Short answer: work in four rounds, not all at once: sort the prints roughly by decade, scan them with a flatbed scanner, a phone scan app or a scanning service, then date and name each photo in its file name, and finally share them where the family can add what they know. Scan the backs that have writing on them too.
Last updated: 2 November 2026. Every fact about another service was checked on that date on its own help pages; the sources are at the bottom.
Round 1: sort by decade, before you scan
Boxes that span decades feel endless because every photo asks a question. Do not answer them yet. Spread the prints out and sort them roughly into envelopes or boxes per decade. Use what you see at a glance: black and white or colour, a white border or none, square prints, clothes, cars, the people you recognise. Put anything you cannot place in an envelope marked "not sure". Keep albums whole for now; the order someone gave them is information too.
This round costs an afternoon or two and makes everything after it smaller. You scan one decade at a time, you date within a decade instead of within a lifetime, and you can share the 1960s while the 1980s are still in the box.
Round 2: pick a way to scan
| Method | Good for | Not the best choice when |
|---|---|---|
| Flatbed scanner | The most detail, prints you may want to enlarge or restore, and the writing on the back | You have thousands of prints and little time |
| Phone scan app (for example Google PhotoScan on Android) | Many prints quickly, and photos stuck in albums; PhotoScan can remove glare | You want the highest detail for enlargements |
| Scanning service | Large boxes, slides and negatives | The originals should not leave your hands, or you want to sort and date first |
| Shared album (Google Photos, iCloud Shared Albums) | Showing the scans to the family quickly | You want the story and voice recordings next to each photo, or to control who adds; in Google Photos anyone with the link can view and add |
| The Memory Palace | Rooms per decade with photos, stories and voice recordings; family invited to view or add | You need a scanner or a backup of every scan: it does neither |
Whatever you choose, scan the back of every print that has writing, a date or a stamp on it, and keep that scan next to the front. More on the options in scan, photograph or outsource.
Round 3: date and name each photo
The date
A scanned file carries the date of the scan, not the date of the photo. So write the real date where it cannot get lost: at the start of the file name. When you are unsure, look at the clues, such as the format and border, the clothes and hairstyles, the cars and the stamp on the back. The free photo date tool walks you through them without an account. When a year is not possible, a decade is fine. If the dates in your photo app are already wrong, see how to fix the date of scanned photos.
The file name
Date first, then place, then people, separated by underscores: 1974-07_Ostend_Maria-Jan.jpg. Files named this way sort by date on any computer and in any program. Use a folder per decade and, inside it, a folder per year. Keep names short and leave out special characters.
The people
Ask the relatives who know, a few photos at a time, over coffee or on a call. One evening with an aunt and twenty photos often names more people than a month of guessing. Google Photos can group similar faces so you can label them, but the feature is not available in every country, and the labels stay private to your account, so they do not reach the rest of the family.
Round 4: share, so the family can add
The people in the photos, and their children, know things you do not. Share in a way that lets them add. A shared album shows the photos; a place with room for stories keeps what they tell you. In The Memory Palace you can hang each decade in its own room, write the story under a photo or record someone telling it, and invite each relative to view only or also add.
Keep two copies of your scans in different places, for example on your computer and on an external drive or a cloud service. Sharing is not the same as a backup.
The Memory Palace, honestly
The Memory Palace is your own 3D memory palace. Your photos, videos, voice recordings and written stories hang in rooms you walk through, arranged in wings. It is private by default, and you choose who comes in and whether they can add. It runs in the browser and on iPhone, iPad and Android, the free plan has 1 GB, and you can download everything as a ZIP on every plan.
What it lacks: it does not scan, it is not a backup of every photo you own, and it is not end-to-end encrypted. Use it for the photos that carry a story, next to a backup of all your scans.
When the first decade is scanned, you can start your palace for free and give it a room. For a photo without a date, try the free photo date tool; for one that is faded or torn, restore one photo for free.
Read on: organize old family photos digitally, when was this photo taken, scanned photos with the wrong date, and all guides on old photos.
Sources
- Google Photos Help, scan photos with PhotoScan: support.google.com/photos/answer/7177983?hl=en
- Google Photos Help, set up and manage your face groups (not available in all countries; labels are private to your account): support.google.com/photos/answer/6128838
- Google Photos Help, share albums (anyone with the link can view and add): support.google.com/photos/answer/6131416
- Apple Support, iCloud Shared Albums: support.apple.com/en-us/108314