Family Photo Account Handover Checklist for a Self-Hosted Gallery

Do not delete the old family account until ownership, recovery access, device uploads, and a successor restore have all been proven.

A shared album can look complete while the departing user still owns the originals, public links, API tokens, and phone backup history. Inventory those dependencies, create a named successor, test one transfer or reimport path, and disable the old identity before permanent deletion. If the deployed gallery cannot transfer ownership safely, preserve a documented archival account instead of forcing a clean-looking user list.

Inventory ownership, sharing, and recovery duties

List assets owned by the account, private and shared albums, partner-sharing relationships, API tokens, mobile devices, upload folders, public links, and scheduled imports. Separately record who administers the server, holds encryption keys, receives alerts, and can restore the database and originals.

Family sharing discussions often focus on album access and saving device space, as shown by one family sharing and device space. A handover adds a different requirement: browsing a shared album does not prove the successor owns the files, can restore them, or can continue uploads after the old account is disabled.

Export or snapshot the account-related state and verify a current independent backup before changing identities. Stop if the platform cannot identify asset ownership or if deleting the user may cascade to media; the handover must switch to archive-and-reimport or continued dormant ownership instead of guesswork.

Create and test the successor identity

Create a named successor account with its own password and recovery path. Grant only the required role, then test login, private library visibility, shared albums, download of originals, and any administrative task it is expected to own. Keep the old account active during this canary stage.

Use the ZimaSpace workflow for separate family photo accounts to preserve one-person-per-account ownership and intentional sharing. Handover should not collapse the household back into a shared administrator login merely because that seems easier during transition.

Record what the successor can and cannot inherit natively. If albums can be reshared but asset ownership cannot be transferred, keep a manifest of original owner, destination owner, album, date, hash, and reimport result so the application limitation remains visible.

Transfer media and devices without creating duplicates

Use the application-supported ownership transfer when the installed version provides it. Otherwise export originals and relevant metadata, import them to the successor in a canary batch, rebuild album membership deliberately, and compare hashes and counts. Do not delete the old assets merely because the new timeline looks similar.

An Immich feature discussion requesting transfer media ownership request is useful as a scoped warning that ownership transfer has not always been a simple built-in action. Confirm the capability in the deployed release instead of generalizing the discussion into a permanent product limitation.

Sign one phone into the successor, select the intended upload folders, and upload a new photo plus one image already present in history. A pass creates the new asset under the successor without duplicating the historical one; a fail returns the device to the old account while duplicate rules and backup state are investigated.

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Rotate access and complete a reversible deactivation

Move recovery email, second factor, API tokens, scheduled jobs, and alert destinations to named people. Revoke public links that should not survive, remove the old account from new shared albums, and document who now maintains storage, updates, backups, and restore tests.

Disable or lock the old account before deleting it. Restart the gallery, reconnect the migrated phone, and verify uploads, private access, shared albums, downloads, and an isolated restore of successor-owned media across two normal cycles.

Delete only after the platform shows no uniquely owned required assets, the successor passes recovery, and the retention period expires. If ownership remains inseparable from the old user, keep a disabled archival account with documented custody rather than trading a tidy user list for data loss.