Trash or Treasured? How To Sort & Organize Your Photos!

(Without Losing Your Mind)

If you’ve ever opened a box stuffed with prints or scrolled through thousands of digital images wondering “Where do I even begin?” – you are not alone.

For many parents and grandparents, organizing family photos feels like a daunting chore. But filtering them for future generations is also one of the most meaningful gifts you can give your loved ones: a visual legacy that tells your story, honors your memories, and brings generations together. (without all the duplicates and blurry photos)

This guide will help you start small, make smart decisions, and feel good about the process—even if you only have 10 minutes at a time.

SORT FIRST. What to Keep, What to Let Go: A Photo Sorting Checklist

Before you organize, you need to declutter. That doesn’t mean tossing precious memories—it means making space for the ones that truly matter.

Here is a simple checklist to help you decide:

✅ Reasons to Delete or Toss a Photo

• It’s blurry, dark, or completely out of focus

• It’s a duplicate or near-identical shot

• It shows someone’s finger over the lens or a random ceiling

• It’s a photo of a receipt, parking lot, or some other no-longer-relevant screenshot

• You don’t recognize the people or place—and no one else does either

• It brings up painful memories you’re not ready to revisit

• It’s part of a burst or series—keep the best one, delete the rest

💛 Reasons to Keep a Photo – What Do You Want Passed On?

• It captures a real emotion—even if it’s imperfect

• It shows a loved one who’s no longer here

• It documents a milestone (first day of school, birthday, vacation)

• It’s the only photo you have of a specific moment or person

• It tells a story when paired with others

• It’s meaningful to someone else in your family

• It makes you smile, laugh, or feel something deep inside

If there are some photos that you just don’t have the heart to toss…fear not, there are options. You can try sorting photos, rather than “Toss or Treasure” into ABC.
A=Album worthy. Maybe not quite in the literal meaning album - but worthy to scan the photo into a digital file and/or store the printed photo in archival, photo-friendly boxes or sleeves.
B=Stored in a box. These are the ones that aren’t quite worthy of archival, but you’re not ready to throw away. Perhaps they still bring YOU joy, but maybe not generations decades from now. So continue to enjoy, knowing these photos will not be preserved forever.
C=Can it. The ones that don’t mean anything or are just bad shots.
For B and C, you can always look into repurposing these photos - so many ways of doing that such as a photo album, slideshows, ebooks or videos.

NEXT STEP: How to Organize/Classify Your Photos: Choose a System That Works for You

Once you’ve trimmed the clutter, it’s time to sort. There’s no one “right” way—just the way that feels intuitive and sustainable for you.

Here are three popular methods, with pros and cons for each:

📅 Organize by Decade or Year

Best for: Chronological storytellers and family historians
Pros:

• Easy to track life stages and generational changes

• Great for creating timelines or milestone albums

Cons:

• Requires accurate date info (especially for older prints)

• Can feel rigid if your memories don’t fit neatly into time blocks

👤 Organize by Person or Family Member

Best for: Families with multiple children or generations
Pros:

• Makes it easy to create personalized albums or gifts

• Helps each person feel seen and celebrated

Cons:

• Some photos feature multiple people—where do they go?

• May require duplicates or cross-referencing

🎨 Organize by Theme or Event

Best for: Creative minds and memory-makers
Pros:

• Allows for storytelling around vacations, holidays, traditions

• Great for creating keepsake books or video montages

Cons:

• Can be harder to maintain consistency

• May require more subjective decisions

Make sure all your digital photos arrive at the same location for storage (PC, Cloud, Hard Drive, etc.) This makes it easier for retrieval and saving with a back-up service. If you want to dive deeper into how to categorize and tag your photos - there are videos offering tips. This can get involved and time-consuming and often people leave this to professionals. But it does help in locating photos fast.

 Baby Steps: How to Start Without Feeling Overwhelmed

You don’t need a weekend retreat or a color-coded spreadsheet to begin. Try these gentle entry points:

• Set a timer for 15 minutes and sort one folder or envelope

• Pick one theme (e.g., birthdays) and gather all related photos

• Start with one person—create a folder just for them

• Use sticky notes or digital tags to label as you go

• Celebrate progress—even if you only organize 20 photos today, that’s 20 more than yesterday

Legacy isn’t built in a day. It’s built in moments—just like the memories you’re preserving.