Did you know that your Photos app comes with a built-in feature that allows you to add captions to photos on your iPhone? You don't have to download an extra app to add captions, and any captions added to photos on your iPhone will sync to the cloud if iCloud Photo Library is enabled.

Why You'll Love This Tip

Captions added to photos on iPhone or iPad help keep track of picture details.
Photo captions are searchable and appear in search results, making important photos easy to find.
Photo captions are automatically applied to your synced iCloud photos.

How to Add Captions to Photos on iPhone & iPad

System Requirements

This tip works on most iPhones, but the screenshots below were captured on an iPhone 16 running iOS 18. Learn how to update to the latest iOS.

Here's how to name photos on iPhone and iPad. These photo captions will be visible on devices that have access to your iCloud, provided iCloud Photo Library is enabled. For more information on making the best use of iCloud Photo features, check out our guide on using iCloud to optimize photo storage.

Picture captions are handy for searching your iPhone Photo Library and reminding you of certain details when you come across the photo later. For these reasons, it’s best to keep the captions simple but useful—I recommend including notes about a holiday or occasion, if applicable, and any other keywords you may think of later when wanting to search for that photo.

Now, here’s how to caption pictures on iPhone:

Open the Photos app.
Tap on a photo you’d like to add a caption to.
When the photo opens, swipe up on the photo to reveal the Add a Caption area. Tip: Make sure to place your finger on the photo itself before you swipe up, otherwise, you might accidentally start scrolling through recent photos instead of pulling up the photo information card.
Tap Add a Caption.
Type in your photo caption using the keyboard that appears, then tap Done to save it.

And that’s how you add a caption to an iPhone photo. I especially love being able to access these photo captions across my devices. If you’d like to learn more about the Photos app and using other features in iOS, check out our free Tip of the Day newsletter.