Around the world, there are over 100 million active Macs and Macbooks! Although there are many reasons to use a Mac computer, many people love their ability to sync all their devices. So, if you own an iPhone or an iPad, you’ll never have to worry about transferring your files from your devices to your computer.
Of course, after some time, your files may start to get messy if you don’t sort through them often, especially images and videos. That’s why it’s important to learn how to organize your Mac photos! So, keep reading for a complete guide!
Use the Photos App on Mac
If you aren’t using the Photos app yet, it’s time to start! This application is a Mac user’s best bet for storing pictures.
The best thing about Photos is that it has a lot of organizational tools and even lets you create multiple libraries. Here are some tips for importing your images from all your devices to the Photos app.
- Make sure your iCloud app is syncing photos from all your devices and import them by signing into your account on your Mac
- If you don’t have enough iCloud storage, Airdrop your pictures from your iPhone to your Mac
- Import pictures from an external hard drive to your Mac
- Download pictures from other cloud storage accounts
No matter where you have your photos stored at the moment, the idea is to put them all onto your Photos app so you can access them easily.
Create Smart Folders
Now that you have all your images in one place, it’s time to create some photo albums. Thankfully, Photos lets you create Smart Albums so you can group your pictures according to their kind. And you don’t have to do any photo renaming!
For example, you can put all the pictures of your grandkids in one folder. Or, you can arrange your photos according to the occasion, such as your family vacation to Hawaii.
Of course, if you want, you can put the same picture in multiple folders too. So, if your grandkids went to Hawaii with you, photos of your grandchildren in Hawaii will be in both folders.
Here’s how to make a smart folder:
- Open Photos
- Select the + icon in the sidebar next to “My Albums”
- Select “Smart Album” and name it
- Choose keywords for your folders such as “grandchildren” or “Hawaii”
- Create the album by clicking “OK”
Remember that you can edit these Smart Folders whenever you wish, so don’t worry if you can’t think of all the keywords you would like to add. You can always add them later.
Once you create enough Smart Folders, your photo library will be much easier to navigate, and you’ll be able to find what you’re searching for quickly.
Other Tricks for Photos
Now that you’ve mastered Smart Folders, you’ll want to learn a few other tricks that make finding your pictures easier!
Favoriting Pictures
If you want to find your favorite pictures quickly and without looking for the album it’s in, you can favorite it. All you need to do is select the image and click the heart button. Or, if you don’t want to spend the time to select each picture, hover over it and click the heart icon.
Find Faces
The Photos app also can recognize the individuals in your pictures so you can sort images by who is in them. Of course, it isn’t one hundred percent accurate, and you’ll have to spend a little bit of time labeling the faces. But, it’s a great feature if you want to arrange your pictures according to who is in them.
Shared Albums
Another great feature that the Photos app has is the ability to share albums with whoever you invite to collaborate. They can drop pictures into the folder, and everyone invited can see them. It’s a great way to keep up with loved ones!
Free Up Space
After your pictures are arranged nicely, you may still find that you have too many pictures that you no longer want. There are several reasons why this can happen, but people often forget to erase screenshots or duplicate photos. Then, they find these images cluttering up their iCloud account and syncing to their Photos app.
One of the best ways to solve this issue is using a program that removes any duplicates in iPhoto. That will eliminate any files you have saved onto your Photos app twice.
However, you’ll need to do a little work if you want to get rid of different pictures that portray the same moment or screenshots you no longer need. And, even though it may take time, you’ll be satisfied when your photos are organized.
Another great way to free up space is by clipping long videos down to show the most important moments. And, remember to clear your “Recently Deleted” folder, or you won’t see a change in your storage usage.
Now You Know How to Organize Photos on Mac!
After reading these helpful tips, you should know how to organize photos on Mac. Now it’s time to get to work!
Even if you don’t have time to sort through all of your photos in one sitting, you can make a goal to spend 20 minutes doing so every day. Then, if you’re consistent, you will organize your photo library in no time and have much more iCloud storage space!
Would you like to learn more tech tips? If so, don’t forget to check out more of our articles!
