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Upgrading Paperless NGX Dedupe

Upgrade the application image, then let it apply its local SQLite migrations at startup. It does not change Paperless documents during an upgrade.

Before upgrading

  1. Download a database backup from Settings > Database backup and store it somewhere protected.
  2. Read the release notes for any configuration changes.
  3. Keep the existing .env file. Connection credentials remain environment-owned and are not stored in the browser or the database backup.

Docker Compose

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
docker compose ps

The container starts as the configured PUID and PGID (both default to 1000) and upgrades the local schema before serving traffic. Do not run multiple application containers against the same SQLite file.

After upgrading

  1. Open the dashboard and confirm Paperless connected in Readiness.
  2. Check Jobs for a failed migration, sync, or analysis job.
  3. Run a normal sync if the release notes call for one, then run duplicate analysis if it is marked stale.
  4. Review suggestions and duplicate plans before any Paperless mutation. Scheduled AI remains off by default and AI output is always review-only.

Rollback

Roll back the image tag first. If the older version cannot read the migrated database, stop the application and restore the SQLite backup offline using the backup and restore guide. Restoring the Dedupe database does not revert Paperless documents; reviewed apply/revert records remain the appropriate path for those changes.