9 Best Photo Organizing Software in 2024

Higher quality camera phones and the grand scale of popular social media mean that in 2024, everyone is taking more photos than ever before. The downside to that is that keeping track of them all can be extremely difficult: that's where the best photo managing software comes in.

The best photo management software can help you categorize your pictures, sort them by date, place, or who's in them, as well as organize them into albums. You don't even have to pay for the privilege, as some of the best free photo organizing software can do all that and a whole lot more.

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7 or Mac OS X 10.13 or higher

Hard drive space: 2.1 GB

RAM: 2 GB

Min. Resolution: 1280 × 768

Free version: No free options

Key features:

• Advanced publishing tools
• Strong labelling and metadata options
• Batch renaming and export functions
• Easy to make photo portfolios

For existing Adobe^® Creative Cloud^® subscribers, Adobe^® Bridge is one of the best photo management software options you have, because you already have access. It has robust tools for organizing and categorizing photos, with the option of manual and automated labelling and metadata tweaking. You can also perform batch renames of image files, which can further aid the sorting process.

This is especially great image management software if you're looking to build a photo portfolio, as the export functions are excellent, even compared with some of the other best photo organization software.

Check out some reviews of Adobe^® Bridge at the link below.

Reviews by G2

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista

Hard drive space: 600 MB

RAM: 512 MB

Min. Resolution: 1024 × 600

Free version: A free trial is available for 30 days

Key features:

• Facial recognition
• Photo touch up options
• Cloud import from various services
• Wide image format support

The Magix Photo Manager Deluxe is the more expensive picture organizer applications, but it has one of the strongest feature sets to match. It supports an enormous range of different file types, making it a cinch to import pictures from all sorts of cameras and devices, as well as the cloud. You can download directly from a variety of services straight to this album management app.

It's only available on Windows, so it's not as versatile as some of the best photo library software, and its sharing options are a little limited, but it has a simple and intuitive interface, and its built-in photo touch up features can be great if you're working with older pictures.

There are a number of Magix Photo Manager Deluxe reviews at the link below.

Reviews by G2

Compatibility: iOS 8 or higher, iPadOS, OS X Yosemite or higher, watchOS, tvOS 10 or higher

Free version: Completely free

Key features:

• Allows to edit RAW images
• Integrated with other Apple devices and services
• Intelligent search
• Comes with some free iCloud storage

If you're using any sort of Apple device, then chances are you already have access to Apple Photos, which can make it one of the best photo organizers you have. It enjoys fantastic integration with all sorts of Apple devices and services, which is perfect if you want to access your archive on different platforms. It's also great if you want to take and tag pictures on different devices and upload them to the same, central database.

It is exclusive to Apple devices, and you'll have to pay a little more if you start to fill up your free iCloud allocation, but it's only a few dollars a month for hundreds of gigabytes of space, so it's not costly. Whether you pay extra or just enjoy the free version though, the file tagging and editing options on Mac and iOS devices are excellent.

Apple Photos was given an in-depth review at PC Mag at the link below.

Review by PC Mag

Compatibility: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Free version: Free up to 15 GB storage space

Key features:

• Automatic backup
• Integrated with other Google services
• Robust security for library
• Compatibility across many devices and operating systems

You don't need to worry much about what platform you're on with Google Photos. If you can access one of the most popular web browsers, you'll be able to use it. Google account owners can enjoy up to 15 GB of free storage space in the cloud, and the automatic backup functions mean you'll never lose your most precious files.

One of the best photo library software choices for Android users, Google Photos has a fantastic search system for finding pictures in specific albums, from certain years, or based on what's in the picture. It's also a great way to use your photo gallery in different Google services, as they're always within easy reach.

Check out some Google Photo reviews at the link below.

Reviews by G2

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP; Mac OS X 10.6 or higher, Linux

Hard drive space: 2 GB

Free version: The software is free and open-source

Key features:

• Can handle over 100,000 photos
• Supports in-depth metadata
• Supports many file formats
• Lets you publish directly to social media

Arguably the best free photo organizing software out there, Digikam Photo Manager is beloved by its community for being open source, intuitive, and available on Windows PCs and macOS systems. It gives you complete control to make nested albums and catalogs for expertly curated libraries of images, pictures, and videos in a way that most other applications just can't.

With the ability to handle over 100,000 images at once, it's a powerful piece of software, and despite being one of the longest running photo organizing apps out there, it enjoys modern features, like publishing directly to all the most popular social media sites.

Here are some reviews of Digikam if you need more information.

Reviews by AlternativeTo

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8; macOS Sierra or higher

Hard drive space: 1 GB

RAM: 4 GB

Min. Resolution: 1366 × 768

Free version: Entirely free for Nikon camera owners

Key features:

• Easily edit RAW files in the organizer
• Import directly from your Nikon camera
• Freely available with all Nikon DSLR Cameras

Nikon makes some of the best cameras in the world, so it makes sense that it also has one of the best photo library software applications you can use. It's entirely free for Nikon camera owners and supports RAW images for both organizing and simple tweaks and edits.

Available on both Windows PCs and macOS systems, Nikon ViewNX-i includes basic image processing of colors and shadow effects, even letting you edit the RAW files straight from your Nikon camera.

It doesn't support other camera brands, though, and its photo organizational tools are no way near as robust as the competition.

Here's a detailed look at Nikon ViewNX-i for more information.

Review by Softpedia

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7

Free version: A regular user account is free

Key features:

• Screenshot tool
• Lightweight app uses minimal system resources
• Batch image processing

One of the few photo organization apps that supports the HEIC file type, Apowersoft Photo Viewer is a fantastic replacement for the default photo viewer on Windows PCs and is a great tool for integrating your Apple devices that take the pictures, with your Windows PC that stores them.

You can use Apowersoft Photo Viewer for free. Its image editing tools are quite basic, however, making it better for organizing photos in a standard album than some of its robust photo categorization rivals.

For more information, check out this review of Apowersoft Photo Viewer.

Review by TechRadar

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP

Free version: A free trial is available with some limitations

Key features:

• Advanced categorizing of photos
• Import from cameras, folders, CD, or DVD
• GPU acceleration for intensive tasks
• Automated categorization

The PicaJet looks and feels like it's straight out of the Windows XP era of computing, and that's no accident. It's been one of the best photo organizing apps available since the mid-'00s and though it's showing its age, it's still a simple and intuitive tool to help categorize your image gallery. The paid-up version isn't worth its asking price, but the free option gives you plenty of tools to use to put together a comprehensive database of all your photos and videos.

It offers a number of automated and manual organizational tools to help put your collection together, and when you're done, there are a few basic search options to help find your favorites.

Here's a review of PicaJet, with a more detailed look at the software.

Review by TopTenReviews

Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP

Disc space: 10 MB

Free version: You can use the program for free with some limitations during the trial period

Key features:

• Batch conversion tool
• Automatic keyword generation
• Encrypted photo storage and password protection
• Robust search function

Another popular, if a little dated, photo management application, Smart Pix Manager still has a solid set of tools to help you organize your photo library into something more manageable. It has powerful search tools for finding the pictures that you're looking for, and supports a wide range of file formats.

With a dated interface, however, it's not the most intuitive, and can take a little bit longer to get to grips with than some of the other best photo management software options. There are some wizards and tooltips to help explain some of the more opaque functions, though, so if you're willing to give it some time, Smart Pix Manager can still be a great way to organize your photo library.

You can find a great review of Smart Pix Manager at the link below.

Review by TopTenReviews

You can easily organize printed photos, by following instructions below:

• Buy a set of photo albums and photo boxes.

• Sort photos by date or any other identifying feature.

• Get rid of low-quality photos.

• Put the sorted photos to photo albums.

• Digitize photos and organize them on your PC or Mac.