The Quick Answer: Tap and hold a photo and select Make Key Photo to use it as the cover for that photo album.

Sorting your iPhone's photo library into albums makes it easier for you to browse through them and saves you time scrolling through the countless images you've taken over the years. To make your photo albums even more useful, you can change each album's cover photo, so you'll know what photos are in it from just a glance.

Here's how to change a photo album's cover photo on your iPhone or iPad.

How to Change an Album's Cover Photo in Photos

By default, when you create a photo album on your iPhone or iPad, it uses the first photo in that album as the cover photo. Often, the first photo in an album isn't the best one to use for the cover photo, which is why Apple makes it easy to change. Just follow these steps to do it:

  1. Open the Photos app, then head to Albums.
  2. Select the album whose cover photo you want to change.
  3. Find the photo that you want to be the new cover photo.
  4. Tap and hold the image until a popup menu appears. Select Make Key Photo.
  5. This chosen photo will now replace the album's old cover photo.

Some older versions of iOS and iPadOS may not have this option. If that's the case, simply rearrange the photos in your album to move the cover photo to the top.

Curate Your Photo Albums With Ease

Selecting a cover photo for your iPhone or iPad photo albums helps you and other people know what to expect from them. It's also an excellent way to curate your albums. But organizing your library with albums is just one of several cool features to take advantage of in Apple's Photos app.