Find the photograph you took last March
Find any photograph you have ever taken, by what is in it or by when it was taken, in under a minute.
Every photograph you have ever taken is in one long line, in the order you took them. Nothing is filed away anywhere odd, and nothing is hidden — which end the newest ones sit at varies from one make of phone to another, and it is the only part that does.
There are two ways in. By date, using the Years, Months and Days headings — which is how you find "the week we went to Cape Winslow". And by what is in the picture, using Search — which is how you find "the one with the cake".
Key points
- Search your photographs with a plain word for what is in them
- Narrow down by Years, then Months, then Days
- See exactly when and where any picture was taken, under Info
- Trust that nothing is lost — it is only in date order
What to remember
- Search in Photos understands ordinary words. Try the plainest one you can think of.
- The recognition happens on your own phone, which is why it works with no signal at all.
- Years, then Months, then Days. Every phone has that ladder, and it always goes the same way.
Try this
Open Photos on your own phone, press Search, and type beach. Most people are genuinely taken aback by what comes back, and it is the moment Photos stops feeling like a heap.
Practice: Find the photograph you took last March. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.