Organize Pictures on Your iPhone the Quick & Easy Way (iOS 16)

Do you have lots of ideas for organizing photos on your iPhone or iPad but aren’t sure how to begin? I’ll walk you through an easy list of steps to get your photos and videos organized once and for all using the native iPad or iPhone Photos app. Plus I’ll direct you to the best place to find answers to more specific iPhone photo management topics. You can consider this your one-stop shop for anything related to organizing, collecting, storing, sharing, backing up, and even editing your photos.

How to Organize Your Photos on an iPhone or iPad

In these eight steps I'll teach you how to make a video out of photos on your iPhone and iPad using Memories, bulk edit dozens or even hundreds of photos with one click, and navigate albums, iCloud photos, and Shared Photo Libraries. I'll even teach you how to hide photos and lock certain photo albums with Face ID or a password! The screenshots for all steps are from an iPhone 14 Pro Max running the latest software. However, the same or similar steps can be followed on older iPhone models (and iOS versions) and on your iPad.

• Step 1: How to Create an Album on iPhone, Manage It & Share It
• Step 2: Manage the People Album, Tag/Untag Contacts & Merge Them
• Step 3: How to Make a Photo Slideshow on iPhone with Music & Erase People from Photos/Memories
• Step 4: Setting Up & Navigating Shared Photo Libraries
• Step 5: iCloud Photos 101 - Upload, Delete & Optimize iCloud Storage & Save Them to PC & Mac
• Step 6: How to Hide Photos & Lock Photo Albums with Passwords, Passkeys, or Biometrics
• Step 7: Automatically Delete Duplicate Photos to Free Up Space
• Step 8: Bulk Edit Pictures with the New Copy & Paste Photo Edits Feature

Step 1: How to Create an Album on iPhone, Manage It & Share It

Sorting your photos into albums is incredibly useful and you can approach this in many different ways. I will teach you how to create new albums and give you tips on how to look up photos to add them to your albums by date, place, or theme. I'll also teach you how to remove photos, move them between albums, and share the album with others.

1. Create a photo album on your iPhone by opening the Photos app and tapping Albums. Then, in the top left corner, tap the + icon and select New Album.
   
   
2. Enter a name for your album and tap Save.
   
   
3. You will now be able to select photos to add to the album. If you wish for the album to remain empty and add photos later, tap Cancel. To select photos now, simply tap on them and see the blue checkmark appear. You can select as many as you want or just one. If you select photos from various albums or scroll a lot, you can tap Show Selected to see all the photos you're about to add to the album. When you're ready, tap Add.
   
   
4. If you don't want to scroll, you can search for photos by using the search bar. Here you can type a date, location, item, animal, color, etc. You can even do combinations such as "flower Hawaii" or "ocean Chicago." Since I often post on social media, if I want to find a specific photo, I will look it up on Facebook or another platform to see the date I posted it and I will search for that specific date, including the year, to locate the photo.
   
   
5. If you've added a photo you wish to remove, tap the photo to open it and tap the trash icon at the bottom right of the screen. Select Remove from Album to delete it from just that album, or Delete from Library to remove it permanently, including from other albums and even Shared Photo Libraries.
   
   
6. To move an a photo to another album, you need to select the photos you wish to move within the album, tap the share icon at the bottom left of the screen, then select Add to Album. You will be able to select an album to copy them to and you'll get an option to create a new album. Once you move the photos, you will still need to delete them from the original album by following step 5.
   
   
7. To share your album with others, open an album, tap the More menu, and select Share Photos.
   
   
8. Here you'll see several sharing options, including AirDrop and your recently used apps. You can also select Add to Shared Album.
   
   
9. Next to Shared Album you will see the name of one of your most recently used Shared Albums. If you select Post, the photos will be added to it. Plus, you can add an optional comment if you wish to explain or describe the photos.
   
   
10. If you want to create a new Shared Album, tap the gray name of your most recently used Shared Album. Name the album and tap Next. Add as many contacts as you wish to share the album via the plus icon and tap Next again. You'll see a recap of what you are about to do, just like in step 9, tap Post to share it.
    
    

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Step 2: Manage the People Album, Tag/Untag Contacts & Merge Them

With iOS 16 you can create customized Photo Lock Screens that feature a specific person, which only works if you put in some work on your People album. This can also help improve your Memories by including more of your favorite people and omitting those associated with painful memories. But how does the People album work? The Photos app on your iPhone creates collections of people automatically using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to identify and distinguish between different faces. The process isn't perfect so sometimes the same person will be incorrectly identified as two or even three different people, or different people will be tagged as the same one. Sometimes a photo of a person won't recognize a person at all! Luckily, you can manually tag, untag, and manage your Photo album if this is important to you. Here's how:

1. Open the Photos app, tap the Albums tab, and scroll down to People & Places. Tap on People.
   
   
2. If you haven't done this before or just transferred your iCloud photos to a new iPhone, you may see this message. You can dismiss it by tapping View People Album, but keep in mind that it will be more accurate if you complete the scan as instructed.
   
   
3. If you've marked any people as favorites, you will see their pictures at the top of the screen in large circles. Tap the blue heart to unfavorite them.
   
   
4. Scroll down to see other suggestions. Tap the gray heart to favorite them.
   
   
5. If you see several different identifications for the same person, you can merge them. To do this, tap on the circle with their photo. If you see the option to review additional photos of this person, tap REVIEW.
   
   
6. Select or deselect the relevant photos, the blue circle with a checkmark indicates that the image is selected. An empty circle indicates that the image is not selected. Once you have picked out all the images of the right person, tap Done. In my case, since I already had this person named as a contact, doing this merged these photos with the previously confirmed ones.
   
   
7. If you tap the More menu, you can share all the photos of this person, Add (Name) to Favorites, Create Photo Memory (which I'll review in the next section), Confirm Additional Photos, Review Confirmed Photos, Feature (Name) Less, and Remove (Name) from People. If you go through every contact and thoroughly review confirmed and additional photos, this will improve the accuracy of any future people identification and will make it easier for you to create Memories and Photo Lock Screens.
   
   
8. To name or rename a contact, tap on them in the People album then tap their name at the top. Here you can make changes to spelling and capitalization, and even add emojis. Once you are done, tap Next. Then, tap Done to confirm.
   
   
9. If you look through the photos of that person and see a photo that isn't them or if you wish to untag it, tap the photo to open it. Then tap the i icon.
   
   
10. In the bottom left corner of the image, you'll see the person it is tagged as. There may be a question mark if your iPhone isn't sure about the identification. Tap it.
    
    
11. From here you can view All Photos of the person, Review Confirmed Photos for improved accuracy, Feature Less, or tap This is Not (Name) if the tag isn't correct. This can also be done if the tag IS correct, but you don't want the image tagged if it is private. Follow these steps to tag a photo of a person or read this linked article for thorough steps on how to do this.
    
    

Pro Tip: It is good practice to tap on each contact in your People album and review all additional and confirmed photos, as mentioned in Step 7. Doing this every once in a while will help keep your People album organized, which makes it easier to create amazing Memories and Photo Lock Screens!

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Step 3: How to Make a Photo Slideshow on iPhone with Music & Erase People from Photos/Memories

You might not know this, but the Photos app on your iPhone automatically creates photo slideshows with music called Memories! You can view and edit the ones your iPhone creates, or you can manually create them yourself. Here's how to do it.

1. You need a lot of photos to create a good slideshow, so I recommend picking an existing album,creating a new one, or selecting a person from your People album. Open the album and tap the More button.
   
   
2. Tap Play Memory Video.
   
   
3. The video will start playing, to edit it tap the video to see all your options. First tap the Music icon in the bottom left corner.
   
   
4. Swipe between different pre-set "moods" that will change the style and music of the slideshow. Tap in the middle of the screen to select it, andyour new Memory will start playing.
   
   
5. Tap the Music icon with a plus symbol.
   
   
6. You'll be able to change to a different song by selecting something in your Music Library or to search for something new by tapping the Search icon.
   
   
7. Tap the Styles icon to change how all the photos in the Memory look.
   
   
8. Tap one to select it, then tap Done. This will not alter the actual images in the album.
   
   
9. To save share this Memory slideshow with others, return to the main editing screen (step 3) and tap the share icon.
   
   
10. Here you can select Save Video to save it to your photos app, or share it via AirDrop, Messages, or one of the other options in your Share sheet by tapping the appropriate icon.
    
    
11. If you want to "erase people from photos" in your Memories, Featured Photos, return to step 7 of the second section and select Remove (Name) From People. If you want to edit photos to manually erase a person from a photo, you'll either need a photo editing app with powerful AI tech like Lightleap by Lightricks (fees vary depending on subscription) or to do it yourself in Photoshop. If you want to hide someone temporarily, you can move all the photos of them to the Hidden album, which I'll discuss in the Step 6 section below.
    
    

Pro Tip: This is the easiest and most automated way to create a photo slideshow on your iPhone without downloading third-party apps. However, you will have more control if you find a third-party app that's designed for the purpose or use iMovie. These require a little more instruction and time but can look really cool once you master them! 

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Step 4: Setting Up & Navigating Shared Photo Libraries

Photos are best when shared with others! Shared Photo Libraries are a great way to merge some or all of your photos with a group of up to five people. This is a new iOS 16 feature so everyone involved needs to update their iPhone to iOS 16 or later software. This is very different from a shared Photo Album because you aren't just adding photos to the same album, you are essentially sharing your Photo Library. Let me explain:

1. To set up a Shared Photo Library tap iCloud in the Settings on your iPhone and select Photos. If you have any Shared Photo Library invites, you'll see those at the very top. Otherwise, scroll down and tap Shared Library Set Up. Follow the on-screen directions, you can find the steps outlined one-by-one in this Shared Photo Library set up article for more guidance.
   
   
2. There will be a step where you can decide if you want to share all your photos and videos, selected people or dates, or pick what you share manually. Think about this carefully before you tap Next. Since I am sharing my photos with my husband, I am selecting All My Photos and Videos. If you have a lot of photos, this can be a burden to those you are sharing with so try to be respectful.
   
   
3. On the next screen you will see how many photos and videos will be shared. You can tap Preview Shared Library to see them or tap Skip if you just want to continue with set up.
   
   
4. Depending on how many photos and videos you are sharing, this may take a long time.
   
   
5. After the invite is sent, you'll be able to decide if you want to share any new photos and videos you take Automatically or Manually Only. I will select automatically, but you may want to share manually instead.
   
   
6. Once your invite is accepted, you'll be able to see the Shared Photo Library directly in your Photos app. If you tap on the More icon, you'll be able to decide if you want to see your Personal Library only, the Shared Library only, or Both Libraries.
   
   
7. When you open the Camera app, you will see a new icon in the top left icon. If the Shared Photo Library icon has a line through it, the photos or videos you are about to take won't be shared unless you decide to share them later and go through the manual sharing process.
   
   
8. If the Shared Photo Library icon in the Camera app is yellow and doesn't have a line through it, any photo or video you take will be shared automatically.
   
   
9. You can add people or remove them from a Shared Photo Library by opening Settings on your iPhone and making changes in Shared Library in Photos.
   
   
10. To leave a Shared Photo Library you'll have to open Settings and tap Apple ID, then Photos, then Shared Photo Library until you see Leave Shared Photo Library, tap it and then confirm it. If you are the creator, you'll see Delete Shared Library here instead.
    
    

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Step 5: iCloud Photos 101 - Upload, Delete & Optimize iCloud Storage & Save Them to PC & Mac

As you go through the process of organizing your photos, you might start to wonder "How can I optimize my storage?" All of your photos can be saved to iCloud, and with storage optimization enabled, Apple's algorithms will remove duplicates as well as compress your images to a manageable size. Still, as you snap photos, you will inevitably reach a point where you will be prompted to purchase additional storage. Before you purchase additional storage, however, you're going to want to activate this hidden feature that will take your photo-organizing skills to the next level.

When My Photo Stream is enabled, your most recent photos will be uploaded to your photo stream for 30 days, allowing you to upload, edit, and manage those photos on any device. If you recently created your Apple ID, My Photo Stream may not be available. To enable My Photo Stream, and to optimize your iCloud storage, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Photos.
   
   
2. To enable My Photo Stream, toggle iCloud Photos to the right.
   
   
3. For iCloud optimization, make sure there is a blue checkmark beside Optimized iPhone Storage instead of Download and Keep Originals. If you experience any photos not uploading to iCloud issues, read this.
   
   

The steps above are the easiest way to clear up iCloud storage automatically, but there are more things you can do. Check out our other storage-saving tips or learn how to change or upgrade your iCloud storage plan. For more articles like this, don't forget to subscribe to our Tip of the Day newsletter.

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Step 6: How to Hide Photos & Lock Photo Albums with Passwords, Passkeys, or Biometrics

People have been wondering how to hide photos on an iPhone for a long time. Unfortunately, there is no super safe way to do this, but with the iOS 16 update, two albums in your Photos app become automatically locked! At the time of writing, it isn't possible to unlock these folders; the moment you update to iOS 16, the Recently Deleted and Hidden folders are now locked. You can unlock them the same way you would your iPhone, either with Touch ID or Face ID, depending on the model of your iPhone. If that doesn't work for some reason, you'll also be able to enter your pin to unlock them. As soon as you navigate away from them, they will automatically lock again.

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Step 7: Automatically Delete Duplicate Photos to Free Up Space

Taking multiple photos to make sure you capture the moment or duplicating a photo so that you can make edits without ruining the original are good habits, but they clog up storage space. iOS 16 created a super easy process for deleting duplicate photos! Before you read these steps, do keep in mind that it will identify duplicate photos in various qualities, which means that you need to be careful if you don’t want to accidentally delete the better-quality image. 

If you are keeping these photos on your phone and don’t plan on printing them or entering photo contests, a lower-quality image might not be a problem for you and in this case, you may want to delete the higher-quality one because it takes up more storage. It is also possible that one of the photos will be a live photo while the other is not. Finally, it is possible that you edited one by blurring out sensitive information, yet it still shows up next to the unblurred one as a duplicate. 

If you automatically select them all and merge, your iPhone will pick the highest quality image with the most data. So while it should pick the best quality image, which is generally also the unedited version, because doctoring a photo lowers image quality, we cannot be sure that it will always pick the one you prefer. So keep in mind that this process may cost you some edits if you don’t do it manually on a case-by-case basis! From my experience, it’s better not to overthink and just do whatever you need to do to get rid of duplicates quickly to avoid a headache! To delete duplicates:

1. Open the Photos app and tap Albums. If you were recently in an album, you may have to tap Albums multiple times until you see the main Albums menu. Scroll to the bottom, and under Utilities, tap Duplicates.
   
   
2. Here you can go through them individually and tap on them, then tap the trash icon.
   
   
3. You can also tap Select.
   
   
4. Then tap Select All.
   
   
5. Tap Merge. You’ll have to confirm that you wish to Merge the duplicates, leaving the highest quality and relevant data while moving the rest to Recently Deleted. If you do this, you can still access your Recently Deleted photos and move them back to your Photos app within 30 days of deletion, sometimes longer.
   
   
6. You can also go through individually and tap Merge to manually delete the duplicate.
   
   
7. Finally, you can tap Select then go through and tap the photos which you wish to delete so that you have more control over what you are keeping.
   
   
8. Tap the trash icon once you’ve selected the ones you wish to delete.
   
   

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Step 8: Bulk Edit Pictures with New Copy & Paste Photo Edits Feature

iOS 16 makes it possible to copy and paste edits you make to a photo; for example, upping brightness and contrast by a certain percentage can now be copied onto another photo so that you don’t have to edit multiple photos individually. I find this to be really useful because while I don’t want my photos to automatically look a certain way, I do tend to make similar edits when I create a Facebook post, for example.

1. Open a photo you wish to edit. Tap Edit, then make edits to the photo.
   
   
2. Tap the More button.
   
   
3. Tap Copy Edits.
   
   
4. Return to the Photos app and find a photo you wish to paste your edits in. Tap Edit.
   
   
5. Tap the More button.
   
   
6. Tap Paste Edits.
   
   
7. You can keep making adjustments if necessary, then tap Done. You will see the photos change. If you do this to a lot of photos at once, it may take some time for all of the edits to paste!
   
   

Pro tip: You can paste your edits to multiple photos by selecting as many photos as you want in the Photos app.

Since I am extremely nervous to ruin a good photo or video by editing it, I tend to create a duplicate before I do anything. However, this is completely unnecessary because you can revert to the original image by selecting your edited photo(s) and/or video(s), tap More, and select Revert to Original.

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Now that you're ready to get organized, feel free to share your favorite organization methods in the comments below.