What to Do With Old Photo Albums: Keep, Scan or Toss
Old photo albums have four possible futures: keep them, scan them and pass the originals on, take the photos out and discard the album, or discard the whole thing. Scanning first is the one step that keeps all other options open, and with a phone it takes about an hour per 40-page album. After that, the decision about the paper is a decision about shelf space, not about memories.
When the question comes up
Few people decide about their albums on a quiet afternoon. The question usually arrives with a deadline: a move to a smaller place, a parent going into assisted living, or a house to clear after a death. Inherited albums are the hardest case, because the person who could explain the pictures is gone and the heir often does not know half the faces.
In all of these situations, the same mistake is common: deciding about the albums last, when time has run out, and throwing away more than intended. The options below are meant to make that decision earlier and calmer.
Four options compared
| Option | Time for 5 albums | Cost | What you lose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep everything | None now | Shelf space, about 15 to 25 cm per album | Nothing, as long as storage is dry |
| Scan, then pass the originals on | 4 to 6 hours with a phone | Nothing with a phone; a service charges per page | Nothing of the pictures; the originals go to a relative |
| Take photos out, discard album | 2 to 4 hours, longer with sticky pages | Nothing | Captions, page order, torn prints from glued pages |
| Discard everything | 30 minutes | Nothing | Everything |
The second row is the one most people end up with once they see the numbers. Scanning takes an afternoon, and afterwards the originals can go to the sibling with the bigger house, without anyone losing access to the pictures.
Keep: when the albums can stay
Keeping makes sense if you have a dry, dark place for them and someone in the family who will look at them. Store albums upright like books, away from outside walls and heating pipes, and never in a damp cellar or a hot attic. Albums with self-adhesive pages age badly: the glue yellows and the prints stick. Check those first, and scan them before the others.
Keeping does not mean leaving them unsorted. An hour spent writing names on the first page of each album is the cheapest insurance against the inherited-albums problem for the next generation.
Scan, then pass on: the option that keeps everything
Scanning copies the pictures without touching the album. You photograph each page as it is, and the album goes back on the shelf or to a relative. The captions stay with the pictures, the order stays, and nothing is torn off a glued page.
Three ways to do it:
- A flatbed scanner, one page per pass. High resolution, but the album has to lie open on the glass.
- A mail-in scanning service. You send the albums away and pay per photo or per page. Prices are on each provider's website.
- A phone app that recognizes the individual photos on an album page.
Albumbox is an app of the third kind. One shot captures a page with up to six photos. The app finds each photo, crops and straightens it, improves contrast and colors, and saves it as a separate file. You can label photos with date, place and names, one at a time or several at once. Scanning, labeling and sharing an album as a link need no account and no payment; what Plus costs is in the next paragraph. Albumbox runs on iPhone and Android.
Once an album is scanned, you can share it as a link, and relatives open it in a browser without an app or account. That is also the moment to send inherited albums around the family and ask who recognizes whom. Exporting many photos at once, or letting relatives download from the link, needs Plus. Plus costs 39.99 USD per year or 79.99 USD paid once for three years, as of October 2026. Details are on the Albumbox pricing page.
How the scanning works page by page, including glossy prints and plastic sleeves, is in the guide on scanning a photo album without removing the photos. If the albums belong to your parents and they are still around to explain them, the weekend plan in digitizing your parents' photo albums builds that conversation in.
Take the photos out and discard the album
This is tempting when the albums are bulky and the photos are few. It works well for albums with corner mounts or slip-in pockets, where prints come out undamaged. It works badly for self-adhesive "magnetic" albums, where prints often tear or keep a layer of glue on the back. Do not force those. Scan the page instead and leave the print where it is.
Loose prints need a new home immediately, or they end up in the shoebox that nobody opens. Put them in archival boxes or envelopes sorted by year, and write the year on the outside.
Discard everything: what goes where
Sometimes it is the right call: duplicate prints, blurred holiday scenery, albums from a stranger's estate with no one to claim them. Before the bin, a few points:
- Local archives, historical societies and clubs sometimes accept photos with a local connection, such as street scenes, shops, festivals or school classes. Ask before you throw them away; a short email with two sample pictures is enough.
- Check whether a cousin or an old friend wants the albums. People often say yes to albums they would never have asked for.
- Photo prints are coated paper. Many recycling programs do not accept them in paper recycling, so check your local rules before putting them in the paper bin. When in doubt, they go in general waste.
- Albums with plastic sleeves or plastic covers: separate the plastic from the paper and cardboard where you can, and dispose of each according to local rules.
If you want a broader look at loose prints rather than albums, the article on what to do with old photos covers the four ways in more detail.
A suggested order
- Scan first, decide later. Even an hour with a phone secures the pictures from one album.
- Share the scans with the family and ask who wants which originals.
- Keep the albums that someone wants and that you have space for.
- Offer photos with a local connection to an archive or club.
- Discard what is left, with plastic and paper separated.
In this order, nothing is thrown away before it has been copied. Nobody in the family finds out afterwards that the one album they cared about is gone.
Frequently asked questions
Can old photos go in the paper recycling bin?
Often not. Photo prints are coated and are treated differently from plain paper by many recycling programs. Check your local rules; if they are not clear, put photos in general waste.
What should I do with photo albums I inherited and do not recognize?
Scan them before you decide anything, then share the scans with the wider family. Someone usually recognizes a face or a house. Pictures with street scenes or local events can be offered to a local archive or historical society.
How do I store photo albums when I move to a smaller home?
Scan them first so the pictures are safe, then keep only the albums you have dry, dark shelf space for. Store them upright, away from outside walls and heat. The rest can go to relatives who have more room.
Is it OK to throw away old photo albums?
Yes, once the pictures are copied and nobody in the family wants the originals. Throwing them away before scanning is the step people regret, because there is no second copy of a print.
If you have a deadline coming, start with the oldest album and your phone this week. One hour is enough to see how far you get.
