Edit shared link. Every link also has a QR code, handy for showing on a phone.

What people with a link see

Shared links open in their own simple viewer, with none of your private navigation. Viewers see your display name under Shared by, but only after they’ve entered the password if there is one. They can play a slideshow and, if you allow downloads, download everything as one archive. An expired link says so.

With remote access, links work from outside your home network.

Share individual photos and videos with someone on your server. They find them under Shared with you.

Recipient groups

Save a group of people on your server, like “Family”, to invite them all in one step. Manage groups in Settings, then People & sharing, then Partners & recipient groups, or with Manage groups… when you invite people.

Groups are shortcuts, not hidden permission rules. Only you see their names.
Before anything is shared, you see exactly who will be invited. Each person gets their own invitation and only joins if they accept; the group’s name isn’t shared with them.
Changing or deleting a group never changes who already has access.

What’s never shared

Locked items never reach partners, album or space members, or shared links.
An item that matches one of your Locked rules can’t be shared with a person one by one.
Edited versions follow their original’s privacy straight away.
Turning a feature off in your preferences hides it for you, but doesn’t take back anything you’ve shared. Existing shared links keep working.