How to make an online photo gallery, free and with no sign-up

By webpins.net, updated on October 1, 2026

Clay illustration: an open browser with a folder that many photos fly out of

You can have an organized photo gallery, with albums, search and a slideshow, without making an account, installing anything or paying. This guide shows, step by step and with pictures of the site itself, how to set yours up with webpins in a few minutes.

One thing before you start: in webpins the photos are kept in your own browser, not on a server. That protects your privacy, but it means the gallery does not make a public link to send to other people. If a link to share is what you want, this is not the way; if you want a gallery that is only yours, it is.

1. Open the site

Go to webpins in the browser of your computer or phone. There is no account to make: the gallery opens ready, empty, waiting for your photos. (There is an optional account, but it is only for the Professional plan and for writing to us; your photos never go to it.)

The empty webpins gallery, with the Add photos, Add a folder and Try with sample photos buttons — The empty gallery on the first visit. Want to see what it looks like first? Use “Try with sample photos”.

2. Add your photos

There are several ways; use whichever is easiest:

click Add photos and choose the files;
drag the photos anywhere onto the page;
paste images with Ctrl + V;
choose a .zip file with photos;
add a whole folder, where each subfolder can become an album.

The accepted formats are JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, AVIF and BMP. The photos are kept exactly as they are, with no loss of quality, and the site recognizes repeated photos by their content, so you don't end up with two identical copies. There is no limit on how many, beyond the space on your device.

The webpins gallery with twelve landscape photos laid out in columns — The photos show in columns, like a board, with search, layout and order just above them.

3. Organize them into albums

Create albums on the Albums page, with the Add album button. To put a photo in an album, point at it and click Save: a menu lists your albums, and you can tick more than one, because the same photo can be in several. You can also drag the photo onto the album in the side menu.

The Save to menu open over a photo, with the albums Landscapes, Trips and Family and the New album option — The Save button, in the corner of the photo, opens the list of albums. The tick shows where the photo already is.

To act on several photos at once, click the circle in the corner of each one (or hold Ctrl as you click) and use the bar that comes up at the bottom to save them to an album, rename, download or delete them. The Albums page shows each album with a cover, which you can choose, and albums can be selected together too, to download or delete them.

The webpins Albums page with the albums Landscapes, Family and Trips and the No album card — On the Albums page, each album shows its cover, how many photos it has and their size.

4. Find and view your photos

Search for photos by name or caption, and sort them by date, name, file size or at random. In Change layout you choose how the gallery draws the photos: in columns, in rows that fill the width or as squares, with rounded or square corners and at the size you like.

The Change layout panel open, with the Columns, Rows and Squares options, rounded corners and the photo size — Columns, rows or squares, at the size you like. The Albums page has a layout of its own.

When you open a photo, the viewer offers zoom, full screen, a slideshow and its details, such as the date it was taken and the camera, when the file has them. The arrow keys move from one photo to the next.

The webpins photo viewer showing a landscape at dusk, with thumbnails of the other photos underneath — The viewer: the photo large, the tools at the top and the other photos in a strip underneath.

5. Make a backup

Since the photos are not in any cloud, the only copy is yours. Make a backup now and then: the backup guide explains how, in a few clicks.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account to use the gallery?

No. The gallery opens ready to use and works fully without an account. The optional account is only for the Professional plan and to write to us, and your photos never go to it.

Which photo formats can I add?

JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, AVIF and BMP, on their own or inside a .zip. HEIC, SVG and PDF files are skipped with a notice.

Is there a limit on the number of photos?

There is no limit on how many. What counts is the space the browser allows on your device, which is usually a good share of the free space.

Does the gallery work on a phone?

Yes, in the phone's browser, and it can be installed as an app that opens even without internet. Each device keeps its own photos; to bring them together, use a backup.

Sources

About this guide: written by the maker of webpins.net. Each step was checked on the site itself on the date of the last update, and the pictures are real screenshots of it. What it says about the browser's storage and image formats follows MDN's documentation (see the sources above). Spotted something out of date? Write to hello@webpins.net.

Ready to start? The gallery opens with no sign-up. If you just want to look around, there are sample photos too.

Open webpins