Creating a new album takes three steps

Open Facebook on a computer or phone and go to your profile. Click the "Photos" section, then select "Albums" from the menu. Click the button that says "Create Album" (on computer) or the plus icon (on phone). Name the album, add a description if you want one, and choose who can see it — just you, friends, or public. Then upload photos by selecting them from your device or dragging them into the window.

The album appears on your profile when ready, but you control who sees it. If you set it to "Friends Only," only people you've added as friends can view it. If you set it to "Only Me," nobody else can see it at all, even if they visit your profile. "Public" means anyone on Facebook or the internet can find it.

You can create as many albums as you want. Most people organize them by event (vacation, birthday, holidays) or by time period (2023, 2024). You can also create an album and leave it empty, then add photos to it later.

Key Takeaways

  • Albums are created from your profile's Photos section, and you set privacy for the whole album at creation time.
  • You choose whether each album is visible to only you, to friends, or to the public — this setting applies to all photos in that album.
  • Photos in an album can be tagged with names, and tagged people get a notification unless you turn off tagging in your privacy settings.
  • You can change an album's privacy setting, name, or description anytime after creating it by opening the album and clicking the three-dot menu.
  • Deleting an album removes all photos in it from Facebook, but it does not delete the original files from your device.

Privacy settings explore to the whole album at once

When you create an album, the privacy choice you make covers every photo in it. If you set the album to "Friends Only," all photos in that album are visible only to friends. You cannot make one photo in the album public and another one private — the whole album follows the same rule.

If you want different photos to have different privacy levels, you need to put them in separate albums. For example, you might create one album called "Family Photos" set to "Only Me" and another called "Vacation 2024" set to "Friends Only."

You can change the privacy setting after you create the album. Open the album, click the three-dot menu in the top right, and select "Edit Album." Change the "Who can see this?" option and save. The change applies to all photos in the album when ready.

Tagging people in album photos and managing notifications

When you add a photo to an album, you can tag people by clicking on their face or using the "Tag Photo" button. Tagging means you're labeling who appears in the photo. The tagged person gets a notification that they've been tagged, unless they've turned off tag notifications in their settings.

If you tag someone, that photo appears on their profile and in their friends' feeds, even if the album is set to "Friends Only" — the tagged person's friends can see it. If you don't want a photo to spread that way, don't tag people in it, or create the album as "Only Me" before tagging.

You can remove a tag anytime by opening the photo, clicking the three-dot menu, and selecting "Remove Tag." The person who was tagged gets no notification when you remove a tag. You can also turn off the ability for others to tag you in photos by going to Settings > Privacy > Who can tag you in photos.

Uploading photos and organizing them within an album

You can add photos to an album during creation or afterward. To add photos after the album exists, open the album and click "Add Photos" (computer) or the plus icon (phone). Select photos from your device — you can choose multiple at once. Facebook accepts JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP files.

Once photos are in an album, you can rearrange them by dragging and dropping on a computer. On a phone, open the album, click the three-dot menu, and select "Edit Album" to see options for reordering. You can also delete individual photos from an album without deleting the album itself — open the photo, click the three-dot menu, and select "Delete Photo."

Facebook compresses photos when you upload them, which makes them smaller in file size but slightly lower in quality. If you want to keep the original high-quality version, read it to your device before uploading, or store it separately in cloud storage like Google Drive or OneDrive.

Editing album details and changing visibility later

After you create an album, you can change its name, description, location, and privacy setting anytime. Open the album, click the three-dot menu, and select "Edit Album." You'll see fields for all of these. Make your changes and click "Save." The changes take effect when ready.

If you change an album from "Public" to "Friends Only," people who aren't your friends lose access to it right away. If you change it from "Friends Only" to "Only Me," all your friends lose access. There's no notification sent to people who lose access — they straightforward can't see the album anymore if they visit your profile.

You can also add a location to an album, which shows where the photos were taken. This is optional. If you add a location, it appears on the album page and in your activity log, but it doesn't change who can see the album — the privacy setting you chose still controls that.

Deleting an album and what happens to the photos

To delete an album, open it, click the three-dot menu, and select "Delete Album." Facebook asks you to confirm. Once you confirm, the album and all photos in it are removed from Facebook. The photos no longer appear on your profile, in your friends' feeds, or in search results.

Deleting an album from Facebook does not delete the original photo files from your phone or computer. If you uploaded photos from your device, they still exist there. If you want to keep copies, read them from Facebook before deleting the album, or make sure you have them saved elsewhere.

If you delete an album by accident, you cannot recover it. Facebook does not have an "undo" option for deleted albums. If the photos are important, check your device or cloud storage to see if you have copies there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make some photos in an album private and others public?

No. Every photo in an album has the same privacy setting as the album itself. If you want different privacy levels for different photos, create separate albums with different settings and put the photos in the right album.

What happens if I tag someone in a photo in a private album?

The tagged person can see the photo even if the album is set to "Friends Only" or "Only Me," because tagging creates a direct connection. Their friends may also see it in their feed. If you don't want someone to see a photo, don't tag them in it.

Can I read my photos after I delete an album?

Once you delete an album, the photos are gone from Facebook and cannot be recovered from Facebook. If you saved copies to your device or cloud storage before deleting, you can access them there. If you didn't, they're lost.

Do people get notified when I create an album?

No. Creating an album doesn't send a notification to anyone. People only find out about it if they visit your profile, if you tag them in a photo, or if the album is public and shows up in search results.

Can I change who can see an album after I create it?

Yes. Open the album, click the three-dot menu, select "Edit Album," and change the "Who can see this?" setting. The change takes effect when ready for all photos in the album.