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For Linux

A private, offline photo organizer for Linux

Want to organize the photos and videos on your Linux machine without uploading them anywhere? Loshelf is a fast, private, offline photo and video organizer with a native Linux build. It works with the folders you already have, keeps everything on your own disk, and makes even a huge library a pleasure to browse.

100% offline and private

Your photos never leave your machine. No account, no cloud, no uploading, and no tracking.

Works with your existing folders

Loshelf organizes the folders you already have in place, on your home partition, a second disk or an external drive, instead of importing everything into its own library.

A native Linux build

Linux is a first-class platform, not a port. Grab the AppImage for any modern 64-bit distribution, or the .deb for Debian, Ubuntu and Mint.

Photos and videos together

One library for both. Hover-to-play previews, a built-in player, and notes you can pin to a moment.

Powerful search and tags

Tag, rate and favorite your photos, then filter by tag, rating, resolution, orientation and more.

Built for big libraries

Stays fast whether you have a few hundred photos or a million across several drives.

Your whole library, beautifully browsable

Loshelf turns your photo folders into a fast, gorgeous grid you can scale from tiny thumbnails to large previews. Sort, shuffle and scroll through thousands of photos without clicking through folders one at a time in your file manager. Add tags, star ratings and favorites, then filter by tag, rating, resolution and orientation to resurface any shot in seconds.
Photos on a Linux desktop organized in Loshelf's masonry grid

Video that actually works on Linux

Linux photo tools tend to stop at photos. Loshelf handles both, and ships its own decoder, so your videos play in the built-in player without hunting for codec packages, with hover previews in the grid, saved playback positions, and notes you can pin to a specific timestamp.
A video playing in Loshelf's built-in player on Linux

Why not just use digiKam, Shotwell or your file manager?

digiKam is a superb tool if you are a photographer who wants RAW workflows, color management and metadata editing, and it is free. It is also a lot of application to learn if you just want to browse and tag a home collection. Shotwell is simpler, but it is designed around its own import-based library and offers little for video. Your file manager is built for files, not collections: no library-wide search across drives, no filters by rating or resolution, and nothing for previewing video. Loshelf organizes the photos and videos already on your disk, in place, fully offline, with a one-time price and no account.

Questions

Is there a free offline photo organizer for Linux?

Yes. Loshelf has a genuinely free version that covers one library of up to 10,000 files. A one-time $29 (no subscription) unlocks unlimited libraries and files.

How do I organize photos on Linux without the cloud?

Point Loshelf at your photo folders and it builds a private, searchable library right on your machine. It reads your existing folders in place, on any mounted drive, and never uploads anything.

Which distributions does it run on?

The AppImage runs on any modern 64-bit distribution. There is also a .deb package for Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and other Debian-based systems.

How do I install it?

For the AppImage: make it executable (chmod +x, or Properties, Permissions in your file manager) and double-click it. No root, no install. Some distributions need FUSE for AppImages, for example libfuse2 on Ubuntu. For the .deb: open it in your software installer, or run sudo apt install ./loshelf_*.deb.

Does it need an internet connection?

No. Loshelf runs entirely offline. There is no account to create and no connection required to browse, tag or search your library.

How does it handle videos?

Videos sit alongside your photos in the same library. You get hover-to-play previews, a built-in player that remembers where you left off, and notes you can pin to a specific timestamp. Windows and macOS (Apple Silicon) builds are also available.

Try Loshelf free

Free for 1 library of 10,000 files · one-time $29 for unlimited