6 Tips to Declutter Family Photos Without Tossing Memories, According to Organizing Pros

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It can be quite exhausting, both physically and emotionally.

Family photos, as suggested by professional organizers and photographers.

Meet the Experts

• is a freelance photographer and entrepreneur of Kristen Hazelton Photography.
• She is a professional organizer, founder of What U Keep, LLC, a parent coach, and a certified KonMari consultant based in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
• She is a professional organizer and the owner of Tidy my Space, based in London, Ontario. Her expertise lies in assisting clients with aging in place and downsizing.

Take Your Time

To start, experts agree that organizing and decluttering family photos and other cherished keepsakes can't be done in a hurry. Take your time and tackle the project over several weeks or months, doing whatever feels most comfortable.

After her parents' passing in 2012, Kristen Hazelton, a freelance photographer and owner of Kristen Hazelton Photography, received a large collection of their printed and digitized photos. As amateur photography enthusiasts, they had taken pictures of almost every aspect of their lives.

Going through these photos was a significant undertaking, both physically and emotionally, and Hazelton says it was crucial to approach it in a step-by-step manner.

My husband will tell you that sometimes I just wasn't in the mood to tackle the 'Box of Sadness' we had stored in the attic, even though it desperately needed attention," she says. "What made a difference was going through the photos a little bit at a time and taking breaks when the emotional weight got overwhelming.

Liora Seltzer, a professional organizer and owner of What U Keep, LLC, advises setting a timer to keep your organizing sessions brief and manageable. Even if you can only work for 15 minutes at a time, every little bit of progress counts.

If the task is emotionally exhausting, Seltzer also suggests taking breaks, working with a support person, and giving yourself time to relax after each session.

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Sort Through the Photos

To start organizing and decluttering your family photos, you'll first need to go through all of them and sort them out. This includes both physical and digital photos. According to Hazelton, it's best to sort the images by year or by a significant life event.

“She’s explaining that the family was living in New Mexico at the time the photos were taken, or the photos were definitely taken on their trip to Europe in 1998.”

Don't worry too much about getting everything perfectly organized at this point. This is just a first step to help you get a feel for what you're dealing with, which will allow you to start sorting through your photos and prepare for more detailed organizing later on.

Declutter

Once you've sorted your images, it's time to review them again and start getting rid of unnecessary ones. This process can be tough and emotional. That's alright - give yourself permission to acknowledge those feelings and don't force yourself to get rid of anything that's hard for you to let go of.

The purpose of this decluttering stage is to tidy up the collection, leaving only the most cherished photos to be cherished for many years to come.

Brenda Scott, a professional organizer and owner of Tidy my Space, provides some guidelines to help you declutter family photos more efficiently.

Go through all the photo collections and remove the following: photos that are blurry or cut off, scenery shots with no people in them or no real significance except as a memento of a trip, duplicate photos, and any pictures where nobody alive knows what's going on in them and there's nothing written on the back.

Digitize

Next comes digitization. Although not required, many people choose to digitize their family photos for more convenient storage. Digitized files are also simpler to organize and showcase.

Reducing digital clutter may have its benefits, but you can't deny the value it offers in two key areas: it ensures a backup in case of a natural disaster, and it makes it simpler to dispose of the physical copy once you have the digital version.

To put it bluntly, digitizing can be a time-consuming process. However, there are a few things that can make it easier.

First, don't try to digitize all your photos at once—that will be too overwhelming.

You don't necessarily need a scanner for every picture. Hazelton suggests using a scanner only for images that you want a high-resolution copy of. For other photos, you can use your phone or a digital camera to take pictures of them.

3. **Use

According to Hazelton, simply digitizing your photos isn't enough; it's also important to make sure you can easily access them. When uploading your photos, organize them in a way that makes sense and is easy to navigate.

It's a good idea to organize your information by month and year first. If you have specific dates, that's even more helpful. Using file names that include the year, month, and date can help keep things organized.

Store hard copies in a designated area

Digitizing photos doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of all the physical copies. Some physical photos are probably too valuable to throw away.

Make sure to label the boxes clearly so you can easily locate the files within them in the future.

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