How to Declutter Phone Photos
Confession time. I have over 9000 photos on my phone. I almost fainted when I saw the number.
I use my phone camera all the time, for photos and videos of our travels, keeping records of where I’ve parked in unfamiliar shopping centres, screenshots of cool quotes I want to remember and Bible verses I want to memorise.
And the photos accumulate.
I rarely take just one photo. I always take at least two, or five (or fifteen), just to make sure I’ve got the right angle and the right smile and the right light. Sigh.
And the photos accumulate.
I have been trialling a simple idea to keep my phone photos under control. It's been working pretty well so far, so I thought I'd share it with you.
The process looks like this:
Choose what you want to keep
When you take a number of photos of the same subject, look at them straight away and find your favourite. Mark it as 'favourite' then and there. On my iOS phone, there is a little heart icon to touch.
2. Delete everything without a heart
In your main photo feed, select the photos without a heart and delete them. This can be done quickly and simply because you don't have to look at each photo and make a decision about whether you need to keep it or not. You already did that.
3. Create Albums
Create albums for each category of photo. I have albums of quotes and post ideas, family photos, and one each for significant events and holiday destinations. It literally takes seconds to select a group of photos and put them in an album. Then they are easy to access whenever I am chatting to a friend who wants to see my holiday pics or I want to show off my kids.
4. Create a Routine
If you spend a small amount of time regularly you can stay on top of your photos. Do you scroll through Instagram during your lunch break every day? Tidy your photos first every Friday. Do it while you’re waiting for your kids to get to the car after school, on the bus on the way to work or during the advertisements on Master Chef. Use the cracks of time and keep your phone photos up to date. As you get in the groove you may have the inclination to go back and tidy last months photos too.
