Creating a new album on Facebook

To create an album, go to your profile and click the Photos tab near the top. Select Albums from the left menu. Click the blue Create Album button. Facebook will ask you to name the album, add a description if you want, and choose who can see it — just you, friends, or everyone. Then you upload photos by clicking Add Photos and selecting files from your computer or phone.

The album doesn't have to be complete when you create it. You can add photos over time, and Facebook keeps them organized in the order you upload them. Each photo can have its own caption and location tag. You can also go back and change the album's privacy setting later if you want to share it with more people or restrict it.

Key Takeaways

  • Albums are created from your profile's Photos tab, and you can set them to be visible only to you, to friends, or to everyone.
  • You can add photos one at a time or upload multiple photos at once when you create the album.
  • Each photo in an album can have its own caption, location tag, and date, and you can edit these details after uploading.
  • You can change an album's privacy setting, name, or description at any time by opening the album and clicking the three-dot menu.
  • Photos you add to an album are stored on Facebook's servers and subject to Facebook's data policies, which you can review in your privacy settings.

Uploading photos to an album all at once

If you have many photos to add, you don't have to upload them one by one. When you click Add Photos in a new or existing album, your computer or phone will open a file browser. Hold down Ctrl (or Command on Mac) and click multiple photos to select them all at once, then click Open. Facebook will upload them together and place them in the album in the order you selected them.

On a phone, the process is similar but depends on your device. On iPhone, open the Facebook app, go to your profile, tap Photos, then Albums, and tap the plus icon to create a new album or add to an existing one. You can then select multiple photos from your camera roll by tapping each one. On Android, the steps are nearly identical — tap the plus icon and select photos from your gallery.

Changing privacy and who can see your albums

When you create an album, Facebook sets a default privacy level based on your overall profile settings. You can change this for each album individually. Open the album, click the three-dot menu in the top right, and select Edit Album. The privacy dropdown shows your options: Only Me (no one else sees it), Friends, Public (everyone on and off Facebook), or custom settings that let you block specific people.

Keep in mind that changing an album's privacy setting does not remove photos that people have already seen or saved. If you shared an album with everyone and then changed it to friends-only, people who saw it before can still remember what was in it. If you want to truly hide photos, you may need to delete them from the album instead.

Editing album details and reordering photos

After you create an album, you can change its name, description, location, and date. Open the album and click the three-dot menu, then select Edit Album. You can update any of these fields. The date you set is when Facebook says the album was created — this is useful if you're uploading old photos and want them organized by when they were actually taken, not when you uploaded them.

To reorder photos within an album, open the album and click the three-dot menu again, then select Rearrange Photos. You can then drag photos to new positions. Facebook will save the new order automatically. If you want to remove a single photo from an album without deleting it entirely, open the photo, click the three-dot menu on the photo itself, and select Remove from Album.

Understanding where your album photos are stored

When you upload photos to a Facebook album, they are stored on Facebook's servers, not on your device. This means the photos exist in Facebook's data centers and are subject to Facebook's data policies. Facebook can use photos you upload for various purposes depending on your privacy settings — for example, to show them to friends, to train its image recognition systems, or to display them in ads (though Facebook has limited this practice in recent years).

You can read your photos at any time by opening each photo and clicking the three-dot menu, then selecting read. If you want to read an entire album at once, go to your profile settings, click Your Information, then read Your Information. Facebook will prepare a file containing all your photos and data, which you can read as a backup or to move to another platform.

Deleting albums and photos

If you want to remove an album entirely, open it, click the three-dot menu, and select Delete Album. Facebook will ask you to confirm. Deleting an album removes all the photos in it from your profile and from Facebook's public view. However, if people have already downloaded or saved copies of those photos, deleting the album does not remove those copies from their devices.

You can also delete individual photos from an album without deleting the whole album. Open the photo, click the three-dot menu, and select Delete Photo. This removes the photo from the album and from your profile, but again, anyone who saved a copy before you deleted it will still have that copy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move photos from one album to another?

Facebook does not have a built-in "move" feature, but you can achieve the same result by adding a photo to a new album and then removing it from the old one. Open the photo, click the three-dot menu, select Add to Album, choose the new album, then go back and remove it from the original album using Remove from Album.

What happens to an album if I change my profile privacy settings?

Changing your overall profile privacy does not automatically change individual album settings. Each album keeps its own privacy level. However, if you set your profile to private and then create a new album, Facebook may default new albums to a more restrictive setting. Check each album's privacy settings to be sure they match what you want.

Can other people create albums on my profile?

No. Only you can create albums on your own profile. Other people can tag you in their photos and albums, but they cannot create albums that appear on your profile. You can control whether tagged photos appear on your profile by adjusting your tagging settings in privacy controls.

Do albums take up storage space on my phone or computer?

No. Albums exist only on Facebook's servers. They do not take up space on your device unless you read them. Uploading photos to Facebook does not delete them from your phone or computer — you have to delete them manually if you want to free up space on your device.

Can I see who viewed my album?

Facebook does not show you a list of who viewed your album or individual photos. You can see how many people liked or commented on a photo, but not how many people straightforward looked at it without interacting. Some third-party apps claim to show this information, but Facebook does not provide it officially.