AW: Question: How to move photos to another drive while retaining the Digikam database

Hi all,

the job is done.

Procedure:
a) Copy (16h)
b) Copy of Database as Backup
c) DigiKam-Collection-Update - then shutdown of DigiKam
d) rename of origin-location-folder, so it cannot be found
e) Restart DigiKam an Check of access to several Pictures and faces.

Success.
The Update ist vera easy and takes effectly no time - a rescan is not done. Afdter Restart the rescan is successful.

Thanks for your help!

Regards
Johannes

________________________________
Von: Digikam-users <[email protected]> im Auftrag von Maik Qualmann <[email protected]>
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 01. Oktober 2025 21:59
Bis: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Betreff: Re: Question: How to move photos to another drive while retaining the Digikam database

It is better to copy the images externally, in order to avoid unnecessarily
bloating the database with duplicate image information.

Maik

Am Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2025, 21:40:49 Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit schrieb
Sebastian Beer:
> You can perform the copy task within DigiKam. Then the database will be
> correct afterwards without any further action.
>
> Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
>
> Sebastian Beer
>
> > Am 01.10.2025 um 21:35 schrieb Maik Qualmann <[email protected]>:
> >
> > Yes, of course, the collection must be copied to the new drive
> > beforehand, and the folder structure must be the same. The root path can
> > be different, but the underlying folders must be the same as before.
> >
> > Maik
> >
> > Am Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2025, 21:26:51 Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit
> > schrieb
> >
> > Sveinn í Felli:
> >> Yo would first copy the files over, isn't it?
> >>
> >> Sveinn í Felli
> >>
> >> Þann 1.10.2025 19:07, skrifaði Maik Qualmann:
> >>> Simply go to the digiKam settings under Collections and use the "update"
> >>> function for the relevant collection (tool button with the round circle
> >>> icon). Process the dialogs according to the new collection; usually,
> >>> only
> >>> the new path needs to be set. Even if the path doesn't change, process
> >>> the dialogs; the drive UUID will be updated accordingly.
> >>>
> >>> If you are unsure, make a copy of the digikam4.db file beforehand.
> >>>
> >>> Maik
> >>>
> >>> Am Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2025, 20:42:16 Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit
> >>> schrieb
> >>>
> >>> Johannes Stephany:
> >>>> Hello,
> >>>> I'm new here and not sure if this is the right place to ask my
> >>>> question:
> >>>> I want to move my photos from one drive to another—a 1:1 copy. I want
> >>>> to
> >>>> keep the DigiKam database with everything in it. How do I go about
> >>>> reconfiguring DigiKam after copying without too much effort?
> >>>>
> >>>> If this question isn't appropriate here, where can I ask it?
> >>>> Best regards,
> >>>> Johannes