Here's some tips on how to organize photos with keywords on your phone

Your phone probably holds thousands of pictures. Some are important family memories, while others are screenshots you saved because you thought you might need them later. Then comes the frustrating part. You remember taking a particular photo, but finding it feels like searching for a needle in a digital haystack.

Apple's iOS 27 offers a way to make that search easier by letting you add keywords to individual 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.

Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel users have similar ways to organize their pictures, although the tools work differently. Here's how to take advantage of them and spend less time hunting for photos.

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YOUR PHONE CAN FIX BADLY FRAMED PHOTOS AFTER YOU TAKE THEM

Apple's Photos app can already recognize people, pets, places and objects. However, automatic searches don't always understand why a particular photo is important to you. That's where manually assigned keywords can help.

For example, you might photograph a parking spot at an airport or save a picture of a particular appliance model number. Adding a keyword you will remember later can make the photo much easier to find.

These instructions are based on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 27.

Choose words that make sense to you. For example, a picture of your car's license plate might get a keyword such as "license plate." You could also tag pictures from a family vacation with a memorable trip name.

Once you've added keywords, searching for those pictures takes only a few seconds.

You can also manage your keywords by opening Photos > Collections > your profile icon > Manage Keywords. From there, you can rename keywords, delete them or add frequently used keywords to your favorites.

Pro tip: Start with photos you actually struggle to find. Important documents, appliance labels and travel information are useful candidates. There's no need to spend an entire weekend tagging your photo library.

Samsung Galaxy phones also let you add tags to pictures using the built-in Gallery app. That means you can assign your own keywords and search for them later, much like you can on an iPhone. Depending on your Galaxy model and Gallery version, the exact location of the tagging controls may vary. However, Samsung supports manual photo tagging on compatible devices.

Here's how to tag a picture using Samsung Gallery.

On some Galaxy versions, you may need to tap Edit in the photo's details to add a tag. If you don't see the option, make sure your Gallery app is updated.

Once you've tagged a photo, you can use the Gallery's search feature to find it again.

For example, you could tag pictures of your home appliances with their model names. Later, when you need a serial number or replacement part, you can search for the tag instead of scrolling t