Immich has several ways to share photos with family, and the right choice depends on what you want to share and whether relatives have accounts on your server. Use a shared album for selected photos and collaboration, partner sharing for a chosen user to view and download your library, or a public link for recipients without Immich accounts. A newer people-sharing feature was announced for rollout in 2026, but check your installed version before relying on it.
Choose the sharing method that matches your recipient
Immich’s sharing options are not interchangeable. Shared albums and partner sharing are for users on the same Immich server; public links are designed for people who do not have an account there. The choice also determines whether you share selected items or a broader part of your library. Immich’s sharing documentation describes these options.
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| Option | Who can receive it | What you share | Recipient access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared album | Users on the same Immich instance | A selected album | Viewer (read-only) or editor (read/write); editors can add their own photos and videos |
| Partner sharing | A chosen user on the same instance | Your entire library | Can view and download assets |
| Public link | Anyone with the link; an Immich account is not required | Selected photos or videos, or an album | Depends on the link’s configured settings, which can include an expiration date, password protection, and permitted-action controls |
| People sharing | Users in a cluster group, according to Immich’s rollout announcement | All people | Read or write permissions; availability depends on the installed release |
Share selected photos with a family album
Use a shared album when relatives have accounts on your Immich server and you want to collect a particular event, trip, or set of pictures in one place. You can assign viewer access for read-only sharing or editor access when recipients should be able to contribute their own photos or videos. This keeps the collaboration focused on that album rather than opening up your whole library.
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Give one person access to your library
Partner sharing is the documented option when you want a chosen user on the same Immich instance to view and download your entire library. It is broader than sharing one album, so decide whether library-wide access is appropriate before enabling it.
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Share with someone who has no Immich account
Create a public link when the recipient is outside your server’s user list. Immich supports links to selected photos or videos and to albums, with options such as expiration, password protection, and controls over permitted actions. The URL itself functions as a secret that makes guessing the link difficult, according to the documentation; that is different from access restricted to named users on your instance. Treat anyone who obtains the link as a potential recipient, and set the available protections to suit the material.
What changed with people sharing?
Immich’s September 30, 2026 recap described cross-user people sharing as available in release-candidate builds and expected in v3.3.0 the following week. The announcement says users in a cluster group can be given access to all people, with read or write permissions that work in both directions. That timing is an expectation stated in the recap, not confirmation that stable v3.3.0 had shipped. The earlier v3.2.0 release post listed cross-user people features among its highlights, but that alone does not establish the stable availability of the newer sharing workflow. Check the release and interface you actually run before following version-specific instructions. Immich Team’s September recap and its v3.2.0 release post provide the dated rollout context.
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- Share one collection and let family contribute: choose a shared album and assign editor access.
- Share your complete library with a particular server user: choose partner sharing.
- Send selected media to someone without an Immich account: use a public link and configure its protections.
- Share people across users: first confirm that your installed version includes the feature and the relevant permissions.
All of these options assume Immich is running on a server that you can access and that the media has been uploaded there; see the Immich quick start for the server and upload basics.
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