Your phone probably holds thousands of pictures.
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phone → hold → pictures
Some are important family memories, while others are screenshots you saved because you thought you might need them later.
uncertain
you → save → them
Then comes the frustrating part.
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part → come → ?
You remember taking a particular photo, but finding it feels like searching for a needle in a digital haystack.
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finding → remember → haystack
Apple's iOS 27 offers a way to make that search easier by letting you add keywords to individual photos.
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you → offer → photos
Instead of scrolling through months of pictures, you can search for a word you've assigned to a photo and pull it up again.
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you → scroll → it
Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel users have similar ways to organize their pictures, although the tools work differently.
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tools → have → pictures
Join our upcoming CyberGuy LIVE class: 5 Ways to Travel Smarter and Save Money
In this free live online class, Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson will share five practical ways to protect your trip and your wallet this holiday travel season.
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Knutsson → join → trip
You’ll learn how to secure your phone and personal information, find better travel deals, avoid common scams, save money on bookings and use technology to make your travels easier and less stressful.
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travels → learn → technology
No technical experience is needed.
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experience → need → ?
How to add keywords to photos on iPhone
Apple's Photos app can already recognize people, pets, places and objects.
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app → add → people
However, automatic searches don't always understand why a particular photo is important to you.
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photo → understand → you
That's where manually assigned keywords can help.
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keywords → assign → ?
For example, you might photograph a parking spot at an airport or save a picture of a particular appliance model number.
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you → photograph → number
Adding a keyword you will remember later can make the photo much easier to find.
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photo → add → keyword
Add keywords to photos in iOS 27
These instructions are based on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 27.
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instructions → add → iOS
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Find and open the photo you want to organize.
- Tap the Info (ⓘ) icon or swipe up on the photo.
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you → open → photo
- Enter the keyword or keywords you want to associate with the picture.
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you → enter → picture
- Tap the checkmark icon to save your changes.
- If you want to edit or add more keywords later, you can tap Edit .
Choose words that make sense to you.
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that → tap → you
For example, a picture of your car's license plate might get a keyword such as "license plate."
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picture → get → plate
You could also tag pictures from a family vacation with a memorable trip name.
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You → tag → name
How to find photos using keywords on iPhone
Once you've added keywords, searching for those pictures takes only a few seconds.
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searching → find → seconds
- Open the Photos app.
- Tap the Search icon, which looks like a magnifying glass.
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which → open → glass
- Type one of the keywords you previously added.
- Look for a suggested search result with the Aa symbol.
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you → type → symbol
You can also manage your keywords by opening Photos > Collections > your profile icon > Manage Keywords.
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You → manage → Photos
From there, you can rename keywords, delete them or add frequently used keywords to your favorites.
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you → rename → favorites
Pro tip: Start with photos you actually struggle to find.
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you → start → photos
How to organize photos on Samsung Galaxy
Samsung Galaxy phones also let you add tags to pictures using the built-in Gallery app.
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you → organize → app
That means you can assign your own keywords and search for them later, much like you can on an iPhone.
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you → mean → iPhone
Depending on your Galaxy model and Gallery version, the exact location of the tagging controls may vary.
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location → depend → controls
However, Samsung supports manual photo tagging on compatible devices.
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Samsung → support → devices
Here's how to tag a picture using Samsung Gallery.
- Open the Gallery app.
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Open → tag → app
- Select the photo you want to organize.
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you → select → photo
- Swipe up on the photo to open its details, or tap the Details icon (ⓘ) if it appears at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Add tag.
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it → swipe → tag
- Enter a keyword or phrase that describes the picture.
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that → enter → picture
On some Galaxy versions, you may need to tap Edit in the photo's details to add a tag.
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you → need → tag
If you don't see the option, make sure your Gallery app is updated.
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app → see → option
How to find tagged photos on Samsung Galaxy
Once you've tagged a photo, you can use the Gallery's search feature to find it again.
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you → find → it
- Enter the tag you assigned to the photo.
- Select the matching picture from the search results.
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you → enter → results
For example, you could tag pictures of your home appliances with their model names.
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you → tag → names
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
