Facebook allows users to create photo albums and share them with friends and family. However, there is a limit to the number of photos you can upload to a single album on Facebook. The current limit is 80 photos per album.
What happens if I try to upload more than 80 photos to one album?
If you try to upload more than 80 photos to a single Facebook album, you’ll get an error message stopping you from adding any more photos. Facebook won’t allow you to create an album with more than 80 photos.
Why does Facebook limit albums to 80 photos?
Facebook limits the number of photos in an album to 80 for a few reasons:
- Keeping albums short and manageable makes them easier to view and share.
- Having too many photos in one album can cause performance issues and bugs.
- The 80 photo limit has been in place for many years and people are accustomed to it.
So the 80 photo per album limit helps keep Facebook running smoothly and provides a better user experience.
How can I share more than 80 photos on Facebook?
If you want to share a large collection of photos with more than 80 images, there are a few options:
Create multiple albums
The simplest solution is to split your photos up into multiple albums with 80 or fewer photos in each album. For example, if you have 150 vacation photos to share, create one album called “Vacation – Album 1” with the first 80 photos, and a second album called “Vacation – Album 2” with the remaining 70 photos.
Use Facebook Groups
In a Facebook Group, you’re not limited to 80 photos. You can create photo albums in a private Group and add as many photos as you want. This is a good option if you want to share a large number of photos with a specific set of people.
Post photos individually
You can bypass the album limit by posting photos individually on your Timeline. This takes more effort than an album, but lets you share unlimited photos. Keep in mind your friends may miss photos in their feeds if you post too many individual images at once.
Use a third-party site
Options like Google Photos or Flickr don’t have a limit on album sizes. You can upload your collection to one of these services and then share the link on Facebook. However, your friends will need to visit the other site to see all the photos.
Best practices for sharing large photo albums on Facebook
If you have a large collection of photos to share on Facebook, here are some best practices:
- Break your photos into multiple albums of 50-80 images each.
- Label your album titles clearly so people know they are part of a set (e.g. “Vacation Pics – Album 1”).
- Post the albums over a period of time rather than all at once.
- Mention in the caption if there are more albums coming.
- Link to all the related albums in each caption.
- Use Facebook Groups to share with smaller sets of people.
- Host photos on a third-party site and share the link for the full collection.
Photo album size limits on other social media platforms
If you want to share large collections of photos online, here are the album size limits on other popular social media platforms:
| Platform | Max Photos Per Album |
|---|---|
| 80 | |
| 100 | |
| 25 | |
| Flickr | Unlimited |
| Google Photos | Unlimited |
As you can see, most social networks have limits on album sizes. Facebook’s 80 photo limit per album is on the higher end compared to some other platforms.
Should Facebook increase the album photo limit?
The 80 photo limit per Facebook album has been in place for many years. Some users argue the limit should be increased in today’s high-resolution, photo-rich world. What are the pros and cons of Facebook potentially increasing the limit?
Pros of increasing the album limit
- Users could share more photos in one place conveniently.
- Splitting photos into multiple albums can be tedious.
- People take and share more high-res photos than in Facebook’s early days.
- Other competing platforms like Google Photos have unlimited albums.
Cons of increasing the album limit
- Higher album limits could slow down performance and page loading.
- Facebook’s infrastructure may need significant changes to support more photos.
- Unlimited albums could lead to abuse by spammers or bots.
- Facebook became popular in part because of its limits and simplicity.
There are good arguments on both sides. Facebook will likely continue weighing the pros and cons before making major changes to album limits that have been in place for over a decade.
Tips for organizing large volumes of photos on Facebook
Here are some tips for keeping your Facebook photos organized, especially if you have a large volume to manage:
- Break photos up into event-based albums like “Jane’s Wedding” or “Hawaii Vacation June 2022.”
- Use descriptive album names so it’s easy to search and find what you need later.
- Create albums for each year and back up your photos.
- Make liberal use of tags to label people in photos.
- Use Groups to share photos with smaller circles.
- Create albums of your favorite photos or best shots from each event.
- Take time to delete blurry, duplicate, or unnecessary shots.
- Downsize to lower resolution if you have huge files.
Staying organized from the start makes a big difference as your Facebook photo collection grows over the years. You can also use third-party tools if you need advanced album management.
Conclusion
Facebook’s 80 photo per album limit has been in place for many years. While some users wish for a higher cap, there are valid technical and usability reasons why Facebook has stuck with this limit. If you need to share more photos, the best options are creating multiple albums, using Facebook Groups, or linking to a third-party site like Google Photos or Flickr where you can host unlimited album sizes. With smart organization and descriptive titles, you can share large volumes of photos even with Facebook’s limits. The 80 photo album cap helps keep Facebook performant and user-friendly for the over 2 billion people who use it worldwide.