It happens so easily.

We take three pictures just to make sure everyone is looking at the camera. Then another because someone blinked. A few more because maybe this one will be better.

We take screenshots to remember something, photograph a parking spot so we can find the car, save a recipe we want to try, and snap a picture of something at the store to send to someone.

And because digital photos don't take up any physical space, it's easy to keep them all.

Until suddenly we have thousands—or tens of thousands—of photos and start wondering if we need more storage.

Sometimes we do. But sometimes we simply need to declutter our digital photos and make better use of the storage space we already have.

A Little Less Photo Clutter Goes a Long Way

I'm definitely not an advocate for deleting memories just for the sake of having fewer photos. If a photo matters to you, keep it!

But do you really need eight nearly identical pictures of the same moment? The blurry one? The accidental picture of the floor? The screenshot you needed six months ago? Probably not.

The problem is that once those extras become mixed into a collection of thousands of photos, dealing with them can feel overwhelming.

So instead of waiting until you have time to "organize all your photos," try making the job smaller.

Try a Daily Delete to Declutter Digital Photos

One of the easiest ways to manage digital photos is to deal with the extras before they become part of a huge photo-organizing project.

Before you go to bed, take a quick look through the photos you took that day.

Delete the obvious extras while you still remember why you took them. Get rid of the blurry shots, accidental photos, temporary screenshots, and extra versions you know you don't need.

It may only take a minute or two, but you're preventing today's clutter from becoming tomorrow's organizing project.

And making those decisions now is usually much easier than looking at six nearly identical photos five years from now and trying to remember why you kept them all!

Use "On This Day" to Organize a Large Photo Collection

One of the hardest parts of organizing thousands of digital photos is simply knowing where to begin.

Let the calendar decide for you.

If today is August 24, look at your photos from August 24 last year. Then August 24 the year before that. Keep going through the years as long as you have time.

Instead of facing your entire photo collection, you're working on one little slice of it.

Tomorrow? Do August 25.

Over time, those little slices add up. If you do this every day, you could work your way through your entire photo collection within a year.

Organize Your Photos 15 Minutes at a Time

You don't need an entire afternoon to make progress organizing your digital photos.

Set a timer for 15 minutes and work on one manageable area of your collection. You might choose one date, one person, one event, one album, or whatever makes sense in the photo system you use.

When the timer goes off, you're done.

Fifteen minutes may not sound like much, but 15 minutes a day adds up to more than 90 hours in a year!

Imagine what you could accomplish with 90 hours of photo organizing—without ever having to find 90 hours to do it!

Use the Photo-Organizing Tools You Already Have

Take a look at the photo system you use and find out what tools are available to help you organize and declutter your digital photos.

You may have tools that can help you find photos taken close together, compare selected photos, identify people, or otherwise break a huge photo collection into smaller, more manageable groups.

The technology can do some of the heavy lifting. You still get to make the important decision:

Which memories matter to me?

That's really the goal.

How Do You Declutter Thousands of Digital Photos?

The easiest way to declutter a large digital photo collection is to work in small, consistent batches rather than trying to organize everything at once.

Delete unnecessary photos daily. Use "On This Day" to tackle one date across multiple years. Spend 15 minutes at a time organizing one small part of your collection. And take advantage of the photo-management tools available in the system you use.

You don't have to finish everything today.

You just need to make a little progress today.

Make Room for What Matters

We're not trying to create photo collections with the fewest possible files.

We're making room—both digitally and mentally—for the memories we actually want to find, share, and enjoy.

The best photo collection isn't necessarily the smallest or even the most perfectly organized. It's the one that helps you get back to the memories that matter.

Small steps really can make room for what matters.