OneDrive Photos: Allow automatic conversion of existing folders into albums

I find it difficult to understand why Microsoft has introduced a new photo management experience based on albums without providing a way to automatically convert existing folders into albums.

I fully understand that a OneDrive album is not the same as a Windows folder. Albums are virtual collections that group photos without moving or duplicating the original files. However, this technical difference should not prevent Microsoft from providing a simple migration tool.

1. Manually recreating an existing photo library is unrealistic

For over 20 years, Windows users have organized their digital memories in File Explorer. They create folders for holidays, birthdays, family events, and different periods of their lives.

Many users now have hundreds or even thousands of carefully named folders containing tens of thousands of photos.

My own photo library contains approximately 1,000 folders and 50,000 photos. The currently available solution — manually creating each album and selecting all the corresponding photos — is simply unrealistic on this scale.

Are users really expected to spend weeks rebuilding an organizational structure they have already developed over decades?

2. Microsoft is leaving behind users who have organized their photos in folders for decades

Consider your own mother or father. They may have spent years organizing their family photos into hundreds of folders on their Windows PC.

Microsoft is now offering them a more modern and visual way to browse and organize their memories, but provides no practical way to migrate their existing collection.

These users are genuinely being left behind by this new experience. Without an automatic migration tool, they are forced to keep using File Explorer or undertake an enormous amount of manual work to recreate their existing organization as albums.

This problem is not limited to older people. It affects anyone who has accumulated and organized photos over many years. The new experience seems primarily designed for younger generations, who have grown up with smartphones and photo management systems based on albums and can therefore adopt this approach naturally. In contrast, users who have built their photo libraries over decades, carefully organizing their photos in Windows folders, are being penalized precisely because they have spent years using the tools Microsoft provided.

In practice, Microsoft is introducing a new experience without giving existing users a realistic way to benefit from it. This is not merely a missing feature; it is a significant barrier to adoption that leaves a substantial group of users behind.

3. The requested solution is straightforward

I am asking Microsoft to provide a tool that allows users to select either an individual folder or a parent folder containing multiple subfolders, in order to:

Automatically create an album from an individual folder, using the folder's name as the album title and including all the photos it contains.

Automatically create multiple albums from a parent folder, creating one album for each subfolder, using each subfolder's name as the album title and including the corresponding photos.

• Process hundreds or thousands of folders in a single operation, without requiring users to select photos manually.

For example, selecting a folder called "My Pictures" containing 1,000 subfolders, such as "Maxime's 8th Birthday" or "Egypt Holiday 2026", should automatically create all 1,000 corresponding albums, each containing the correct photos.

Users should be able to convert a single folder whenever they wish, or migrate their entire photo library in one operation.

4. Please forward this request to the OneDrive Photos product team

I am not asking Microsoft to physically transform folders into albums. I understand that these are two different concepts. I am asking for a migration tool that bridges the gap between them.

Simply directing users to the usual feedback channel is not a satisfactory response to a fundamental usability problem that potentially affects millions of existing photo libraries.

I would like this request to be forwarded to someone responsible for the design or product roadmap of OneDrive Photos. I would appreciate a concrete response on whether this feature could be considered, rather than another generic invitation to submit feedback.

Microsoft has introduced a new way to enjoy our digital memories. Users should not have to choose between preserving decades of carefully organized photos and benefiting from this new experience.

Thank you.

A user caught between two worlds when it comes to organizing their photos.

Hi, Julian Benner

Unfortunately, OneDrive albums do not automatically follow your folder structure. The current album process is photo-based: you select the pictures first, choose Add to album, then create a new album or add them to an existing one. There is no supported option to turn a folder, including its subfolders, into an album in one step.

The easiest workaround is to use OneDrive on the web:

Open Photos and use Show folders from in the upper-right corner.

Choose the folder containing your camera or edited pictures. This filters out the unrelated mobile uploads.

Select the required photos, choose Add to album, then New album.

The folder filter is available only with a personal Microsoft account.

Be aware that the album is only a visual collection, not a live copy of the folder. Pictures added to that folder later will not automatically appear in the album. For tens of thousands of photos, it is recommended that you keep the existing year/location folders and share or browse those directly, rather than recreating everything as albums.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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