"Error Loading Image" instead of thumbnail on all new images

[10caret100]

I have searched the existing issues, both open and closed, to make sure this is not a duplicate report.

• Yes

The bug

All of a sudden, no intended or known changes to the Immich Docker stack, and I am getting this in the Web interface of the Immich Server on all new syncs from my iPhone (the images/videos show OK on my iPhone):

If I open any of these images, I get this:

I tried refreshing the thumbnails - no go.
I deleted all the affected images in Immich, then permanently deleted them from the Immich trash, then resynced them from my iPhone Immich app - no go.

Logs don't show any errors.

The OS that Immich Server is running on

Docker inside ProxMox LXC

Version of Immich Server

v3.1.0

Version of Immich Mobile App

v3.1.0

Platform with the issue

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

Device make and model

iPhone 12 Pro

Your docker-compose.yml content

#
# WARNING: To install Immich, follow our guide: https://docs.immich.app/install/docker-compose
#
# Make sure to use the docker-compose.yml of the current release:
#
# https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
#
# The compose file on main may not be compatible with the latest release.

name: immich

services:
  immich-server:
    container_name: immich_server
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}
    # extends:
    #   file: hwaccel.transcoding.yml
    #   service: cpu # set to one of [nvenc, quicksync, rkmpp, vaapi, vaapi-wsl] for accelerated transcoding
    volumes:
      # Do not edit the next line. If you want to change the media storage location on your system, edit the value of UPLOAD_LOCATION in the .env file
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/data
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /mnt/ext_media/laptop/ext_f_drive/pcloud/:/mnt/ext_media/laptop/ext_f_drive/pcloud/:ro
    env_file:
      - stack.env
    ports:
      - '2283:2283'
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - database
    restart: always
    healthcheck:
      disable: false

  immich-machine-learning:
    container_name: immich_machine_learning
    # For hardware acceleration, add one of -[armnn, cuda, rocm, openvino, rknn] to the image tag.
    # Example tag: ${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}-cuda
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}-openvino
    # extends: # uncomment this section for hardware acceleration - see https://docs.immich.app/features/ml-hardware-acceleration
    #   file: hwaccel.ml.yml
    #   service: cpu # set to one of [armnn, cuda, rocm, openvino, openvino-wsl, rknn] for accelerated inference - use the `-wsl` version for WSL2 where applicable
    env_file:
      - stack.env
    restart: always
    healthcheck:
      disable: false
    device_cgroup_rules:
      - 'c 226:* rmw'
    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri
    volumes:
      - /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb
      - model-cache:/cache
      
  redis:
    container_name: immich_redis
    image: docker.io/valkey/valkey:9@sha256:3b55fbaa0cd93cf0d9d961f405e4dfcc70efe325e2d84da207a0a8e6d8fde4f9
    healthcheck:
      test: redis-cli ping || exit 1
    restart: always

  database:
    container_name: immich_postgres
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/postgres:14-vectorchord0.4.3-pgvectors0.2.0@sha256:bcf63357191b76a916ae5eb93464d65c07511da41e3bf7a8416db519b40b1c23
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${DB_DATABASE_NAME}
      POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS: '--data-checksums'
      # Uncomment the DB_STORAGE_TYPE: 'HDD' var if your database isn't stored on SSDs
      # DB_STORAGE_TYPE: 'HDD'
    volumes:
      # Do not edit the next line. If you want to change the database storage location on your system, edit the value of DB_DATA_LOCATION in the .env file
      - ${DB_DATA_LOCATION}:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    shm_size: 128mb
    restart: always
    healthcheck:
      disable: false

volumes:
  model-cache:

Your .env content

UPLOAD_LOCATION=/mnt/immich_data/library
DB_DATA_LOCATION=/mnt/immich_data/db
IMMICH_VERSION=v3
DB_PASSWORD=XPYJqQ36Dxbid3wnvG2EO889R+i4bA7YpsaQ9SgnJ+A=
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich

Reproduction steps

1. Take new photos/videos in iPhone
2. Wait a bit or force sync to Immich Server by opening Immich App on iPhone
3. Go to the Web interface for the Immich server
4. All newly synced images show "Error loading image" as thumbnails and when opened to be viewed. All newly synced videos show "Error loading image" as thumbnails but show OK when opened to be viewed.

Relevant log output

Additional information

No response

[bo0tzz]

Can you set the log level to verbose, rerun thumbnail generation for one of these assets from the menu, and post the resulting logs?

[10caret100]

Here's part of the log when I run the "Generate Thumbnails" job manually, which I think is directly related to my issue. The entire Immich Server docker container restarts itself on these ERRORS. It would then continue the job, encounter another error with the next image to thumbnailize, and the container would restart itself yet again.

[Nest] 7  - 08/11/2026, 12:42:53 PM VERBOSE [Microservices:MediaService] Thumbnail generation for image 1522e2f7-5e84-4301-8e33-8798e996d12b /mnt/ext_media/laptop/ext_f_drive/pcloud/1/Backup/3.jpg

[Nest] 7  - 08/11/2026, 12:42:53 PM   ERROR [Microservices:{"id":"150f4455-62f9-433e-879e-d2ac7a791910"}] Unable to run job handler (AssetGenerateThumbnails): Error: vipspng: libpng read error

Error: vipspng: libpng read error

    at Sharp.toBuffer (/usr/src/app/server/node_modules/.pnpm/sharp@0.34.5/node_modules/sharp/lib/output.js:163:17)

    at MediaRepository.decodeImage (/usr/src/app/server/dist/repositories/media.repository.js:109:68)

    at MediaService.decodeImage (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/media.service.js:188:59)

    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:104:5)

    at async MediaService.extractOriginalImage (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/media.service.js:199:44)

    at async MediaService.generateImageThumbnails (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/media.service.js:215:32)

    at async MediaService.handleGenerateThumbnails (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/media.service.js:155:25)

    at async JobService.onJobRun (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/job.service.js:78:30)

    at async EventRepository.onEvent (/usr/src/app/server/dist/repositories/event.repository.js:91:13)

    at async /usr/src/app/server/node_modules/.pnpm/bullmq@5.80.5/node_modules/bullmq/dist/cjs/classes/worker.js:589:32

[10caret100]

Here's a different call stack from the log:

`[Nest] 7 - 08/11/2026, 12:42:53 PM WARN [Microservices:MediaService] Asset 157b5ce4-7807-49a0-ae96-09b266f2a89c has transparency but the configured format is jpeg which does not support it, consider using a format that does, such as webp

[Nest] 7 - 08/11/2026, 12:42:53 PM ERROR [Microservices:{"id":"157b5ce4-7807-49a0-ae96-09b266f2a89c"}] Unable to run job handler (AssetGenerateThumbnails): Error: Processed image is too large for the WebP format

Error: Processed image is too large for the WebP format

at Sharp.toFile (/usr/src/app/server/node_modules/.pnpm/sharp@0.34.5/node_modules/sharp/lib/output.js:90:19)

at MediaRepository.generateThumbnail (/usr/src/app/server/dist/repositories/media.repository.js:138:14)

at MediaService.generateImageThumbnails (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/media.service.js:241:34)

at async MediaService.handleGenerateThumbnails (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/media.service.js:155:25)

at async JobService.onJobRun (/usr/src/app/server/dist/services/job.service.js:78:30)

at async EventRepository.onEvent (/usr/src/app/server/dist/repositories/event.repository.js:91:13)

at async /usr/src/app/server/node_modules/.pnpm/bullmq@5.80.5/node_modules/bullmq/dist/cjs/classes/worker.js:589:32

`

[tabahi]

I have the same issue after updating to v3.1. The uploads from last 2 weeks show "Error loading image". All older photos load fine.

In the logs it seems, the database is directing towards a 2-digit hex directory that doesn't exist. Regentrating thumbnails doesn't fix it.

[10caret100]

Check your "Generate Thumbnails" job and make sure it is not paused. Mine was paused and after I started it again the "Error loading image" overlay issue was fixed. I have another problem related to WebP format (see above). Hopefully someone will take a look and express an opinion.