As a Professional Photo Organizer, I am frequently asked “how do I find which photos are NOT in an album?” To that, I say: you don’t need 100% of your photos to be in albums.
My approach: albums are a tool to curate and organize my library. My albums hold my very favorite photos, frequently referenced items, media for a specific project, or highlights/events like big trips. Albums do not contain all my photos. Library view always contains 100% of my photos, no matter how many I put into albums. Additionally, Library conveniently sorts chronologically into year/month/day views… automatically. The days of sorting every photo, manually, into year/month albums (or something similar) are over.
But, maybe you have a specific reason you need to identify which photos do NOT reside in an album though so here’s the trick for identifying which photos are NOT in an album.
Note: this can only be done on a Mac, presently it is not an option on iPhone.
How to Find Photos NOT in an Album (on Mac)
1. In Apple Photos, create a Smart Album (hit the + next to My Albums).
2. Set the Criteria to Album “is not” Any.
That’s it! You now have a Smart Album that includes all your “unsorted” items.
Easier than you thought, right?
The cool part is Smart Albums automatically update based on the criteria you set. As you take new photos, if they are not added to an album, they will consequently display here in the Smart Album automatically. And if you spend some time sorting old photos into Albums, those photos will be removed from the Smart Album automatically. It’s a pretty nifty tool!
Important Note: Smart Albums do not sync between devices. Which means you can use this Smart Album on your computer to find the information, but you won’t be able to view the Smart Album on an iPad or iPhone.
Do you feel like you could be doing MORE with the Apple Photos program?
My self-paced Mac Basics course will teach you the basics of using a Mac computer so you can get MORE out of your investment, navigate your computer easier AND take advantage of all your Mac has to offer! Or grab just the Apple Photos information in my Apple Photos Crash Course.
Want to hire Miss Freddy team to organize your photos FOR YOU? Learn more about our services!
