Google Finally Gives Google Photos’ Collections a Major Makeover with Advanced Customization and a New Pinned Row

Google has rolled out a comprehensive redesign for the Collections tab within Google Photos, finally addressing a long-overdue interface update that leaves behind years of a rigid, unchanging layout. While recent updates to the popular media management platform have heavily concentrated on introducing advanced AI-driven editing tools, new presets within the main Photos and Create views, and Gemini-based features, the library tab had largely remained untouched. With the arrival of this latest update, Google is shifting its focus back to organization, giving users significantly more control over how their memories, albums, and media categories are displayed and managed.

The redesigned Collections view officially arrives with Google Photos version 7.97, which began rolling out to users. The changes are being delivered primarily through a server-side push, meaning many users will see the new interface appear automatically without needing to manually pull an update from their device’s application store. Early rollouts have already been confirmed across a variety of hardware, including flagship devices like the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, indicating that a broad portion of the global user base should now have access to the refreshed design.

This design overhaul follows a busy period of updates for Google Photos, which recently introduced new Moods for classic filters alongside fresh Remix styles to the Create tab. However, unlike those purely aesthetic or editing-focused additions, the new Collections layout represents a fundamental shift in user experience and library architecture. It moves beyond simple visual tweaks to introduce deep customization controls that allow individuals to tailor the app’s structural layout to their personal preferences, transforming a historically cluttered section into a streamlined, highly personalized hub.

At the core of the redesign is a completely reimagined layout that introduces a dedicated Pinned row positioned prominently at the very top of the Collections tab. This new Pinned shelf allows users to instantly access their most important or frequently visited content by highlighting specific albums, geographic places, groupings of people or pets, and even important documents. Rather than forcing users to scroll through endless lists or deep folders to find their primary photo collections, the interface now keeps these priority items pinned directly within arm’s reach.

All sections within the updated tab, including the new Pinned row, now appear as a fluid carousel of clean, well-labeled cards. Below the primary Pinned shelf, the application displays device-specific collections, followed by a variety of other media categories. A major highlight of this redesign is the newfound flexibility in managing these categories. While the Pinned section remains sticky at the top with its own dedicated management controls, users now have the freedom to reorder the remaining rows beneath it. This marks a stark contrast to the previous, highly rigid layout that offered virtually no user customization beyond the manual creation of albums.

To clean up and personalize albums and collections, users can interact directly with an edit button positioned just above the Pinned shelf. Tapping this control opens options to select and anchor specific albums or collections alongside default shortcuts like Screenshots, Favorites, and Trash. For instance, when adding geographical places to the pinned section, Google Photos automatically categorizes locations by cities, creating a visually distinct and organized entry point. Once configured, these selections remain firmly anchored in the upper pane, functioning similarly to story highlights found on popular social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Users can pin as many locations, people, pets, and standard photo albums as they desire, while also retaining the ability to rearrange, remove, or unpin cards freely whenever their preferences change.

Further down the tab, a dedicated area labeled Other Collections acts as a central repository for remaining folders, videos, documents, and various subcategories such as Stickers, Moments, and Creations. From this section, a dedicated reorder button enables individuals to adjust the vertical positioning of entire rows—such as device folders, places, albums, and documents—to better suit their workflow. Furthermore, users who prefer an ultra-minimalist view are no longer forced to look at categories they rarely use; the interface now includes options to completely hide specific sections by simply unchecking the box beside their respective names, effectively eliminating unwanted clutter from the main view.

Despite the addition of these extensive organizing tools and structural layout changes, early impressions highlight the impressive fluidity and responsiveness of the updated Google Photos interface. Thumbnails and media assets load immediately upon opening the application, and transitioning between various folders and sub-sections occurs without any noticeable lag or stutter. While many long-time users have expressed mild frustration that it took Google several years to declutter and modernize this particular tab, the arrival of these improvements has been widely welcomed by the mobile community. By combining flexible layout controls, intelligent categorization, and a modernized card-based carousel system, Google Photos has successfully transformed a historically messy library view into a cohesive, highly customizable ecosystem for managing digital memories.