The main Photo library view in Mac Photos doesn't let you choose a sort order. But you can easily view your photos sorted by time or title by creating a Smart Album and using that to view your photos instead. You can also sort your list of Photo albums by viewing all of the albums and choosing a sort option, or manually dragging and dropping the albums.
Comments: 17 Responses to “Sorting Photos and Photo Albums”
Loewenthal, Jr. Dr. Bernard
6 years ago
What do I do with iphoto events--many of which are empty or have incorrect photos? If I delete any iPhoto events are the photos still in my "Photos" folder?
Thanks!
When you upgraded from iPhoto to Photos, your old "Events" were converted to regular albums using the same name. So you can do what you want with them. They are just albums. If you aren't using them, clean them up. Deleting albums or removing photos from albums doesn't remove your photos from your library.
Chuck
6 years ago
Gary, Don't know why, but my sidebar has disappeared in Photos. I've gone to the view option on the menu bar and can see "show sidebar", but it’s greyed out. How can I get my sidebar back?
Chuck: By chance, have you shrunk the Photos window to a small size? Try expanding it. You can only use the sidebar when the window is large enough.
Chuck
6 years ago
That did the trick! Wow, been using photos/iPhoto for years (worked for Apple for 4 years as a Creative) and thought I was pretty savvy in this App. Only proves you can’t know it all. Thank Gary, I appreciate the help.
Angela Donna
6 years ago
I have photos in an album that need to be in a particular order. Twice the album has vanished and I have had to tediously rebuild it. Is there a way to rename (or number) them so they sort in order if it happens again? Date, time and locations are not options since the photos come from several sources.
Angela: First, I would try to figure out why the albums are vanishing. That shouldn't happen. I have albums going back to 2000. But as for ordering, you could always add a title to each one, and then sort by title.
Bob
6 years ago
Nice workaround Gary. Is there a way of doing the same on iPhone and iPad or, if not, accessing the smart albums created on your home computer with them? Thanks
Bob: No, there's no way to do the same thing on iOS currently. And iOS Photos doesn't have Smart Albums either.
Pam
6 years ago
following your instructions, I realized I don't have the same screen you do... and discovered I somehow put my Photos Library.photoslibrary IN a Pictures folder in my Documents...is this what is causing my screen to look different... and WHAT do I do now?
Pam: It doesn't matter where you put your library. What is different about your screen? The most common reason for differences in options would simply be that you are using an older version of Photos. Which version do you have?
Pam
6 years ago
I have version 1.5 and my operating system is El Capitan 10.11.6
I KNOW I have had things right in the past but now, on side bar: no Library and everything is under a title 'Albums' including an album called Photos (if I delete something from THIS album...it is DELETED. I gather that means IT is the photo library and gone is gone. Also, at top of 'Photos/Shared/Albums/Projects' are the little labels. I can get those but only using the arrows to the left. Sigh. Any throughts?
Pam: Yes, you are using an older version of Photos. Version 3.0 that comes with High Sierra is the current version and the one you see in my videos. El Capitan is two versions of macOS back. Have you shrunk the Photos window -- if it is too small, the left sidebar doesn't appear. "Photos" is not an album but a complete list of the photos in your library.
Pam
6 years ago
Gary - thanks so much for your feedback. I'm going to take this problem off-line for I think it isn't relevant to your video but..I'm not confused about the Photos...in whatever mistake has happened, the Photos is trapped in the albums heading. I'm in Italy so it's not easy to find a Genius but...I'm going to look around for one. Grazie mille
Val J. Campbell
6 years ago
I have my photos in Photos on an iMac. I have used this program for quite a while, but now, in several albums, I cannot rearrange the order within the album by dragging the picture to the desired place. I tried to do in in other albums and it works in some but not in others. This used to work for me all the time. What am I doing wrong?
Val: Are all of the albums the same? Are some Smart Albums, or perhaps you are looking at memories or All Photos? Also, check View, Sort to see what it is set to. Once you start re-arranging the photos manually, it should have no checkmark next to any of the options.
Ginny Ryan
6 years ago
Thank you for such a simple, helpful video and workaround!
What do I do with iphoto events--many of which are empty or have incorrect photos? If I delete any iPhoto events are the photos still in my "Photos" folder?
Thanks!
When you upgraded from iPhoto to Photos, your old "Events" were converted to regular albums using the same name. So you can do what you want with them. They are just albums. If you aren't using them, clean them up. Deleting albums or removing photos from albums doesn't remove your photos from your library.
Gary, Don't know why, but my sidebar has disappeared in Photos. I've gone to the view option on the menu bar and can see "show sidebar", but it’s greyed out. How can I get my sidebar back?
Chuck: By chance, have you shrunk the Photos window to a small size? Try expanding it. You can only use the sidebar when the window is large enough.
That did the trick! Wow, been using photos/iPhoto for years (worked for Apple for 4 years as a Creative) and thought I was pretty savvy in this App. Only proves you can’t know it all. Thank Gary, I appreciate the help.
I have photos in an album that need to be in a particular order. Twice the album has vanished and I have had to tediously rebuild it. Is there a way to rename (or number) them so they sort in order if it happens again? Date, time and locations are not options since the photos come from several sources.
Angela: First, I would try to figure out why the albums are vanishing. That shouldn't happen. I have albums going back to 2000. But as for ordering, you could always add a title to each one, and then sort by title.
Nice workaround Gary. Is there a way of doing the same on iPhone and iPad or, if not, accessing the smart albums created on your home computer with them? Thanks
Bob: No, there's no way to do the same thing on iOS currently. And iOS Photos doesn't have Smart Albums either.
following your instructions, I realized I don't have the same screen you do... and discovered I somehow put my Photos Library.photoslibrary IN a Pictures folder in my Documents...is this what is causing my screen to look different... and WHAT do I do now?
Pam: It doesn't matter where you put your library. What is different about your screen? The most common reason for differences in options would simply be that you are using an older version of Photos. Which version do you have?
I have version 1.5 and my operating system is El Capitan 10.11.6
I KNOW I have had things right in the past but now, on side bar: no Library and everything is under a title 'Albums' including an album called Photos (if I delete something from THIS album...it is DELETED. I gather that means IT is the photo library and gone is gone. Also, at top of 'Photos/Shared/Albums/Projects' are the little labels. I can get those but only using the arrows to the left. Sigh. Any throughts?
Pam: Yes, you are using an older version of Photos. Version 3.0 that comes with High Sierra is the current version and the one you see in my videos. El Capitan is two versions of macOS back. Have you shrunk the Photos window -- if it is too small, the left sidebar doesn't appear. "Photos" is not an album but a complete list of the photos in your library.
Gary - thanks so much for your feedback. I'm going to take this problem off-line for I think it isn't relevant to your video but..I'm not confused about the Photos...in whatever mistake has happened, the Photos is trapped in the albums heading. I'm in Italy so it's not easy to find a Genius but...I'm going to look around for one. Grazie mille
I have my photos in Photos on an iMac. I have used this program for quite a while, but now, in several albums, I cannot rearrange the order within the album by dragging the picture to the desired place. I tried to do in in other albums and it works in some but not in others. This used to work for me all the time. What am I doing wrong?
Val: Are all of the albums the same? Are some Smart Albums, or perhaps you are looking at memories or All Photos? Also, check View, Sort to see what it is set to. Once you start re-arranging the photos manually, it should have no checkmark next to any of the options.
Thank you for such a simple, helpful video and workaround!