Windows 10 Photos app finally adds option to tag people

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
last updated

Now you can tag people in the collections of pictures that the Windows 10 Photos app automatically organizes.

Starting last July, Microsoft began rolling out AI-powered intelligent sorting features to the Windows 10 Photos app, allowing it to automatically recognize and organize photos based on a number of categories, including faces. But while the Photos app uses this feature to collate images of specific people, it was missing one crucial element: the ability to easily tag them. Now, Microsoft is remedying that omission.

The Photos app for Windows 10 now includes the option to manually tag people by name. If you navigate to the "People" tab of the app, you'll first see a short introduction to the feature along with a "Start tagging" button. From there, clicking on any grouping of photos will include the option to add a name for that person near the top of the window. Clicking it will allow you to choose a person from your address book or add a new contact name.

Photos Tagging

It's a small feature in the grand scheme of things, but it should be incredibly handy for anyone who relies on the default Photos app to organize their shots. This appears to be rolling out for everyone now, as we've spotted it on non-Insider and Insider builds alike with Photos version 2018.18022.15810.0 and higher.

Finally, it should be noted not all users evidently have the feature just yet, so either Microsoft is going to turn it on remotely, or the company is simply A/B testing the feature with Insiders.

See at Microsoft Store (opens in new tab)

Thanks to Kenneth for the tip!

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

27 Comments
  • It lacks option to set "Me" as a person. Only way to do it is to create a Contact with credentials of yourself.
  • F yeah!
  • So finally it will be able to sync with People app, right? And if I reset my PC whether the tags will be restored automatically like google photos or will i have to retag them? Few things still in my wish list :
    1. More thumbnail sizes instead of just three.
    2. Automatic albums recommendation bar at the top almost takes half of the screen which only leaves half of the screen for scrolling the photos.
    3. Places tab for viewing photos in Map just like ios photos app.
    4. They could reduce the waste of space on both sides of the app. It would be better if they utilised entire space for thumbnails.
    5. Still find the search box on the right side weird.
    6. Automatic albums that sorts on the basis of tags like things, cats, dogs, etc.
  • No, the tags will not be remembered if you reset your device. All your hard work will be gone. Vote here if you would like your tagging work to be synced across your devices: https://aka.ms/Dncyuo
  • Oh, that's not a wise decision. It's useless to tag if it doesn't remember at all.
  • Yeah hopefully that comes soon. The tags are just all stored locally on the device you tag people on? I would hope it somehow syncs the tags across devices or to onedrive online or something?
  • I've had this for a while, and this is exactly the reason I haven't used it. I've got a couple hundred GBs of photos on my OneDrive both professionally shot and camera roll backups. I'd love to tag them all, but I'm not wasting the effort.
  • I imagine there are as many good reasons not to use it as there are for using it.
  • Yeah that makes no sense to tag now. Will hold on until they update the app so that it remembers tags.
  • Am I correct in assuming this is an RS5 thing? I did the RS4 update yesterday and my apps are current and I'm not seeing this in my people tab but the app version matches the one in the article.
  • I'm not on RS5 and have it, maybe more A/B testing before the rollout.
  • It must be A/B. I am on same version on RS4 and I do not have the ability to select people. It does have the people option and groups them, but none can be tagged, identified by name.
  • I have it on Windows 1709.
  • Not on a preview build at all and I have it.
  • Does it work for photos stored on one drive? Oddly I'm on version 2018.18031.13110.0 here in uk
  • Yeah, on OneDrive
  • Had this on most of my devices for months. Wasn't it in A/B testing before?
  • Yes but it seems like it's going out to more people now. I had it for a day and then it disappeared, haven't got it back since then, not even now.
  • If that's a way you choose to organize your pictures, this is handy. I don't find it useful since I have a completely different methodology, but for many I can see this would be handy.
  • It's been there for quite some time now.
  • And how do we get it to change the tag on a photo?
  • Andromeda could eventually become my smartphone replacement after a few versions... 🤔🤔🤔
  • I cant get the feature to work. There is no tag option and the search is flakey, like it can only analyze some of the pics. People were there but there was no edit. Gaps in dates of similar types of pictures, etc. Once, in the past I reset the app and searching never worked again... even after it finished there were no auto generated tags or people. Only reinstalling the OS worked. Now its flakey again, took another chance at reset and a similar problem. It finds some AI derived tags but no people are ever found. Dang I'm sick of this.
  • Nice, loving the photo's app more and more.
  • Ah, I don't get it. I've got that version of the Photos app. I've clicked on the People tab. I see the people there that I'd like to tag. I click on the photo of the person and, well, that's it. There doesn't appear to be any ability to choose anything from my contacts. Why is that?
  • When will it support Live Photos again? OR the ability to search for colors / orientation?
  • I just wish Microsoft bring a lightroom alternative. Lightroom is very expensive.