Screenshots can be a handy tool for capturing information quickly, but over time, they tend to accumulate and clutter your photo library. For many, this clutter leads to frustration, as searching for family photos becomes a tedious task of scrolling past countless irrelevant images.
Isabelle Dervaux, a professional photo organizer and member of The Photo Managers, offers a practical approach to managing this often-overlooked source of stress. In this post, we’ll explore simple steps to help you organize and tame your screenshots, so they no longer take over your phone.
This presentation was brought to you by of Save Your Photos Month – a yearly event every September. This event features free educational classes, in-person workshops, and engaging conversations that deliver invaluable info. Ensure your photos and videos are not lost to changing technology, natural disasters, or a lack of time and know-how! Learn more and join us for this year’s Save Your Photos Month free mini-classes.
How to Get Your Screenshots Under Control
The first step is to perform a screenshot audit. This means checking just how many screenshots you have and assessing whether they’ve become a problem. Isabelle suggests going to the “Photos” app, tapping on “Albums,” scrolling down to “Media Types,” and selecting “Screenshots.” This will reveal how many screenshots you’ve saved over time. Once you know the scope of the problem, look at the types of screenshots you’ve accumulated. Are they mostly quotes, bits of information, or tickets from past events? Knowing this will help you decide what’s worth keeping.
A game-changing tip is to use your phone’s Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature, which makes organizing much easier. OCR allows you to search for specific text within your screenshots. For example, if you’re looking for a bookstore address you saved, simply type “bookstore” into the search bar, and your phone will pull up all the relevant screenshots. This feature, available in iOS 16 and later, saves time by making your screenshots searchable, helping you quickly extract information from them.
What to Keep and Where to Store Your Important Screenshots
Once you’ve reviewed your screenshots, it’s time to decide what to keep and where to store them. Isabelle suggests several ways to organize them: you can move them to a hidden or shared album or transfer them to an external app like Notes or Files. This keeps them handy but removes them from your main photo library, leaving your family pictures clutter-free. Deleting unnecessary screenshots immediately after saving the important ones ensures they won’t pile up again.
Finally, Isabelle offers a crucial piece of advice: take fewer screenshots. By limiting the number of screenshots you take, you avoid creating more digital clutter. She also recommends using alternative methods to save information, such as Instagram’s post-saving feature or Pinterest boards. These small habit changes can help keep your photo library organized and stress-free, making it easier to enjoy your photos without wading through irrelevant screenshots.
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