Folders are your own way to group photos. Make one for a year, a person or a trip. A photo can be in as many folders as you like, and nothing is ever copied. The photo is still one photo in your library.
Find your folders
On a computer, your folders are in the sidebar, in the Folders section. Click a folder to open it and see its photos. Click the arrow next to a folder to show or hide the folders inside it.
On a phone, open Folders from the menu. You get the same list on a page of its own.
Open a folder and its name appears at the top, with the path to it and a row of its subfolders. If it’s empty, you’ll see Nothing in this folder yet.
Make a folder
- Click New folder.
- Type a name and click Create.
To make a folder inside another one, open the menu next to the folder (it’s labelled Actions for and the folder’s name) and choose New subfolder.
Names can be up to 100 characters. Folders can go up to 10 levels deep.
Rename, move or delete a folder
Open the menu next to the folder and choose:
- Rename… to give it a new name.
- Move… to put it inside another folder, or choose Top level to take it out of any folder. Its subfolders and photos move with it. The folder can’t go inside itself or one of its own subfolders.
- Delete… to remove it.
Before you delete, a message tells you how many folders inside it will go and how many photos are filed in them. Deleting a folder never deletes photos. They stay in your library, on your timeline, and in any other folders they’re in. Click Delete folder to confirm.
Put photos in a folder
- On your timeline, select the photos you want.
- Click Add to folder….
- Choose a folder and click Add. In a long list, type in Find a folder to narrow it down.
You’ll see how many photos were added, and how many were already there. The same photo can go into more folders later. Photos that are in the trash, or still waiting for review, can’t be added.
Take photos out of a folder
Open the folder, select the photos, and click Remove from folder. The photos leave that folder only. They stay in your library and in every other folder.
Two folders can’t share a name
Inside one folder, each subfolder needs its own name. Names are matched without regard to capital letters or extra spaces, so “Disney” and “disney” count as the same. The same name can still be used in different places, such as 2019/Disney and 2022/Disney.
If a name is already taken, you’ll see There’s already a folder with that name here. Choose a different name. Pick another name. To bring two folders together, drag one onto the other; see below.
If you drag or move a folder somewhere that already has one with the same name, you are asked to choose Merge folders or Rename and move. Merging puts the folder’s photos and subfolders into the other one, and subfolders with the same name merge too. A merge can’t be undone. See Sorting into folders.
Drag to file
You can also drag photos onto a folder in the sidebar, and drag folders onto each other. See Drag and drop and Sorting into folders. For a lot of photos at once, use Sort photos.
Build folders from an import
Some imports can build your folders for you, so you don’t have to make them by hand. They keep the folders your photos were already in:
Each has a Keep my folders switch, on by default. Folders made this way work like any other. Google Photos Takeout keeps your albums as albums instead; see Albums. If you import the same files again, photos you took out of a folder go back in, and folders you deleted are made again.
Who can change folders
Everyone with access to a library can see its folders and open them. Viewers can’t change anything: they don’t see New folder or the folder menus, and they can’t add or remove photos. Contributors, editors and owners can do all of the above.
If something goes wrong
- “Couldn’t load your folders.” Check your connection, then click Try again.
- “Folders can’t be nested that deeply.” You’ve reached 10 levels. Choose a place higher up.
- “You don’t have permission to change folders in this library.” Ask the library’s owner for a role that can organize photos.
Need to bring photos in first? See Upload photos.