The ability to hold precious memories in the palm of your hand makes photographs such a vital part of our life. But we all have boxes and drawers filled with old family photographs lying around in our homes, right? And with a smartphone in the mix, the volume of digital photos is even more overwhelming. What to do with old photos you don’t want anymore?
I mean, if finding that one perfect family picture seems like finding a needle in the haystack – you know you need some serious photo decluttering. These are favorite memories that you cannot let go of, but the sheer amount of photos often makes the organizing process overwhelming.
Best Print Photo Decluttering Tips & Organization Ideas
Well, not anymore! Check out this step-by-step guide on photo decluttering. Because these best digital and print photo decluttering tips and tricks will help you get your favorite pictures in order and preserve them for yourself and your kids to cherish!.
What To Do With Old Photos You Don’t Want:
A Step-By-Step Guide
Step 1) Gather All Your Photos In One Place
Start your photo decluttering project by gathering loose photos, storage boxes, albums, framed pictures, and even slides and negatives. That way, you know exactly what you are dealing with. I would recommend you start hunting each and every photo like a bounty hunter. Scour those drawers, closets, storage spaces, side tables, or under your bed.
For physical photos, use a big space like a dining table or an unused guest room and place all images right in front of you. You might feel overwhelmed, but hey, it’s gonna be worth it. Now you know exactly what you are up against! The same goes for digital photos. Transfer all the pictures from different devices to one primary device like a laptop.
Step 2) Sort Photos Into Categories
The next step is to sort all the printed photos into broad categories. If you have mounds of photos to sort through, go with broader categories. Later on, you can further niche down the categorized photos if you want to put them in a dedicated photo album. There’s no fixed rule to categorize photos. You can categorize by:
- Year
- Events
- Family members
- Family Group
- Friends
Don’t start a trip down memory lane while organizing your photos into categories yet. There’s plenty of time for that later on.. The same goes for digital photos. Create different folders on your device and transfer the photo to the folder it belongs to.
Step 3) Declutter Along The Way
I know some people are very attached to their photos, but not all images are worth saving! Certainly not the ones that are blurry, unflattering, have one or more double(s), are out of focus, or are too bright or too dark.
You also don’t need photos of unknown people or your exes. Just bid them goodbye and make more room for photos that truly deserve to be preserved!
You can also keep doubles in a separate pile for school art projects or gift them to a family member or friend. No doubt, this step will be time-consuming, but I find this part most enjoyable too.
These tips and tricks help me in decluttering and organizing my photos:
- I usually create one digital album per year, that’s about 40-60 images, depending on the size I choose. If it’s full, it’s full. There are years where I didn’t have the strength or time to categorize all the photos chronologically. Those years I just picked the best 40 images and went with those (in no particular order).
- Sometimes, taking the time to remember a person, event or certain stage in my life is all I need. After I’ve done this, I just say goodbye to the photo.
Step 4) Back-Up Your Print Photos By Scanning Them
No matter how safe we think print photos are, they are never truly safe. Your print photos can get destroyed in case of a fire or a flood. Avoid that risk by scanning and digitizing photos of your cherished and loved moments.
Not only will you have a reliable backup space, but you can also share gorgeous photos with your family and friends more easily in this digital age. Scan the negatives for clearer pictures. You may use a portable scanner for this purpose.
Step 5) Place Selected Photos In Storage Box Or Album
Now comes the final step of the process and the most important one too. Now that you have sorted out, decluttered, and scanned all the worthy-to-save photos, it’s time to show them off by putting them in photo storage boxes or photo albums.
Best Storage Solutions For Your Photo Collection
You can sort them roughly by chronological order. This photo storage box is my personal favorite for storing special photos for an extended period of time. Made from hard cardboard, this photo box is quite robust and sturdy enough to hold your photographs and protect them from decay over time.
This photo storage box comes with 9 matching clear plastic organizing dividers that work best to protect your loose photos from dust and pollutants. The decorative metal handle makes it an attractive storage solution. 
If you have mounds of photos to store but are really tight on budget, I recommend using this set of 4 Heavy Duty storage bins with lids. The MDF structure makes it greatly durable, which means it can handle stacks of photos.
Moreover, you can stack it on top of your closet or under the bed easily. The heavy-duty stitching and the superior construction material make it a good storage choice. The font and back handles make it easy to move around.
Just put your precious photos in protective sleeves and stick them in these storage bins. 
If you want a long-lasting yet affordable photo album to share memories with your family- I recommend this Dunwell Photo Album with 3-Ring Binder. Equipped with 25, 5×7’’ photo sheets, this simple photo album allows you to display 100 photos.
The capacity is expandable, and you can always use refillable album pages. Made from durable poly cover, textured look, and woven trims, this photo album is water and moisture-resistant. It is acid-free, non-cling, and won’t turn yellow over time, a perfect place to show off your valuable moments.
I personally love this RECUTMS Photo Album because of its upscale and modern exterior. Not only this, but it can also hold 600 photos, 5 pcs per page (3 horizontal and 2 vertical). This collage setting helps with creating a timeline.
It is also available in 5 beautiful colors with sewn leather high-quality cover frames. Rectum Photo album is designed to keep your memories safe because it is photo-safe acid, lignin, and PVC-free.
FAQ On (Digital) Photo Decluttering
How do I get rid of old photos?
Decluttering leaves you with the dilemma of getting rid of old photos in the best way. You cannot recycle them because toxic chemicals used in printing make them toxic waste.
You can shred them, but that may sound insensitive for some people. I just rip them apart nicely and put them in the trash bin for landfill or incarceration.
How do you organize thousands of photos?
For print photos, you can start by putting all the photos in your home in one place. After that, roughly categorize them. Next, you have to declutter your photo collection.
Throw away doubles, blurry, out of focus, or bad photos. Scan the remaining pictures and lastly store them in photo storage boxes or display them in beautiful photo albums.
How to sort thousands of digital photos?
Here are a few tips to help you sort your digital photos like a pro.
- If it doesn’t spark joy, delete it.
- Next, create a separate folder on the device you want to keep your photos on.
- Now chronologically categorize the photos by creating sub-folders within the main folder.
- Import your photos once a month to your computer. Ideally, you can do it weekly, but if that’s overwhelming, import monthly.
- If you feel like it, name your photos so you can find them instantly whenever needed.
- Creating a backup for your photos is a must. There are many back-up options to choose from. Do your research and find the one that suits your needs
Conclusion
Hopefully, I’ve given you some pointers on what to do with old photos you don’t want anymore and how to create a system to help you organize your (digital) images in the future!
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I am impressed with your tips. We must be on same page. Only other thing I’m doing is sending old pictures to family members who have off springs to keep pass family members to hold and feel. It does help some siblings reconnect to good memories for themselves as they sit with their families. I remember times when we all sat around and listened to the stories as pictures were passed around.
Some that really doesn’t have memories for me.I may look at them write short stories about who they
might of been. If I have more than one like school photos, I may make a book and story with them.
If using them for story character I do some altering of photo. I use to write children stories for my daughter.