Photo “Albums” disappeared after updating to IOS 18

Yeah, it changed a bunch. There is no longer separate Library, Albums, etc, windows to select at the bottom. Now when you open Photos in iOS 18, you get everything all a once. (good movie) The top half is the Library, and the bottom has Recent Days and then Albums, People&Pets, Pinned collections like Map and Recent, Memories, and so on. You just Scroll up and down to find Albums.

You can tap on Albums to get a screen that has only albums in their folders. I just discovered that!

Does this work?

Juszcz5 and everyone. Your Albums are still there. When you open Photos and scroll down to Albums, hit the right arrow next to Albums > and you will see all of your previous albums prior to iOS 18 update. The order may be out of sequence but you are able to see them all, scroll down and open any of your prior albums It also gives you the ability to see Personal, Shared, Activity albums.

I hope this helps and eases a lot of frustration.

Open your Photos App

scroll down to the bottom and click on Customize & Reorder

Make sure Albums is checked.

I also unchecked a bunch of stuff I didn't need, which helped a lot!

Mhcookie1 wrote:

Omg I hate the iOS 18 update my pics are all over the place when I open my pics all my pics show up I hate it I was trying to uninstall but it will not give me the option I hate it I hate it😡

Omg, have you read any of the instructions for Photos? Have you swiped down to the bottom of the screen in Photos and made use of "Customize & Reorder?"

Customize the Photos app on iPhone - Apple Support

pwreese, your phone is working in a different way from most of ours, so you need to find out why. Maybe we can help you, or maybe you need to seek help from the professionals at an Apple Store, your local equivalent, or online Apple Support link at the lower left corner of this page.

If you do see the "Customize & Reorder" option at the bottom of your Photos, can you click on it and see if the options in it are checked or unchecked on your phone? My guess is that somehow all of the options got unchecked on your phone.

On my phone, all eleven options are checked, including "Albums", so they all display for me. If I UNcheck all of them, my phone behaves like yours. I can also press on the stack of three lines right of "Albums" and drag it higher or lower in the list to make it appear in a different position.

FYI EVERYONE: I contacted Apple Support - new design - just open your photos and keep scrolling down and you will find your Album - not convenient or user-friendly at all, but it is there.

Ok so had the same thought, very upset, still very upset…searched for ages…sooo i just found mine…where it says albums and gives you only some thinking the rest are gone. Click and hold on the word ALBUMS. It will being up another page with a list of all your albums. I found mine. Hopefully you can find yours too!

Try selecting the “X” next to “Years Months All.” It will minimize the library of photos and display Albums, People, Pinned Collections, etc.

Hello, everyone.

TulsaGB wrote:

Cannot locate my Albums in Photos. HELP!

rgashton wrote:

Lost my albums in photos , how do find them easily?

It’s simple:

Open Photos. On the top, you will see the photo grid, and on the bottom you will see the collections view.

Scroll down.

You will eventually find your albums under the header “Albums” in small tiles that have a key photo on the left and a title on the right.

Click one to open it.

If you want your Albums at or closer to the top, then scroll to the bottom of the collections view and tap “Customize & Reorder.” You can then reorganize where your collections are and choose the collections you want.

I hope this helps!

Scroll down to Pinned Collections and then keep swiping to the end of that. There you will find “Albums”. it’s easy and has worked for me and many. Cheers

I was able to figure it out for me. I wanted my favorites and videos albums easily accessible. They are under “pinned collections” for some reason at the bottom where it gives you the options to customize and reorder. You can also add specific shared albums or whatnot. Not intuitive at all but was able to make it work in the end.

What hardly anyone addresses; it takes a long time for albums and photos to be synched back once iOS18 is installed. For me with over 100.000 photos it took more than two days for all albums and photos to rearrange.

Apple should have known this and warned their customers. No wonder people depending on their albums for work freaked out; when you are missing half of the albums, search functions for the album don't work, and photos in the albums are missing. To me it seems like after the two days everything is back, but the trust is lost!!!

I rang Apple Support who were v helpful. If you click on the word “Albums” then all the albums appear.

margo m. wrote:

This is RIDICULOUS. Fix this album issue!!!! Why do you have to ruin things in updates!

What album issue? The major "issue" seems to be that people haven't explored the app to see how things have be rearranged. Or having swiped to the bottom to "Customize & Reorder" to arrange things more to their liking.

Customize the Photos app on iPhone - Apple Support

If you have some other issue, please explain what it is.

Go to All Photos and use your finger to drag UP and all your albums will be there … took me a while to find 👍