The Best Way to Store & Organize Family Photos (So You Don’t Lose Them Forever)
Let’s be real—your family photos are priceless. They’re your kid’s first steps, the blurry but perfect vacation selfie, that one rare shot where everyone is actually looking at the camera. And yet, most of us have them scattered across random hard drives, iCloud accounts, and social media posts that could disappear at any moment.
So, what’s the best way to actually store and organize your family photos—in a way that makes them easy to find, safe from tech failures, and (for once) actually backed up? Here’s the top 5 ways to keep your images secure without losing your mind.
1. Get a Lacie External Hard Drive (Because Not All Hard Drives Are Created Equal)
If your photos only exist on your laptop, they’re one spilled coffee away from extinction. Enter: Lacie External Hard Drives.
Why Lacie?
✔️ Durable AF – Shockproof, dustproof, and made to actually survive real life.
✔️ Fast – Transfers files without making you want to throw your computer.
✔️ Massive Storage – Holds terabytes of photos so you don’t have to keep deleting.
🔗 Pro Tip: Use the 3-2-1 Rule → Keep 3 copies, on 2 different types of storage, with 1 stored offsite (i.e., not just in your house).
2. Use Amazon Photos (Because It’s Stupidly Easy & Unlimited)
If you have an Amazon Prime account, congrats—you already have free, unlimited photo storage that you’re probably not using. You can also install the app on your phone to automatically back up your camera roll and you can easily drag and drop photos to upload when on your on your Desktop. Easy peasy!
✔️ Unlimited full-res photo storage (no compression BS)
✔️ Auto-backups from your phone & desktop
✔️ Easy sharing with family (so Grandma stops asking for prints)
🔗 Pro Tip: Set your phone to auto-backup to Amazon Photos so even if you drop your phone in the toilet (again), your images are safe.
3. Keep Your Most Important Photos on Dropbox (For Instant Access Anywhere)
Dropbox is great for quick access to your favorite photos on any device—especially if you want to easily share albums with family members.
✔️ Accessible on all devices (phone, tablet, computer)
✔️ Easy to organize albums & search for images
✔️ 2GB free, with affordable paid plans for more storage
✔️ Syncs seamlessly across multiple devices
🔗 Pro Tip: Use Dropbox for your most important, frequently used photos, not as your main storage. Think: baby albums, milestone moments, old scanned family photos.
Prefer Google Drive? It works similarly, but Dropbox has a more user-friendly app for file organization and syncing.
4. Print What Matters (Because Tech Fails, but Prints Last Forever)
Yes, this list is mostly about digital storage. But nothing beats a tangible photo album when you actually want to enjoy your pictures.
✔️ Shutterfly, Mpix, or Artifact Uprising for high-quality prints.
✔️ Make a photo book once a year (trust me, future you will thank you).
✔️ Keep a “family yearbook” for each year.
🔗 Pro Tip: Store prints in acid-free archival boxes to keep them from fading over time.
5. Use Backblaze for Automatic Cloud Backup (Because You’ll Forget to Do It Manually)
If you want a backup system that requires zero effort, get Backblaze. It’s $7 a month for unlimited storage, and it backs up your entire computer, external hard drives, and everything else—automatically.
✔️ Set it and forget it—no manual uploads
✔️ Recover all your files if your computer crashes
✔️ Unlimited storage, no file size limits
🔗 Pro Tip: Combine Backblaze with your Lacie hard drive & Amazon Photos for an ironclad system.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Be That Person Who Loses Everything
If your only backup plan is Facebook albums or an old laptop, you’re playing with fire. Set up at least two of these storage options today so you never have to utter the dreaded words: “I lost all my photos.”
Want more tips on photo organization & professional-level storytelling? Join Unraveled Academy and learn how to document your family’s story in a way that lasts forever.
📸 Check out our courses here → [COURSE CATALOGUE]
