I’m not a fan of scrapbooking.
I used to feel bad about that. Because scrapbooks are just so darn cool. Plus, I’d really love to be able to turn my countless pictures into beautiful albums that our family could cherish for generations.
But it’s just not in my wheelhouse.
So instead of feeling guilty, I channeled my energy into figuring out what in the world I was going to do with all those pictures, in short–how to declutter my digital photos.
What’s a non-crafter to do?
My mom is an amazing crafter. My oldest daughter seems to be following in her footsteps. And one of my best friends has more beautiful photo albums than I can count.
Me?
I made one scrapbook after my first year of teaching. Only because someone gifted me a pre-made album. Even that took me forever to finish. And it was more stressful than enjoyable.
On the other hand…I love pictures. And all the memories that come with them. I love to take pictures and I love to look back at them later. Few things are better than snuggling with my family on the couch and scrolling through our favorites.
Some of the best family memories may surprise you…Read “Small Family Moments“ to find out why.
With the evolution of the smartphone, the ability to take high quality photos (and lots of them) just keeps getting easier. So, that leaves this less than creative mama asking–how do I store our many family pictures in a way that allows us to view them often…but isn’t a scrapbook?
Well, I believe I’ve found a solution.
So, for all of you non-crafty moms like me, here’s the breakdown…
How to declutter digital photos…
Step One: Delete any low quality, duplicate, or unnecessary photos.
Every picture loving mom knows that it takes at least 20 shots before you get a decent picture. And what’s a girl to do with all those extra photos?
Delete them, my friend. Just delete them.
Get rid of all duplicate pictures. You know the ones…a facial expression so slightly different that only you will ever know, but you just don’t want to pass over recording a single memory…I promise, you’ll never miss all those extra shots.
Also delete the blurry or out of focus pictures. This doesn’t happen as often with today’s technology. But some pictures are obviously of less quality than others.
Only keep the best.
Go through your photos at least once a month to keep your phone’s camera roll as uncluttered as possible. This might need to happen more or less often depending on how many pictures you take, but the goal is to do it before it seems overwhelming.
If you keep up with this, it’s quick and easy. You can scroll and delete in the grocery line or while waiting in the school pickup lane. Set a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget. Just don’t wait too long or you probably won’t do it at all.
Which would make the next step seem daunting…
Step Two: Download pictures to your computer regularly.
Download all your phone’s pictures to your computer on a regular basis. I do this about 3-5 times a year. This might look different for you, but come up with a system and stick to it.
Again, a reminder on your phone might be helpful. Plan a night to binge watch your favorite TV show after the kids are in bed and download away.
Depending on your computer and phone compatibility, this can be easy or a bit trickier. There are so many different ways to do this–your computers built-in photos app, Google photos, a cloud service…the list goes on.
For the sake of everyone’s sanity, you won’t find any tutorials here. But if you don’t know how to get pictures from your smartphone to your computer, there are all kinds of articles out there to help. A few minutes spent Googling a solution that works for you is well worth your time.
I said it before, but it bears repeating…staying consistent with these steps is key to learning how to declutter digital photos.
Step Three: Delete all but your favorites from your phone.
After you’ve downloaded everything to your computer, delete everything but your absolute favorites from your phone. You can delete everything if you want! But I really enjoy being able to scroll back through our highlights. And so do my kids.
Step Four: Mark the last photo you downloaded.
If you choose to keep your favorites, you’ll want to mark the last picture you downloaded. That will make it so much easier to remember where you left off when you go to download another round.
My suggestion for this–make an album/folder on your phone labeled “Last picture downloaded.” Put the last picture that went on your computer there. When it’s time to move pictures again, you’ll know where to start. Just make sure to update that folder after each round of downloads!
Step Five: Create a pictures folder on your computer.
Sorting and labeling pictures on your computer is an essential step when learning how to declutter digital photos. You’ll probably want to create your own system. But if you need help getting started, here’s how my pictures are organized…
I have a family folder for each year, labeled with our last name followed by the year. I also have a folder for each child for each year, labeled with her first name, followed by the year. Then, I have a folder for my husband’s side of extended family and folder for my side. I also have a folder for friends and a miscellaneous folder for anything that doesn’t fit in those categories.
Inside the main folders, I sometimes include subfolders with categories. For example, in our family folder each year is another folder with just vacation pictures. Inside each child’s folder for that year is a subfolder with all school-related pictures. You could also make subfolders for sports or other extra-curricular activities.
Obviously, the options are endless. Think about how to break things down for your family and what makes the most sense to you. Then, create folders accordingly.
Step Six: Sort pictures into the folders, labeling as you go.
Full transparency…this step can be tedious. But it’s necessary if you want quick and easy access to your memories. And when you compare it to the time spent making scrapbook pages, it doesn’t seem quite so daunting!
I open two file windows–one with the unsorted pictures and another will all the folders. Then, I label the pictures right after dragging them from one file window and dropping them into the appropriate folders in the other window. (You could label before moving too–whichever works best for your brain!)
Step Seven: Rinse and repeat regularly.
I know I sound like a broken record. But if you don’t keep up with this, it will quickly become more stressful than useful.
Trust me, I speak from experience.
Repeat this entire process on a regular basis. Tackle it often enough that it’s manageable each time. But don’t drive yourself crazy keeping up with pictures!
Step Eight: Repeat the same process for videos.
I use the same steps on how to declutter digital photos for all my videos. It makes sense in my head to do this at the same time as the pictures. You may want to separate the tasks. Either way works–you do you.
But I would recommend having a separate main folder and subfolders for all videos. All our pictures are in one place. And our videos in another. It makes finding and viewing specific memories much easier.
The best memories happen when we slow down enough to fully enjoy them. Find out how in “The Beauty of a Slow-Paced Life.”
Step Nine: Back everything up at least once a year (using a cloud service or external hard drive).
At the beginning of each new year, I back up all my pictures and files on an external hard drive. I store the hard drive in our fireproof safe. If anything ever happens to my computer, I know that our memories are safe.
Step ten: Make time to enjoy them together!
I saved the best step for last! Similar to a scrapbook that gathers dust on a shelf, all the work to organize and store your pictures doesn’t mean much if you never look at them again. Our kids love watching old videos and looking at pictures. My husband does too! And following these steps for how to declutter digital photos makes it fun and easy…whether we have five minutes or an hour.
Memories are meant to be enjoyed…
I used to think the best way to enjoy pictures was to have a shelf full of gorgeous scrapbooks. And don’t get me wrong…that’s an absolutely fabulous way to store your most precious memories.
But it’s not for everyone.
Me included.
Letting go of the pressure to scrapbook brought me a ridiculous amount of freedom. But easy access to our favorite family pictures is still important. That’s why this strategy is the best of both worlds for our family.
If creativity isn’t one of your strengths or you just simply don’t have time to scrapbook, this might be the solution for you too.
All of your memories at the touch of a few buttons.
No crafting required!
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