If you have owned an iPhone for a long time, it is likely that you have accumulated a large number of photos and videos in your photo library. These photos and videos may hold great value for you as they capture special moments and memories with your loved ones. Regardless of the reason, you may not want to delete them.
Over time, your photo app may become disorganized. But do not worry! We have some tips to share with you that will help you easily organize your photo library with just a few clicks.
Make the most of your Albums
The photo app comes with a built-in feature that automatically creates a collection of smart albums to help you keep your photos organized. While these albums may not be perfect and the iPhone does not handle all the organizing for you, they still serve as a useful way to quickly find photos you thought were lost. To view all your albums:
Open the photo app and go to the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen. From there, you can scroll down to see all your albums, including those categorized by important people and places. If you scroll further, you will find additional albums for specific things like screenshots or hidden photos, which we will discuss later.
Get rid of bad photos
We all have bad photos that we will not use or even look at. Sometimes we take a photo of a phone number or important things that we do not need to keep in the long run, but later forget to delete them. There may also be blurry photos, old photos that are no longer needed, or those memes that are automatically saved from different social media apps that no one sees.
To start deleting many of these photos, you can open the photo app and tap on Select in the top right corner of your screen. Then, tap on all the photos you want to get rid of and click on the trash can icon at the bottom of your screen. Click Delete to confirm your decision.
Do not worry, all the photos you delete go straight to the Recently Deleted album, which you can find in the Albums tab. From here, you can restore any photos you have deleted in the last 30 days; after that, they will be permanently removed from your photo library.
Create your own albums
As mentioned, the albums created by the photo app may not be perfect, but the good news is that you can create your own albums and manually add the photos you want. To do so:
◉ Open the photo app.
◉ Select the Albums tab at the bottom of your screen.
◉ Press the + symbol in the top right corner of your screen.
◉ Choose New Album.
◉ Enter the name of the album and select Save.
◉ Finally, select the photos and videos you want to add.
◉ Later on, you will be able to add more photos to your new album.
Use the For You tab
The photo app includes a For You tab, which gathers all the important memories that your iPhone deems noteworthy. It presents occasions or different topics, including photos you have taken of yourself, loved ones, and friends.
The photo app takes care of creating these moments for you automatically. To access them, simply click on the For You option located at the bottom of the screen. You will be able to view everything the photos consider worth remembering or sharing.
While you may not personally organize your photos, this feature provides a convenient way to discover moments that you may have quickly forgotten.
Search for any desired image
If you possess an iPhone for an extended period, it is likely that you have amassed a substantial number of photos and videos in your personal photo library. These visual memories hold great value to you as they capture special moments and cherished memories with your loved ones. Regardless of the reason, you may not wish to delete them.
Over time, your photo application may become disorganized. However, there is no need to worry! We have some tips to share with you that will help you easily organize your personal photo library with just a few clicks.
Backup everything to the cloud
If you have many memories that you don't want to lose, it is best to make backup copies of your photos and videos to the cloud. Thanks to iCloud, you can store all the photos and videos you capture on your iPhone. This also allows you to access your photos from other Apple devices and even on the web through the iCloud website. To start using iCloud, you need to do the following:
◉ Open Settings.
◉ Select your name at the top of the screen.
◉ Go to iCloud.
◉ Select Photos.
◉ Turn on iCloud Photos.
◉ You can also change some other settings to better manage storage.
Quickly locate photos by date
The optimal way to find photos from specific vacations or dates that you remember is to view all your photos in your library by months, days, or even years.
All you have to do is open the Photos app, then go to the Library tab at the bottom corner, and choose Years, Months, or Days, to easily scroll to a specific time period you're thinking of.
If you want to see your older photos, you can tap the top of your screen. The Photos app will automatically return to your oldest photos. To return to your most recent photos, tap the Library tab once, and your iPhone will take you to the bottom of your library.
Select your favorite people
If you regularly take photos of your close friends or family members, you can unlock many powerful features by allowing the Photos app to recognize these people.
The Photos app uses facial recognition technology to "recognize" when a person appears in your photos, and it does all this on your iPhone, so there's no need to worry about privacy. Once you've identified someone, you'll be able to quickly find all the photos they appear in.
◉ Open the Photos app, and select the Albums tab at the bottom.
◉ Scroll down and, under People & Places, choose People.
◉ Select the person's face.
◉ Choose Add Name at the top of your screen.
◉ Enter the person's name and select Next in the top left, then Done to finish.
After naming the people in a few of your photos, your iPhone will also use this information to create Memories in the For You tab based on the important people in your life.
Add locations to your photos
The Photos app uses the location where you took your photos to help organize them into albums and the For You tab. This is done automatically for any photos you capture using the iPhone's Camera app as long as location services are enabled, but you can also manually set or add a location for photos imported from other cameras. Here's how to add a location to a photo:
◉ Open the Photos app and tap on the photo you want.
◉ With the photo open, scroll down and choose Add Location.
◉ Enter the location in the search bar.
◉ You'll get a list of results. Select the location you want to add.
You'll be able to search for these photos by their location afterwards. The Photos app also uses this information to create Memories in the For You tab for things like vacations and other trips to interesting places.
Adjust the date and time
There's one more thing you can try, which is to edit the date and time of the photos you took. This information should already be present for the photos you took on your iPhone, but it may be missing or incorrect for older photos. To do this, you need to:
◉ Open the photo you want.
◉ Tap the three dots in the top corner of your screen.
◉ Tap Adjust Date & Time.
◉ Choose the date and time you want.
◉ When finished, tap Adjust in the top corner.
Add photos to your albums
As mentioned before, you can continue to add photos to your albums even after creating them. This will make it really easy to find all your photos from the same event or date. To add photos to your album, you need to:
◉ Open the photo you want.
◉ Tap the three-dot button in the top-right corner.
◉ Tap Add to Album.
◉ Choose the album you want to add the photo to.
If you haven't done so already, you can also create a new album directly from the Add to Album screen.
Add captions to your photos
Adding a caption to any of your photos will make it easier to remember what happened when you took that photo. Not only that, but captions will also make it easy for your iPhone to find these photos when you search for them.
◉ Open the photo you want to add a caption to.
◉ With the photo open, scroll down.
◉ Select Add a Caption.
◉ Enter the caption you want.
◉ When finished, choose Done in the top-right corner of your screen.
Get rid of duplicates
Whether it's memes or photos that people share in different groups, you're bound to find duplicate photos in your library. It's annoying, but your iPhone can help you quickly get rid of them. Here's how:
◉ Open the Photos app.
◉ Select the Albums tab at the bottom of your screen.
◉ Scroll down and choose Duplicates.
◉ Select the duplicates you want to delete and tap the trash bin button to remove them, or use the "Merge" button next to the photos to merge all the metadata into the highest quality image and automatically discard most of the duplicates into the Recently Deleted album.
Organize your albums with folders
Albums can help you organize your photos, but what do you do when you have a lot of albums in your Photos app? Well, that's where folders come in.
With folders, you can organize your albums into different categories, making it easier to manage your important photos. Here's how to create a folder:
◉ Open the Photos app.
◉ Select the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen.
◉ Tap the + icon in the top-right corner.
◉ Choose New Folder.
◉ Enter the folder name.
◉ Select Save in the top-right corner.
◉ Tap the Edit button in the top-right corner of your screen.
◉ Tap the + symbol and choose whether you want to create a new folder or a new album inside your new folder.
Start using your hidden album
The hidden album is the optimal way to keep and hide all your private photos. They won't be securely stored in a separate folder, but your main library won't be cluttered.
To hide a photo in your hidden album, you need to open the photo you want to hide, tap the three dots in the top-right corner of your screen, and select Hide.
You'll find your hidden album under the Albums tab. It might be very easy to find, so if you want to hide your hidden album, you can do so by going to Settings -> Photos, then disabling the Hidden Album toggle.
And if you want your album to be even more secure, enable the Use Face ID option, so that only you have access to your hidden album.
