The #1 Secret to Photo Organization

Albums Are Where It's At! 

Here is a little tip that most people have a hard time accepting... your photo stream is, and will always be, a mess!

• This is where all of the pictures you have taken or ever will take are stored
• This is where all of the pictures that have been shared or ever will be shared with you are stored 
• This is also where your screenshots, videos, duplicates and screen recordings are stored

Don't even try to clean up your photo stream, other than deleting duplicates (refer to last week's tip) because it will just be a mess again tomorrow!

Instead, spend your time creating albums! This is THE best way to organize your digital pictures! By purposefully putting your favorite pictures into albums, you will make finding and sharing your photos so much easier!

You can then open your albums in just a few clicks and find exactly what you're look for instead of endlessly scrolling through your photo stream, which might be your current strategy, and is incredibly frustrating and time-consuming!

ALBUM TIPS 

• Start small
• Learn the simple steps to creating albums and then make it a habit moving forward
• Don't put pressure on yourself to organize the last few decades' worth of pictures or you'll give up long before you start
• Create albums for holidays, special occasions, vacations, seasons of the year or even your hobbies (ex: cooking, decorating, pickle ball, knitting, hiking, etc...) 
• Be systematic in naming your albums so they are easy to navigate once you have a handful (think of how you name folders in your filing cabinet)
• Alphabetize your albums so they are easy to find and share within your albums menu

HOW TO CREATE ALBUMS:

Apple Users

1. Open Apple Photos App from your phone 
2. Click "ALBUMS" at the bottom of your screen
3. Click the "+" sign in the top left corner
4. Select "New Album"
5. Give your album a title and click "SAVE"
6. Click on the photo(s) you want to add
7. Click "ADD" in the top right corner

Google Photos Users  

1. Open Google Photos App from your phone 
2. Click "LIBRARY" at the bottom of your screen
3. Click the "+" sign in the top left corner under "Favorites" and "Archive" to create a new album
4. Give your album a title 
5. Click "SELECT PHOTOS"
6. Select the photo(s) you want to add
7. Click "ADD" in the top right corner
8. Click the blue checkmark in the top left corner to save your new album

The next time you need to quickly find or share a photo, all you have to do is go to your albums menu and they will be nicely organized and so much easier to access than scrolling through thousands of pictures in your photo stream!

Even better? You can finally check "organizing pictures" off your list because you have the tools you need to start small today!  

All the best, 
Melissa