# Organizing your media
import { Image } from 'astro:assets';
import overview from '../assets/gallery-overview.webp';
import createBoard from '../assets/gallery-create-board.png';
import boardFilters from '../assets/gallery-board-filters.png';
import searchHelp from '../assets/gallery-search-help.png';
import semanticSearch from '../assets/gallery-semantic-search.png';
import selection from '../assets/gallery-selection.webp';
The **Gallery** holds every image and video you generate or upload. It is organized into **boards**. Every board belongs either to a project — each has an **Inbox** for new results, plus any boards you add to it — or to the **Library**, whose boards are available from every project and include the always-present **Uncategorized** board. From the Gallery you choose where new results go, find media by its prompt or by what it shows, and move, star, download or delete it.
## The Gallery at a glance
The Gallery has three parts:
* **The header** shows the selected board after *Gallery /*. Click the board name to hide or show the board list. The gear button opens the [Gallery settings](/users-guide/gallery/gallery-reference/#gallery-settings).
* **The board list** has a search field (**Search or create boards**), a **Filter & sort boards** button, and the boards themselves, grouped under the open project's name, **Library** and, when turned on, **Other projects**, **By Date** and **Archived**. Each group can be collapsed; the project group shows how many boards it has, its Inbox included, the **Library** how many it has besides **Uncategorized**, and **Other projects** how many projects it lists.
* **The media area** shows the contents of the selected board, on two tabs:
* **Media** — images and videos generated in InvokeAI.
* **Uploads** — images, videos and audio you have uploaded.
Above the grid are the **Search items** field, the **Starred only** filter, the **Filter & sort media** button and the upload button.
When the Gallery is narrow, or docked in a side rail, the board list sits above the media grid. When it is wide, the board list becomes a column on the left. Drag the divider between them to resize the list.
Each board shows its cover image, its name and a count such as **76 | 12**: 76 items on the Media tab and 12 on the Uploads tab. A project's Inbox is pinned at the top of its group with an inbox icon. On a multi-user installation, boards other people let you open are listed under **Shared with me**, each with its owner and what you can do, such as **Ana · Can view**; administrators also see **Other users' boards**.
## Boards
### Creating a board
Type a name into **Search or create boards**. If no board has that name, a **Create board "…" in …** row appears in both the open project's group and the **Library** group; click the one where the board should live, or press **Enter** to create it in the project. Each of those two groups also has a **+** button, which asks for the board's name and creates it in that group; anything already typed in the search field is filled in for you.
The new board is selected straight away, so it also becomes the destination for new results. A board's cover is chosen automatically: its newest starred item, or its newest item if nothing is starred.
### Choosing where new media goes
**New results go to the board named under Saving to in the Gallery header**, by default the open project's **Inbox**, which the board list marks with a crosshair-style icon. While **Follow the selected board** is off, browsing other boards, **Find in Gallery**, a picker's **Open Gallery** and results revealed from other apps never change it. The destination is fixed when you press Invoke, so you can change it and queue more work while earlier jobs are still running, without redirecting them.
* To send results somewhere else, open **Saving to** and choose a board, or choose **Save new results here** from a board's menu. New generations, Canvas saves, pasted media and the results of workflow nodes whose **Board** is set to **Auto** all go there. **Stop saving new results here** on that board's menu goes back to the Inbox.
* To have results follow whichever board you are viewing, turn on **Follow the selected board** in the **Saving to** menu or in the [Gallery settings](/users-guide/gallery/gallery-reference/#gallery-settings). While it is on, a date board sends results to the project's Inbox, because date boards are only a view. Choosing a board under **Saving to** turns it off.
* If the destination is a board someone else shares with you that you can only view, results go to the project's Inbox, which the board list marks with that icon instead.
* If you archive or delete the board results go to, they go back to the Inbox.
* The first time you browse away from the destination, a notice says that browsing does not move new results.
Uploads made in the Gallery go to the selected board; a board you can only view takes no uploads.
### Finding, filtering and sorting boards
Typing in **Search or create boards** narrows the list to boards whose names contain the text. Selecting a board clears the search.
The **Filter & sort boards** button beside the search field controls which boards are listed and in what order:
* **Board visibility**
* **Date boards** — adds a **By Date** group with one board per day on which you created media. Date boards are read-only views: you cannot upload to them, drop media on them, or rename or delete them.
* **Archived boards** — adds an **Archived** group listing the boards you have archived.
* **Other projects' boards** — adds an **Other projects** group with your other projects' boards, grouped by project. They are hidden by default to keep the list focused; the open project's boards are always shown. Click a project's name, or focus it and press **Enter** or **Space**, to collapse or expand that project's boards on their own. While you search the boards, every project with a matching board is shown expanded, and collapsed projects stay collapsed afterwards. You can still drag a board onto a collapsed project's name to move it there.
* **Sort by** — **Created** (the default) or **Name**, in descending or ascending order. Each project's **Inbox** and the Library's **Uncategorized** always stay at the top of their group.
These choices, and which projects under **Other projects** are collapsed, are saved with the project, so each project can list boards differently.
### Renaming, archiving, downloading and deleting boards
Right-click a board, or hover over it and click its **⋯** button, to rename, move, archive, download or delete it. [Managing boards](/users-guide/gallery/gallery-reference/#managing-boards) in the Gallery Reference describes each action, including what deleting a board does to its media.
## Finding media in a board
Search, the starred filter and the sort order apply to the selected board and the current tab (Media or Uploads). A search can also look in every board; see [Searching all boards](#searching-all-boards).
### Searching by metadata
Type into **Search items** to find media whose generation metadata contains the text, such as a word from the prompt, a model name or a seed. The search is not case-sensitive and matches the text exactly as typed, spaces included. Media without metadata, such as most uploads, can only be found by date.
To limit results by date, add a date token. The **?** button in the search field shows the syntax:
* `from:` — on or after a day, e.g. `from:2026-07-14`
* `to:` — on or before a day, e.g. `to:yesterday`
* `date:` — a single day, e.g. `date:today`
Days can be written as `YYYY-MM-DD`, `today`, `yesterday`, or relative to today: `7d`, `2w` and `1m` mean 7 days, 2 weeks and 1 month ago. For example, `lighthouse from:2w` finds media from the last two weeks whose metadata mentions a lighthouse. A token that cannot be read is shown in red.
### Searching by content
When image indexing is turned on, the Gallery can also search by what media *shows*, whatever the prompt said: find "sunset on the beach" even in images that were never prompted with those words. This **semantic search** uses the same index as the [Image Map](/users-guide/image-map/introduction/). To start indexing, install the `DFN2B-CLIP-ViT-L-14-39B` model from the starter models; no restart is needed. See [Activating the Image Map](/users-guide/image-map/introduction/#activating-the-image-map). When indexing is turned off, the semantic search button is not shown.
* **Search by text.** Click the sparkle button at the right end of the search field (**Search semantically**). The field changes to **Describe what to find…**; describe what you are looking for. Any text already in the field is used straight away.
* **Search by image.** Drag an image onto the search field: a thumbnail from the Gallery, an image from the Preview, an image file from your computer, or an image from another browser tab. The Gallery then shows the media most similar to it, labelled **Similar to …**.
Results are ranked by similarity, most similar first, up to 500 items from the selected board, or from every board with [All boards](#searching-all-boards). Videos are included unless the media type filter hides them. The Media and Uploads tabs, the sort order, the starred filter and date tokens do not apply to ranked results.
To leave semantic search, click the **✕** in the search field, click the sparkle button again (**Exit semantic search**), or switch tabs. If the index model is not installed, the Gallery says so when you try to search. Archived boards are not indexed.
### Searching all boards
While a search is active, by metadata or by content, an **All boards** toggle appears inside the search field, beside the field's other buttons; its tooltip says where the search looks (**Search in: This board** or **Search in: All boards**). Turn it on to search everywhere you can see: your **Uncategorized** media and every board you can open that is not archived, including boards in other projects and boards others share with you. Everything else works as it does on one board: the tabs, the starred and media type filters, the sort order and date tokens apply to a metadata search as before. Selecting a result keeps you in the search: the arrow keys and the Preview step through its results.
Searching all boards changes neither the selected board nor where new results go. You cannot upload while it is on, since the search has no board of its own. Clearing the search, or anything else that clears it, such as **Find in Gallery**, returns it to **This board**.
### Sorting and filtering
The star button (**Starred only**) shows only starred items. The **Filter & sort media** button beside it opens a menu with two groups:
* **Show** chooses which kinds of media the Gallery shows: **Both** (the default), **Images only**, or **Videos only**. The button is highlighted while it hides one kind.
* **Sort by** orders media by creation time, **Newest** first (the default) or **Oldest** first.
The media type choice is saved with the project and also applies to the [Image Map](/users-guide/image-map/introduction/). If a board has nothing of the chosen kind, the Gallery says so and offers **Show all media**. Revealing an item the filter hides, for example with **Find in Gallery** from the Preview, switches the filter back to **Both**. The Gallery picker that chooses media for other features always lists both kinds.
### Browsing large boards
The media grid continues through the full listing as you scroll, including older items beyond the first few screens. You can also drag the scrollbar to jump to a distant part of the list; the Gallery loads items near that position without first loading every item in between. Scroll back up to browse earlier positions.
While a part of the list loads, its tile positions stay in place. If one page cannot be loaded, the Gallery marks its first empty tile with an error and **Retry**, while keeping nearby loaded items available.
## Starring favorites
Star an item to keep it at hand. Hover over a thumbnail and click the star in its corner, choose **Star image** (or **Star video**) from its menu, or select items and press **.** (period). Starred thumbnails keep a yellow star.
Starred items are gathered in a **Starred** section at the top of the board, above the rest of the media, which can be collapsed. If there are more than fit, **Show all** switches on the **Starred only** filter. Starring also affects the board's cover, which is its newest starred item.
## Uploading media
Click the upload button at the right of the tab bar (**Upload media to …**) and choose files, or drag files from your computer onto the media grid. An empty board also shows **Drop media here or click to upload**. Uploads go to the selected board. Uploaded images appear on its **Uploads** tab and uploaded videos on **Media**; if nothing you uploaded lands on the tab you are viewing, the Gallery switches to the tab that received it and selects the newest upload. You cannot upload to a date board.
You can upload:
* **Images** — PNG, JPEG and WebP.
* **Videos** — stored and played as H.264/AAC MP4. H.264 video in another container, such as an iPhone `.mov` recorded as "Most Compatible", is repackaged almost instantly. Other formats, such as HEVC, ProRes, VP9 and `.wmv`, are converted, which takes roughly as long as the clip on a typical CPU. 10-bit HDR footage is converted to 8-bit without tone mapping, so it will look flatter than the original.
* **Audio** — MP3, M4A, WAV, FLAC, OGG and similar files become a video that shows the waveform. It behaves like any other video, for example as the soundtrack for [audio-to-video](/users-guide/video-generation/introduction/) generation.
You can also paste an image or video from the clipboard while no text field has focus. A dialog asks whether to upload it to the Gallery, add it to the Canvas, or use it as a reference image.
## Selecting, moving and deleting media
Click an item to select it, and double-click it (or press **Enter** while its thumbnail has keyboard focus) to open it in the Preview, in the center of the workbench. **Shift**-click selects a range, and **Ctrl**-click (**Cmd**-click on macOS) adds or removes single items. **Ctrl+A** selects everything loaded on the page. Hold **Alt** (**Option** on macOS) while clicking an image to compare it with the selected one.
The selection belongs to what the Gallery shows: switching boards or tabs, typing or clearing a search, or changing the starred or media type filter clears it, while the item open in the Preview stays there. Keyboard actions such as **Delete** act only on items listed in the current view.
While anything is selected, a bar at the bottom of the Gallery shows how many items are selected, with buttons to clear the selection, star the items, move them to another board, download them, or delete them. You can also clear the selection with the **×** after the item's name in the Preview's title. Starring, moving and archiving report what they did with an **Undo** button, which puts each item back as it was before that action, even if you changed it again since.
### Moving media to another board
Drag items onto a board in the board list; if the list is hidden, it opens while you drag. You can also use **Move to board** in an item's menu, or the move button in the selection bar; both offer the same boards, leaving out archived boards and the board the items are already on. Moving never copies: each item is on one board at a time. **Move to Uncategorized** takes items off their board; it is offered while any of them is on one.
### Deleting media
Press **Delete** (or **Backspace**), choose **Delete image**, **Delete video** or **Delete selection** from the menu, or use the delete button in the selection bar. Deleting permanently removes the items from every board and from disk, and cannot be undone. A confirmation asks first, counting the images and videos and showing their thumbnails. When you delete a single item you can see, you can tick **Don't ask again when deleting one item** and confirm to stop asking for those (cancelling leaves it on); deleting several items, or an item that is not on screen, always asks. You can turn the confirmation back on, or off, with **Confirm image deletion** in Settings under Gallery.
Before deleting, InvokeAI checks what still uses the items, and the confirmation shows **Checking where this media is used…** until it knows. It then says how many of the items are in use, such as **3 of these 5 images are still in use**, and lists where:
* **This project** and your other projects, with the places in each: canvas layers, staged canvas results, canvas snapshots, reference images, the upscale or video input, project workflows, and **Elsewhere in the project** for anything else in the project that refers to them. A project that could not be opened to check is listed with the number of items it holds.
* Workflows saved in your Library, the legacy editor's saved state, and projects kept for repair.
* Your queued or running jobs that use the items. Those jobs fail if you delete the media.
* **Other accounts' work**, on a server with several accounts: how many items other people's projects, workflows or jobs use, without saying whose.
When something uses the items, the confirmation always appears, even if you turned confirmations off; deleting a single visible item without confirmation waits a few seconds for the check and still asks when it finds a use or cannot finish. **Delete** stays available, so you can delete anyway, and anything that used the media then points at a missing file. In the projects InvokeAI opens to check, a Gallery selection or image search, the recent results strip, the compare image, a workflow's last run and the last submitted Generate, Upscale or Video graph do not count as uses; neither do this session's queue, run log and undo history. A project open in this tab is checked as you have it now, unsaved changes included; if it was saved from another tab or device since this tab last loaded or saved it, the saved version is checked as well, and a use in either counts; if the saved version cannot be checked, the project keeps every item the server found in it, with a note saying so. A project it could not open to check (it is very large, could not be read, or is past the few it opens) is listed with every item it mentions, these included, and so is other accounts' work. If the check cannot reach the server, or too many items are selected to check them all, the confirmation says so: only the projects open in this tab were checked. When the check fails, **Retry** runs it again. With confirmations off, a deletion that needs to ask while another confirmation is open is not carried out, and a notice says to answer the open one first, or to wait for a deletion already under way.
If deleting is interrupted, InvokeAI cleans up any leftover files the next time it starts.
## Related pages
* [Gallery Reference](/users-guide/gallery/gallery-reference/) — the board and media menus, Gallery settings and keyboard shortcuts.
* [Image Map](/users-guide/image-map/introduction/) — explore your whole gallery as a map of similar images.
* [Image Storage Maintenance](/users-guide/gallery/image-storage-maintenance/) — for administrators: reorganize how image files are stored on disk.
* [Intermediates](/users-guide/image-generation/intermediates/) — reclaim space used by temporary files that never reached the Gallery.