How to organize photos on iPhone

There are a few smartphones that offer better photo quality than the iPhone. However, when compared to high resolution and the ability to synchronize photos between devices, iPhone is the top choice.

But taking good photos means you'll take a lot of them, so organizing photos in your camera also requires a few tips.

Before you get started, here are some general tips to save space!

While this article will break down specific ways you can organize your photos, we also want to give you some space-saving tips before you get started:

1. Always review your photos. It's easy to take a few photos and then forget about them, but many of these photos add up to consume some storage space. To avoid future backlogs, get into the habit of reviewing your photos after taking them and quickly deciding what to delete.
2. Don't keep almost duplicate photos. Taking many of the same photos can give you lots of options – but if the photos are close, you don't need all of them. Get into the habit of deleting duplicate iPhone photos to reduce memory clutter.
3. Optimize your iPhone memory: If you go to Settings > Apps > Photos on iPhone, you'll see an option called iCloud Photos. Once you turn this feature on, your iPhone will automatically upload and store your full-sized photos on iCloud.

Now that you know how to save space on your iPhone, let's look at how to organize your pictures in more detail.

How to organize photos on iPhone into albums

Let's say you want to organize your photos into albums. This is the simplest method of organizing photos because you can group photos that span multiple locations, dates, people, or events.

Here's how you can create a new photo album:

1. Launch the Photos app, scroll through your photo library, and tap Albums. If you don't find Albums here, scroll to the bottom and tap Customize & Rearrange. Now, choose Albums.
2. In the top left corner of the screen, tap Create and choose New album.
3. Name the album and tap the plus icon (+) to start adding photos to the album. When done, press Finished.
4. If you want to choose one image to represent your entire album, tap Edit the main photo. Then, select an image and tap Finished.

To better organize your albums, you can also group multiple albums into folders. For example, if you take photos of different projects for your job, you might want to create a “Work” folder to organize all your work-related albums.

1. Return to section Albums and click Create in the top left corner.
2. Select New folder then name your new folder.
3. Then, tap the plus sign (+), select all the albums you want to add to your folder, and then select More.
4. Finally, click Finished.

If you have photos on your phone that you forgot to add to the album:

1. Go to the main photo grid and tap Select in the top right corner.
2. Select the photo you want to add.
3. Tap the three-dot button (…) in the bottom right corner of the screen.
4. Select Add to Album and select the album where you want to place the photo.

Alternatively, you can scroll through your photo library, tap Albums and select the album you want to add photos to. Then just tap the plus sign (+), select the image you want to add and tap More.

From here on out, whenever you need to find photos from a multi-day event, you'll be able to go into your Photos app and see the matching album!

How to sort photos on iPhone by name

The next best way to organize photos on iPhone is by person. This method makes it easy to find photos of yourself, friends or family.

Modern versions of iOS can recognize faces, allowing the iPhone to automatically detect and organize photos by person. These unique faces are recognized as individuals, allowing iPhone to group photos of that person together, regardless of date or event, or even if they are in a group photo.

However, sorting photos by name or by person requires some setup. Here's how:

1. Scroll through your photo gallery and tap People (or People & Petsif a pet is detected in your library).
2. You'll see thumbnails for each person your iPhone recognizes. Select one of those faces and you'll see all photos of that person.
3. You'll also see that some people's faces don't have names. To name them, select the face and tap Name this person. Then, enter their name and press Finished.

Once a person is named, all future photos featuring their face will be tagged and searchable by their name, making it easy to find them at any time.

If you want to create an album for a specific person, you can do so by selecting their face and tapping Select in the upper right corner. Then choose Select all and tap the ellipse button (…) in the lower right corner of the screen. Finally, choose Add to album and tap the plus sign (+) to create an album for them.

How to arrange photos on iPhone by location

The Photos app on iPhone will also organize photos by location if you travel a lot. But like the previous method, you have to set up this app first.

When you take a photo with iPhone, the photo's metadata automatically records its location – as long as you've turned it on Location service for the Camera app.

Here's how to manage Location Services on iPhone:

1. Open the application Setting.
2. Enter Privacy & Security > Location Services. Make sure the toggle at the top is enabled.
3. Now scroll down and select the app Camera.
4. Make sure that item When using the Application has been selected.

Now when this setting is enabled, your iPhone will automatically geotag new images. It then sorts these location-based photos into a pre-made album.

To view your photos:

1. Scroll through the photo gallery and find Pinned collection. Then, click on Map. If you don't see it, you may need to make changes My pinned collection. To do this, just tap Modify and select the plus sign (+) next to it Map below the title Suggest.
2. On the map, tap the thumbnail of the place you want to see. You'll see all photos from that location.

Filter photos on iPhone

Sometimes you just want to see screenshots in albums or just images you've edited. Instead of manually scrolling through each photo, you can use the Photos app's built-in filtering options. Just swipe through your photo gallery, tap Albums and open the album you want to filter.

Next, tap the sort icon and select Filter. A context menu will appear with six options: All items, Favorites, Photos, Edited, Videos and Screenshot. All you need to do is choose the type of photos you want to see.

When you're done and want to remove the filter, tap the icon that replaces the sort icon, select Filter and choose All items. This isn't just limited to albums – you can also filter your entire library by following the same steps as above. Just make sure you're in your main photo grid!

Categorize photos on iPhone

By default, the Photos app sorts photos by date taken. This essentially means that photos are sorted based on their original timestamp, even if you receive them via AirDrop or save them from an app.

While it can be useful in some situations, this can make it difficult to find photos you've taken recently, especially if you tend to save a lot of photos. Luckily, you can choose to sort your photo gallery by original timestamp or choose to display them at the bottom of your timeline.

To do this, scroll through the library and tap the sort icon as soon as it appears. A context menu will immediately appear with two options: Sort by Recently Added and Sort by Shooting Date. Choose the previous option if you want your latest photos to appear at the bottom of the gallery. Otherwise, choose the latter option if you want your library to be organized by the date you took the respective photos instead of when you saved them to the library.

When it comes to albums, you can also sort photos by Oldest first, Newest first or according to Custom order. To do this, go to the album you want to organize and simply follow the same steps outlined above. Then, choose your preferred sorting option.

With the quick tips and tricks mentioned above, you will organize photos on your iPhone with ease! Doing so not only helps clean up your photo library, but also helps you find photos much faster in the Photos app.