Microsoft is testing a new AI feature in its Photos app that promises to take the headache out of organizing your image library. The feature, called Auto-Categorization, is available in a new beta version and is designed to automatically sort your photos using artificial intelligence. If you rely on Microsoft Photos to manage thousands of pictures, this could be a major time-saver and a smoother way to locate memories later.
What Auto-Categorization Does
Auto-Categorization analyzes the content of each photo and groups images into intuitive categories. Expect automatic sorting into broad classes such as People, Places, and Objects, as well as scene types like Landscapes, Portraits, and Events. In practice, this means your library begins to resemble a curated catalog where you can search for a moment by simply typing a keyword like “birthday,” “beach,” or “concert.” The feature also generates suggested tags that can be applied to photos, making future searches faster with minimal manual tagging.
How It Works
The beta version uses machine learning to interpret visual cues from photos—faces, backgrounds, common objects, and recognizable scenes. As new images are added, Auto-Categorization can refine its groupings, updating albums and tags over time. The system is designed to learn from your interactions: if you adjust an auto-generated category, those preferences can influence how similar shots are sorted in the future. While the core goal is automation, you retain control, with options to rename, merge, or remove suggested categories as needed.
Smart tagging and album suggestions
Beyond automatic folders, the feature can propose smart albums or collections based on what Microsoft Photos detects in your photos. For example, a travel trip or a family gathering may assemble automatically into a single album, with related shots surfaced together for quick viewing. This makes it easier to build slideshows, share albums, or recover a specific moment without remembering exact dates or locations.
Privacy and Controls
With any AI-powered organizational tool, privacy is a key consideration. In the beta rollout, Microsoft typically offers settings to influence how data is processed and used for feature improvements. Users can expect on-device processing options and clear controls to disable automatic categorization if preferred. As with all beta software, accuracy isn’t perfect—some photos may be misclassified—and Microsoft often provides an easy way to correct mistakes and feed those updates back into the system.
Practical Benefits for Everyday Photo Management
For most users, the practical payoff is time saved. Auto-Categorization reduces the manual tagging burden and accelerates findability, turning chaotic photo stores into searchable libraries. This is especially valuable for big collections from phones and cameras, where thousands of images can otherwise blend together. In addition to speed, the feature can help you rediscover memories you may have forgotten, simply by searching for a shared attribute such as “dog,” “sunset,” or “festival.”
How to Try It
The Auto-Categorization feature is currently in beta, available to testers via a new version of the Microsoft Photos app. To try it, install the beta and enable Auto-Categorization in the app’s settings. As this is a beta, expect ongoing refinements and occasional misclassifications, but also an opportunity to shape how the feature behaves in future updates through feedback.
Looking Ahead
AI-powered image organization is becoming a staple in modern photo apps, and Auto-Categorization in Microsoft Photos marks another step toward hands-off yet accurate management. As the technology matures, users can anticipate more nuanced tagging, better cross-device syncing, and richer search capabilities that turn large photo libraries into living, well-organized galleries. For digital photographers and everyday users alike, the promise is a calmer, more efficient way to relive memories without endless manual curation.
