What is the difference between an album and a folder in Apple Photos?

A lot of people get confused about how to get their iPhone photos organized.

Albums and Folders. Not the sexiest topic, I realize. But super useful to understand.

Albums are an easy way to easily find and sort photos. They're super useful in getting organized, because you can group things that otherwise wouldn't be easy to group, and wouldn't necessarily be easy to find using search.

Folders are a way to organize your albums. They can make you library look more streamlined, and also make it easier to find things faster.

Here's an example of how you can use folders and albums:

• Create a folder for each of your kids
• Within each folder, create albums. Some ideas for albums: School Photos, Birthday Parties, Sports Photos, Best Of. These are just a few, and you can make your own to suit your needs. But when it comes time to find photos, create projects, or just have a nice stroll down memory lane, these albums are extremely handy to have.

Remember that you can delete photos from albums, but that doesn't change it in your Apple Photo Library. It will still be there, it just won't be in that album anymore. You can also delete entire albums, and the images will still live in your Apple Photo Library.

You can also have the same image in multiple albums, and this does NOT duplicate the photo.

Favorite Album Types

Your iPhone will automatically create albums from your most recent photos and videos, as well as all your favorites. Here are a few of my suggestions for additional album types you might find handy:

Documents: for reference pictures of your driver's license, passport, insurance card, etc. 

Party Mix: Have you ever been at a gathering where you run into someone you haven't seen in a while, and you want to show them photos of your last vacation, or your family, and you start scrolling through thousands of photos to look for the one you want to share? Create an album of these highlight images - your future self will thank you when you don't accidentally scroll through the photos of your questionable mole while trying to show your colleague a photo of your beach trip!

If you'd like more tips on getting your photos organized, below is a link to a free guide.