# Missing images after updating

**URL:** <https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590>\
**Category:** Self-hosting\
**Created:** [May 18, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590 "2025-05-18T00:23:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/1 "2025-05-18T00:23:53Z")

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As per @Cathy_Sarisky’s recommendation, I am attempting to upgrade our site from 5.71.0 to 5.120.0. After updating to the new version, all of our images (featured images, site logo, etc.) cannot be found in the browser. Everything else functions. I’ve been trying to ChatGPT a solution but nothing’s working. Can anyone help?

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**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/3 "2025-05-18T01:15:51Z")

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Not without more info! What specifically is happening? Errors in the browser console? Errors in the Ghost logs?

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**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/5 "2025-05-18T01:38:00Z")

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A post was merged into an existing topic: [Ghost Not Starting Due to content Folder Permissions](https://forum.ghost.org/t/ghost-not-starting-due-to-content-folder-permissions/57494/16)

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**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/6 "2025-05-18T01:28:01Z")

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Sure, sorry about that. Here’s what I get in terminal when I run `ghost update`:

 ![Screenshot 2025-05-17 at 9.21.32 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/ghost2/original/3X/9/d/9d0b93dd665731252d0c4e510dc8790e6265e3e9.png)

I then restart Ghost, upload our theme .zip file & routes.yaml file in the Ghost admin UI.

Everything works but all of the images are gone:

 ![Screenshot 2025-05-17 at 9.25.10 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/ghost2/original/3X/9/a/9a99600c6ee933319db955e327b983125cc7735e.jpeg)

For example if I try to go to [oursite.com/content/images/size/w2400/2025/02/image.png](http://oursite.com/content/images/size/w2400/2025/02/image.png) (one of the blog post feature images) - I just get a “file not found” error.

Strangely, if I run `ghost log`, the events are all from October of 2023, which is when we started the site.

Very confused!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/7 "2025-05-18T01:36:37Z")

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There’s no reason you’d need to upload your theme or routes file again after updating.

But… it looks like there’s a problem with the path file in your config file. Could you please post your config file, minus secrets?

A problem with the path would be consistent with the images being gone, and the logs being wrong, and perhaps needing to load theme and routes, too!

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**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/8 "2025-05-18T01:41:27Z")

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Sure, here’s the config file:

 ![Screenshot 2025-05-17 at 9.39.04 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/ghost2/original/3X/e/b/eb049fdafec6ccafa1c8b9db1670caeae7d3c35c.png)

FYI, there are a few versions of the config file in our /var/www/ghost/ directory:

![Screenshot 2025-05-17 at 9.40.25 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/ghost2/optimized/3X/f/c/fc0331c42dcbed3b168b8058f02f432253d01c6b_2_690x31.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 1:43am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/9 "2025-05-18T01:43:33Z")

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Mine includes this section, which you may want to add, and then restart Ghost:

```auto
  "paths": {
    "contentPath": "/var/www/sws/content"
  },

```

(Obviously, you should replace it with the path to YOUR content.)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 5:23pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/10 "2025-05-18T17:23:49Z")

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Hi Cathy, I added the recommended section to my config file:

 ![Screenshot 2025-05-18 at 1.20.59 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/ghost2/original/3X/f/3/f3e4eb35958f56d86c51d701b42fb89eb3138800.png)

However, when I restart Ghost, this is what I see in the browser:

 ![Screenshot 2025-05-18 at 1.22.11 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/ghost2/original/3X/6/d/6d436d67c43428b84b641c782cac0ed1448a8222.png)

If I go ahead and upload the theme file, I also have to upload the routes file. If I do both, all of the images are gone. This is without updating Ghost – just making the change you suggested to the config file.

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**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/11 "2025-05-18T17:31:46Z")

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Adam,

Do you have a full image from the server from shortly before things went weird? It might be restoring to it, if so. (Many VPS providers offer this, and some even auto-generate it every so often.)

It’s not surprising that the theme isn’t found, because you uploaded it while the content path was missing/mis-set, right?

I think you’re going to need to take a look through your Ghost directories and see if you can figure out where the images actually are. Set the content path to that (if it isn’t nested within a specific version), or move the images folder into the content path.

The post content lives in your database and is likely safe. The images should be in an images folder (with nested year-date folders inside). The theme and routes should be there, too, in themes and settings, iirc. So, assuming you can’t restore the whole server from a recent backup, my best guess is that you want to go looking for the content that should be in the content path, and put it there.

Best guess - YMMV.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/12 "2025-05-18T17:37:51Z")

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Okay Cathy, thanks for the tips. I have backups of the DO droplet and have already rolled it back so that’s not a problem. I just want to fix this so I can get Ghost updated. I’ll post here when I find the solution.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/13 "2025-05-18T17:44:35Z")

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Ok, it looks like the images, theme file, etc. are all in the `/var/www/ghost/current/content` directory.

I changed the config file to include this:

```auto
  "paths": {
    "contentPath": "/var/www/ghost/current/content"
  },

```

After changing the config file and restarting Ghost, the site worked. However, after updating Ghost, I ran into the same issue after restarting - theme and images missing.

What would you recommend doing?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/14 "2025-05-18T19:07:00Z")

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‘current’ isn’t going to be stable over an upgrade. I think it’d be best to move the content folder out of current and into the Ghost root directory (where it normally is). And then specify that by updating your config.production.json file.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adamarice](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/adamarice/32/27044_2.png) [@adamarice](https://forum.ghost.org/u/adamarice)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/15 "2025-05-19T00:31:08Z")

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Whew, finally got this working.

I added the following to my config.production.json file:

```auto
  "paths": {
    "contentPath": "/var/www/ghost/content"
  },

```

… then moved all of the content from `/var/www/ghost/current/content` to `/var/www/ghost/content`.

I then ran `ghost update` and everything went smoothly!

Thanks again for your help @Cathy_Sarisky!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cathy\_Sarisky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.ghost.org/cathy_sarisky/32/25750_2.png) [@Cathy\_Sarisky](https://forum.ghost.org/u/Cathy_Sarisky)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.ghost.org/t/missing-images-after-updating/57590/16 "2025-05-19T00:38:55Z")

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Huzzah. Glad you were able to make it work! :)

And thank you for sponsoring! 🥳