Adding & scanning photos

What it does

RootMap builds its map and library by scanning folders you choose. For each photo it reads GPS and date from EXIF; for each video it reads those from the file's container (via bundled FFmpeg). It makes a thumbnail and records it in a local index. Your original files are never moved or changed.

How to use it

1. Open the Add Photos tab.
2. Check folders in the tree (RootMap scans subfolders too, so your top-level Pictures folder is usually enough).
3. Click Scan Selected Folders. Watch progress on the Activity tab (there's a cancel button). You can keep using RootMap while it scans.
4. When the first scan finishes, RootMap opens the Map. Photos with GPS appear as pins; everything is in the Library. After a scan, RootMap also auto-tags photos by year, folder, and type — see Tags.

Preview a folder: click a folder in the tree to see its photos beside it. Right-click a photo there and choose Delete (to Recycle Bin) to get rid of it; the tree stays open where you were. Folders already in your library show in green.

Leave a folder out: untick a subfolder inside a library folder, then click Apply Exclusions. Scans skip it from then on. RootMap asks whether to keep the photos already indexed from it or take them out of the library; the files themselves stay on disk.

Suggested folders: the top of the Add Photos tab lists places photos usually land that aren't in your library yet — OneDrive Pictures / Camera Roll, iCloud Photos, Dropbox Camera Uploads, and the DCIM folder on a plugged-in camera card — with a rough count. Add & scan adds that folder to your library and scans it; Not now hides the suggestion for good. Counting only lists file names, so online-only cloud files aren't downloaded.

The header shows running totals: indexed (total in the library) and GPS (how many have a location). Long jobs on the Activity tab show how fast they're going and, after the first minute or so, roughly how long is left.

Check for new photos at startup: turn this on in Settings and RootMap looks for new files in your library folders about 20 seconds after it opens, at Gentle speed. It only adds new photos; removing deleted ones is still up to Sync With Disk.

Speed is on the Add Photos tab, above Scan: Gentle (1–2 cores, keeps the machine usable), Balanced (about half your cores, default), or Fast (all cores).

Resume: scans are resumable. If you cancel or close mid-scan, re-running picks up where it left off — already-indexed photos aren't reprocessed. Re-scanning a folder later only adds new photos; nothing is duplicated.

Keeping your library in sync

If a folder in your library changes over time — like a Dropbox or OneDrive Camera Uploads folder where new photos arrive and old ones get deleted — use Sync With Disk (Add Photos tab) to reconcile the library in one click:

• New files in your library folders are added (same as re-scanning).
• Deleted files are removed from the library, along with their thumbnails, faces, and tags.

A deletion is only removed when the folder it lived in still exists. If a whole drive is offline or a cloud folder hasn't synced yet, nothing is removed — so an unplugged drive can't wipe your library. To clear out folders that are gone entirely, use Remove Missing Folders instead.

Cloud-only ("online-only") files that haven't downloaded yet still count as present, so they're never mistaken for deletions. Your original photo files on disk are never modified.

Troubleshooting

• Photos scanned but none on the map — they probably have no GPS data. See Photos don't appear on the map.
• Scan is slow — set the speed preset to Fast, or just let it run in the background; it's resumable.

Related

• The map · Filtering & export · Tags