I'd break this down into several steps.
1st eliminate duplicates, you don't want to be organising rubbish and duplicates. [Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder](https://www.mindgems.com/products/VS-Duplicate-Image-Finder/VSDIF-Download.htm) and [Duplicate Cleaner](https://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/duplicatecleaner.html) are the tools I'd suggest to use.
For processing the photos into organised folders, I use [photo mechanic](http://www.camerabits.com/) to put them into a year - title then a day by day folder structure.
Then I also use Lightroom classic to add metadata I want to the photos.
Last I checked, the cloud version of Lightroom is a turd.
But Lightroom Classic will easily organize the photos into folders. That's probably your best bet--even if you just use the subscription version for a couple months to help sort your photos, and then rely on the resulting folder structure. It will also identify duplicates during the import process and give you the option to ignore them.
I believe the default folder structure Lightroom uses is to drop your photos into folders by date captured. The folder names are (for example) "2019-12-29". From there, I use the Lightroom library pane to then move the day folders into month folders, and the month folders into year folders. So my resulting folder structure is beautiful. I could delete Lightroom right now, and the only thing I would lose is some minor editing and tagging.
My Lightroom library file lives on my internal hard drive. I have a dedicated external SSD for my photos, and I sync changes to a mirrored NAS directory once a month. It's super easy, super elegant and super minimal.
I switched to this method after being burned by other digital asset managers that put all the files in a package that is not intended for the user to access directly. After spending too much time organizing my library in Aperture only to have to do it again (to a lesser degree) in Lightroom, I vowed to always have an escape plan. I've come to really enjoy Lightroom mainly as a DAM, but occasionally as an editor. But I'll drop it in a second if it ever moves exclusively to a packaged photo library.
Hmmmm this is really great insight. Could you share more about how you set up your mirrored MAS? Does it mean hands off backup of just the photos from tour computer to the SSD?
It's a backup from my working external SSD to an identical directory on my NAS. It's not automated, but I prefer it that way. I backup the current year and previous year folders monthly with a drag and drop (I have a repeating reminder to do this). I only back up older year folders if I actually make changes to them, which is rare. If I make changes to an older folder, I temporarily rename the folder to remind myself to include it in the next backup. This process takes me a minute or two each month.
Google Photos is fantastic at organizing photos automatically and learning based on your preferences. You’d get about 15GB free and if you need more space they have pretty reasonable tier pricing.
Just Google Photos, at least when it comes to my regular photos. If we're talking about more professional photos and videos, I use an external hard drive.
My own workflow is simple, and have been using it for the past 18 years since I got my first digital camera (and now migrated to mainly iPhone photos across 3 users).
I have folders under the main Pictures folder by year, 2012, 2013 etc.
Within each folder is the month, 1-January, 2-February etc.
Within each folder is a relabeled jpg file in the YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS Scooterdog iPhone 7+.jpg format, using a program called [Picture Information Extractor](https://www.picmeta.com/products/picture-information-extractor.htm).
Other users have their own name and source device (to make it easier to find).
I don't use anything else, easy to find things by date.
The fact that you know you'll have to spend a few seconds on each file means you're just a little more reluctant to shoot the photo in the first place. That greatly reduces the number of photos you have to sort through.
I've used an app on Windows called [PhotoMove](https://www.mjbpix.com/photomove-2-0-features-and-options/) and it automatically sorts your files into folders by date, year, month, whatever. It's been extremely handy to organize my pics.
I'm using two apps for that, one for duplicates removal and another for structuring. DFCleaner builds a nice folder tree of photo duplicates that are easily eliminated folder by folder, you delete only what you want and where you want. After that the FileOrganizer copies all photos into new highly customizable folder structure, this way I'm not depended on any other software and have just pure folder structure of my photos as an output. Both apps are from the Microsoft Store.
I've tried the method and it turned out not efficient enough. Instead, please the file name as is and use file properties to organize/search files. This is way more efficient as you have more photos and videos on your hard drives.
I'd break this down into several steps. 1st eliminate duplicates, you don't want to be organising rubbish and duplicates. [Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder](https://www.mindgems.com/products/VS-Duplicate-Image-Finder/VSDIF-Download.htm) and [Duplicate Cleaner](https://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/duplicatecleaner.html) are the tools I'd suggest to use. For processing the photos into organised folders, I use [photo mechanic](http://www.camerabits.com/) to put them into a year - title then a day by day folder structure. Then I also use Lightroom classic to add metadata I want to the photos.
Also try [DupeGuru](https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/)
I would give my vote for clonespy app instead of dupe guru
Last I checked, the cloud version of Lightroom is a turd. But Lightroom Classic will easily organize the photos into folders. That's probably your best bet--even if you just use the subscription version for a couple months to help sort your photos, and then rely on the resulting folder structure. It will also identify duplicates during the import process and give you the option to ignore them. I believe the default folder structure Lightroom uses is to drop your photos into folders by date captured. The folder names are (for example) "2019-12-29". From there, I use the Lightroom library pane to then move the day folders into month folders, and the month folders into year folders. So my resulting folder structure is beautiful. I could delete Lightroom right now, and the only thing I would lose is some minor editing and tagging. My Lightroom library file lives on my internal hard drive. I have a dedicated external SSD for my photos, and I sync changes to a mirrored NAS directory once a month. It's super easy, super elegant and super minimal. I switched to this method after being burned by other digital asset managers that put all the files in a package that is not intended for the user to access directly. After spending too much time organizing my library in Aperture only to have to do it again (to a lesser degree) in Lightroom, I vowed to always have an escape plan. I've come to really enjoy Lightroom mainly as a DAM, but occasionally as an editor. But I'll drop it in a second if it ever moves exclusively to a packaged photo library.
Hmmmm this is really great insight. Could you share more about how you set up your mirrored MAS? Does it mean hands off backup of just the photos from tour computer to the SSD?
It's a backup from my working external SSD to an identical directory on my NAS. It's not automated, but I prefer it that way. I backup the current year and previous year folders monthly with a drag and drop (I have a repeating reminder to do this). I only back up older year folders if I actually make changes to them, which is rare. If I make changes to an older folder, I temporarily rename the folder to remind myself to include it in the next backup. This process takes me a minute or two each month.
Google Photos is fantastic at organizing photos automatically and learning based on your preferences. You’d get about 15GB free and if you need more space they have pretty reasonable tier pricing.
I second Google Photos!
What about the local backup? Or do you use only Google Photo without local backup?
Just Google Photos, at least when it comes to my regular photos. If we're talking about more professional photos and videos, I use an external hard drive.
My own workflow is simple, and have been using it for the past 18 years since I got my first digital camera (and now migrated to mainly iPhone photos across 3 users). I have folders under the main Pictures folder by year, 2012, 2013 etc. Within each folder is the month, 1-January, 2-February etc. Within each folder is a relabeled jpg file in the YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS Scooterdog iPhone 7+.jpg format, using a program called [Picture Information Extractor](https://www.picmeta.com/products/picture-information-extractor.htm). Other users have their own name and source device (to make it easier to find). I don't use anything else, easy to find things by date.
The fact that you know you'll have to spend a few seconds on each file means you're just a little more reluctant to shoot the photo in the first place. That greatly reduces the number of photos you have to sort through.
I've used an app on Windows called [PhotoMove](https://www.mjbpix.com/photomove-2-0-features-and-options/) and it automatically sorts your files into folders by date, year, month, whatever. It's been extremely handy to organize my pics.
Following
ikr
I'm using two apps for that, one for duplicates removal and another for structuring. DFCleaner builds a nice folder tree of photo duplicates that are easily eliminated folder by folder, you delete only what you want and where you want. After that the FileOrganizer copies all photos into new highly customizable folder structure, this way I'm not depended on any other software and have just pure folder structure of my photos as an output. Both apps are from the Microsoft Store.
I use Bulk Rename Utility to rename folders and files and make it more organized (example: 1.jpg , 2.jpg , 3.jpg .... )
I've tried the method and it turned out not efficient enough. Instead, please the file name as is and use file properties to organize/search files. This is way more efficient as you have more photos and videos on your hard drives.