How to Make an Album in Messenger (Shared Albums, Step by Step)

Messenger lets you collect a group chat's best photos into a shared album, so they don't get lost as the conversation scrolls on. Everyone in the chat can see it and add to it. Here's how to make one, and how to turn it into a real book when you're ready.

How to create a shared album in Messenger

Option 1: when sending photos

1. Open the group chat.
2. Tap the photo icon and choose several photos from your gallery.
3. Tap Create album, give it a name, and send.

Option 2: from photos already in the chat

1. Long-press a photo that's already been shared in the chat.
2. Tap Create album.

The exact wording and position of the buttons can vary a little between iPhone, Android and app versions. Make sure your Messenger app is up to date if you don't see the option.

How to add photos to an existing album

Select the photos you want, or long-press one in the chat, and tap Add to album instead of Create album. Then choose which album they go into.

Everyone in the chat can add, delete and download photos in a shared album, so it fills up with everyone's pictures, not just yours.

How to rename an album

1. Open the album.
2. Tap the three-dot menu.
3. Choose Edit name, type the new name, and confirm.

Ideas for Messenger albums

• A family year: one album per year in the family group. See our guide to turning your family Messenger group into an album.
• A trip: everyone's holiday photos in one place, instead of five phones.
• A birthday or wedding: ask every guest to add their photos to one album.
• The grandchildren: a running album the grandparents can open any time.

Want your Messenger album on paper?

A shared album keeps photos together in the chat, but it's still on a screen, and chats get archived, phones get replaced, and accounts get closed. If the album matters, print it.

You can do that without leaving Messenger:

1. Open the album and save the photos you want to your phone. Our guide on how to save photos from Messenger shows how.
2. Open Foreva in Messenger.
3. Give the book a cover title, then send 30–100 photos, a batch at a time or one by one, and type DONE.
4. See the full preview in the chat within seconds. Pay only if you love it.

You get a 20×20 cm hardcover, one photo per page, from €39 for 30 photos, delivered in 5–7 working days with free shipping to the EU, EEA and UK.

The bottom line

To make an album in Messenger, select several photos (or long-press one) in a group chat and tap Create album. Everyone in the chat can add to it. And when the album is full of photos worth keeping, send them to Foreva in Messenger and get them back as a book.