OneDrive File Issues

How to Change the Year Displayed for a OneDrive Album

Jason Miller Oct 21, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to change the year displayed for a OneDrive photo album to accurately reflect when the photos were taken.

How to Change the Year Displayed for a OneDrive Photo Album

Product: Microsoft OneDrive
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Organizing older photo collections in OneDrive.
Observed behavior: OneDrive groups albums by their creation or upload date instead of the historical year represented by the photos, causing older collections to appear under recent years.

Before you start

Ensure you are logged into your OneDrive account through a web browser or the desktop app, and decide on a clear, consistent naming convention for your photo albums before reorganizing them.

Solution 1Recommended

Rename Albums to Include the Year and Use Folders

Since OneDrive lacks a direct setting to change the album year metadata, the most effective workaround is manually including the year in the album name and grouping photos in year-based folders.

Microsoft OneDrive typically organizes albums by the date they were created in the cloud. Because there is currently no toggle to change the designated year of an album itself, manual organization is the most reliable method to keep your memories chronologically sorted.

Log into OneDrive

Open your web browser, navigate to the OneDrive website, and sign in with your Microsoft account.

Navigate to Albums

Click on the 'Photos' tab in the left-hand navigation pane, then select 'Albums' from the top menu to view your current collections.

Rename the Album

Select the album you want to modify, click on its title or select 'Edit album', and type the intended year at the beginning of the name (e.g., '2017 Vacation'). Press Enter to save.

Organize via Folders (Optional)

For deeper organization, go back to 'My files', create new folders named by year (e.g., '2017 Photos'), and move your specific event folders inside them.

Rename Albums to Include the Year and Use Folders

Feedback to Microsoft: If native year-based album metadata sorting is an important feature for you, consider submitting feedback directly to Microsoft through the 'Help & Settings' menu in OneDrive.

Solution 2

Adjust Photo Metadata Locally Before Uploading

Fixing the EXIF 'Date Taken' metadata on individual photos locally before uploading them can help OneDrive recognize the correct timeline in the main photos feed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does OneDrive show my older photos under the current year?

OneDrive often groups albums and files based on the date they were uploaded to the cloud or the exact date the album was created, rather than reading the original 'Date Taken' EXIF data embedded in older photo files.

Can I manually sort my custom OneDrive albums chronologically?

There is no built-in sorting feature to automatically order custom albums by historical year. The best approach is to manually prefix your album names with the year (e.g., '2010 - Wedding') and sort your album view alphabetically.

Will changing the date on my phone correct the OneDrive album year?

No, changing your device's date settings will not retroactively update the metadata or album grouping for photos already in OneDrive. You must manage the photo EXIF data locally or organize files manually into custom folders.

Document & File Issues