Start with a small selection the other person wants, include a short “Start here” note and check that they can find and open the photos without your help.
A drive handed across the table is only the delivery. The handover works when the collection makes sense to its recipient.
What you need
A willing recipient, copies of a manageable group and a note in a format they can open. Use your existing file-sharing or drive-copying method. This is an editorial handover exercise, not a transfer of account credentials or a whole-library migration.
1. Agree on the purpose
Ask whether the person wants to browse, print, add names or help maintain the collection. Choose one event or family group for a first handover.
Label a selection as a selection. Do not imply it is the complete family archive if other years, albums or sources remain elsewhere.
Agree on sharing wishes. A private family story may not be suitable for a public post. Record important restrictions clearly rather than expecting the recipient to infer them from a folder name.
2. Prepare useful copies
Work from copies while selecting, renaming or resizing. Keep your source collection protected.
Choose ordinary viewing files the recipient can open, alongside important raw files, scans or other sources when those are part of the agreed handover. Label which is which.
If a managed library or catalogue is included, name the software it needs. An exported folder may be easier to browse but may not retain every album, edit or motion component. Provide an accessible selection without pretending it replaces all of the app’s information.
3. Write the Start here note
Keep it short. Include the purpose, handover date, approximate period and where the material came from.
Describe the main folders, which files are source captures, which are edits and where captions or an index can be found. Mention associated physical prints or film stored elsewhere.
List known gaps: uncertain dates, unidentified people, missing reverse scans or unchecked formats. Keep passwords, recovery codes and private account access out of this ordinary note. Account succession needs its own secure, provider-specific process.
A simple opening might be: “This is a selection from the green album, not the full archive. Start with Viewing copies. Names and uncertainties are in Photo notes.” This is a fictional example.
4. Check the names and connections
Choose a picture and find its caption using only the delivered material. If an index refers to old filenames, update it and preserve the link to the source names.
Keep recollection separate from fact. “Possibly 1978, identified by Anna” is more useful than a confident date nobody established.
A caption visible in your app may not travel with an exported image. Include a readable companion note where needed. Avoid links to folders that exist only on your computer.
5. Let the recipient try
Ask the person to find a named event, open a picture, locate its description and identify a file suitable for printing. Use the device they will actually rely on.
Check a video and any unfamiliar format too. If sharing a link, confirm it works for their account rather than only while you are signed in.
Notice where they hesitate and improve the note. Confusion is useful feedback about the handover, not a failure by the reader.
Check your result
Record what was delivered, when, how it was checked and any unresolved issue. Agree whether the recipient holds viewing copies or helps maintain the main collection.
If they will add names, decide where corrections should go. Choose a manageable review point after a significant addition or device change, and agree who keeps a second checked copy.
A delivered drive is not indestructible, and a working online link is not permanent possession. Keep your own source and backup arrangements while the recipient establishes theirs.
Next step
Understand the difference between syncing and backup together.
Scope
Editorial handover method, revised 9 September 2026. No recipient-device or account-succession test has been performed for this article. The example is fictional.