Last night, “a photo of [client name] and Xiaoyu” sent me spiraling again
At 10 p.m. in Hangzhou, I was building a portfolio site for a freelancer. My folder held client case studies, travel photos, and screenshots from courses, all mixed together. I wanted to organize it by person and relationship, but I could not be bothered to rename every file by hand. Mac suggested that I use its built-in feature to recognize people in photos, so I tried it. The folder suddenly looked much cleaner. I used to search by keyword instead, but that always left me with a batch of photos whose filenames I had never changed.
It is not a new app—it is a small classification assistant hiding in the system
There is nothing separate to download. Once photos have been tagged with people, their names can appear in the Photos app, and the system can help find related images. Apple places the controls near System Settings, Search, and Spotlight options; the exact label changes between system versions. It is not a magic solution for organizing every kind of file. It makes the most sense for people who mainly use a Mac and work with a lot of photos.
I know Lin Yue, a designer who runs a one-person studio in Chengdu. Every time she takes on a brand photography project, she puts the client’s reference images into an album. She used to name them by “date + project name.” Now she lets the system identify people first, then manages the person tags alongside her project folders. At delivery, she has to dig through far fewer old photos. She also warned me that recognition can be wrong, so important files still need a manual check.
My replication: no cost, about 20 minutes, almost no technical barrier
The cost is ¥0. Preparation takes about 20 minutes. The only requirement is being comfortable with Mac’s Settings and Photos apps. First step: open “System Settings,” find “Spotlight & Other” or “Search” in the sidebar, and look for options related to recognizing people in photos; the wording varies slightly by version. Then open the Photos app, select a small group of photos featuring different people, open the people-view feature, and name the people who appear when prompted. If the option is missing, check whether macOS and Photos are up to date; older computers may not support it.
Not everyone needs this. If you rarely take photos, only use Windows, or keep most client files in cloud storage, there is no urgency to try it. If the system misidentifies someone, delete the incorrect person tag; there is no need to rebuild the entire library.
Decide whether it is worth the fuss at your current stage
When I was just starting out and nearly everything lived in WeChat Favorites, I would have stuck with folders and one consistent naming rule rather than rushing into people recognition. With one or two clients and frequent group photos, I would test it on one old project for 20 minutes. Once I was scaling and a team needed to share large volumes of shoot assets, I would first verify how well recognition worked across different computers, then decide whether to add person tags to the workflow. There is no need to organize every photo at once. I would start with the 20 most confusing ones, and that would be enough.