How To Organize Screenshots on Your Computer or Phone

Learn how to organize screenshots on your computer, tablet, or phone for an simpler and clutter-free experience!

We’ll dig into how to organize the screenshots you have, when to delete or archive, and how to set up your device to help manage them in the future – including some great automation options.

Just like learning how to organize your downloads folder, managing your screenshots can seem like a daunting task. Fortunately, there are some great tools and ways to organize your content better – no matter which device you are on.

Keep your computer or phone clutter-free by starting with these 10 great tips for organizing your screenshots! These tips below can help give you a place to start keeping your files clutter free.

Review Your Screenshots

Start by browsing your current screenshots – whether they are on your laptop, phone, tablet, or other device.

Questions to Ask:

• Why did I want to keep this?
• When did I last use this screenshot?
• Will I ever use it again?
• Can I find this information in another place?

Review the files. And see where you may have one area (a website, app, or social media) where you keep the most screenshots. Once you identify the source, you can be more mindful of not screenshotting future files for unnecessary clutter.

Delete Duplicates

If you have duplicate or similar screenshots, you’ll want to go through and delete any ones before you sort them into categories.

You can visually do this one-by-one. Or you can enlist the help of some great duplicate-cleaning programs or tools. Depending on the model of your phone, your Photos app may select duplicates for you (my phone does)!

Once you remove any duplicates – whether you took the screenshot on different days, or you accidently hit the screenshot button twice, you’ll have a cleaner space to start.

Want a clutter-free digital space? Check out our guides on reducing digital clutter, how to organize your computer files and folders, and setting up the best computer backup strategy to for easy storage & retrieval.

Delete In the Moment

Not all screenshots are necessary. In fact, the majority of screenshots may never be looked at again. If you are guilty of over-capturing, make it a habit to delete screenshots as you take them.

This is especially helpful if you take multiple screenshots trying to get the perfect angle/shot of the screen. Like a photo burst.

As soon as you are done, go into your screenshots folder or Photo app, and remove any ones that aren’t perfect.

Deleting in the moment helps save time later. And it helps clutter build up now and saves space on your device.

Move Screenshots to Categories

Now that you’ve gotten rid of duplicates or older screenshots, organize the ones you have into categories or folders. You can easily do this on your computer or your phone!

Some examples of categories for your screenshots:

• Receipts or any purchases made online
• Travel: itineraries, flight information, or updates of trips
• Business: if you keep any business expenses screenshotted, move them to a different folder for better organization
• Ideas or Inspiration: if you keep screenshots for ideas or inspiration, move them to a folder. Or you could upload them to a site like Pinterest where you can save ideas into visual categories.

Rely on Cloud Syncing

If your device (especially your phone) has a cloud synching (like iCloud, Dropbox, Google Photos accounts), your data can be automatically backed up to the cloud.

By utilizing cloud backups you can access the screenshots if needed, but don’t need to keep them on your device. Once synched, you can delete the shots you’ll want to keep, and free up space.

This helps to prevent clutter on your device. It also helps keep important screenshots synched in case you lose or damage your phone or device.

Browse through our back up solutions guide to find the right back-up strategy for you!

Set Rules for Screenshot Storage

Setting up a automatic retention schedule can be a great option if you have a lot of older files that are no longer being used after a certain date.

You can define this timeframe yourself (for example, delete screenshots after 90 days) or have a program do it for you.

This is especially great if you have time-sensitive or project-based screenshots you are using. Then once the event or project is over, you can automatically delete any screenshots associated with that event.

You can download a program to do this for you – or Sort your screenshot folder, and delete the screenshots by date.

Regular Cloud Clean-Up

Like setting a retention plan for you devices, you can do the same tasks with any Cloud-based backup storage you may have for your screenshots.

Just like your devices, your cloud storage can contain a great deal of clutter if not maintained.

Start by searching for “screenshot” and reviewing the files. Delete what you no longer need. You can review them visually, or sort by date taken to clear older ones first.

Monitor Automatic Captures

Some phone and computer apps will automatically take a screenshot or audio/video recording. For example, Zoom and other meeting apps have a setting to automatically record all meetings – even if you will never watch them again.

Review any programs or apps that are automatically capturing your screen. Change the settings or set up a automated program to delete any recording if they are no longer needed.

Set a Monthly Clean Up Reminder

This is one of my favorite tips from the best way to organize your desktop – schedule short cleaning sessions monthly! Create a monthly reminder in your calendar to spend a bit of time reviewing your screenshots.

Doing a little bit at a time helps digital clutter from accumulating. And by cleaning a small portion each month it’s not as daunting of a task.

You can even set a timer (10-15 minutes) to scroll through your screenshots and see if any can be archived or deleted. That way you are only saving the best!

Combine Screenshots

If you have screenshots you want to keep from your business or for work/school, you can combine them into a single PDF. You can do this using Acrobat, or another PDF tool.

Feeling creative? If you have a lot of visual screenshots that are similar, you may want to use a collage app to combine them into a single file?

You can use a collage app or Canva to compile like-images into one.

Combining the files help save space on your device. It can also help keep similar screenshots together, which makes the information easy to find at a later date.

Browse our Control + Save information library for easy how-to videos, articles, & more on digital organization and physical paper and document storage!