How do your organise your seed packets?

A few years ago. I got this as a gift.
https://www.gardeners.com/buy/deluxe-galvanized-seed-saver-kit/8610573.html
In it, my categories are roots (onion seeds, carrots, beets, turnips, etc), brassicas (except the roots) solanaceae, tall things and grains (corn, okra, sunflowers, millet etc), legumes, curcubits, herbs, greens (except brassicas), functional flowers, decorative flowers. I have a separate box with my large quantities of seeds- buckwheat, a few beans, and an oat/pea cover crop mix.

I garden with a three year rotation in the main part of my planting area- nightshades+companions, curcubits+companions, and brassicas+companions. This grouping keeps things mostly together, and when I need to find something to fill in an empty spot, the rest is grouped by function.

Well, I suppose almost everybody is familiar with Kinder Surprise? Almost, because it is not available (actually illegal) in the US. So this idea is mostly for the folks in Europe.
I don't plant 1000's of peppers or eggplants. This year will be the most I plant, which is 100 eggplants, 200 peppers, 50 tomatoes and so on. I like variety. So I have many seed packages to store. I found out that yellow eggs inside Kinder Surprise is very convenient to store seeds. I write names of varieties on the eggs with a CD pen, put a small paper note inside. It is airtight and very compact. Kinder surprise comes with two sizes. If you have bigger seeds or need to store more seeds buy 100gr; but 20 gr is enough for me. You can store eggs in different boxes, like this box has seeds from 2017. I love chocolate so I buy chocolate anyways.
Here are some pictures,




Here is a funny video:



and why:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlYR4UJz5CY

I organize them in jars and in shoe boxes according to Plant Family.  

I have a variety of organizations schemes.

    In very early fall of this year, 2025, I decided that I would start fresh and set all of my seeds out with a FREE sign on the boxes. Most of those did disappear as we have factories nearby and lots of traffic.
    I have re-orded all of my seeds fresh to start the year off and have those in a long plastic box the size of a shoe box. No need to categorize as there just are not that many there, however, the old system was by ALPHA order and I used lists of planting dates to determine WHICH seeds will be planted WHEN, and hopefully, this year, I will actually be prepping and growing "things" on my glassed in front porch.

By plant family and planting season in a plastic bin that holds 16 small containers that hold the seed packets. I don’t love storing in plastic but haven’t found a better way as yet. I’d place a picture here, but can’t seem to figure out how to do that….

I have them divided into warm season crops, cool season crops, herbs, medicinal herbs and flowers. The are in air tight containers with moisture removal packets. This year I started a spreadsheet with what I have and the varities (do to finding duplicates).

Hi Ellen, I also use those photo-storage organizers.. they are the best! They are the perfect size for almost all seed packets. I organize them in order of planting time.

If you bought the seeds, they have a date. If not, hopefully YOU wrote the year. Some seeds can be good for many years, but others are rather perishable.
https://joegardener.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Seed-Longevity-Chart.pdf
Long story short: if you have old seeds, toss them. In your garden, in your compost pile... Anywhere where they could still surprise you and germinate:
You will be better able to organize if you let go of the unusable or nearly unusable.
I save my seeds in favor boxes that I buy from Michaels. (An art & craft store here). Favor boxes are made of thin cardboard, so don't put them where they'll get wet. Little boxes 2" X2" X3" are the perfect size for pumpkins and other cucurbits...
I've re-used boxes for years, just changing the label.
I put those boxes in a few different places. Most are not afraid of the cold. They can be placed way up in the coop, above the chickens: It will be quite cold there, but not below zero.
The insulated garage, with a small heater + thermostat can be kept just above freezing, like refrigerator temperature. To encourage me to be vigilant, I put a lot of my canned goods there, in glass jars.
The rest, I keep here, in the office.
I try (but I'm afraid I have not been always consistent) to make a census of them on a spreadsheet, along with where I stashed them.
When the snow is gone, change of plans: I bring them out by planting date:
Some are cold crops (peas, lettuce, radishes... ) will have to go in the ground first.
Melons, corn and the like, warm crops, will go in later.
Of course, there are also cuttings of bushes, like raspberries, black currants and others. Last year, I thought ahead and made cuttings of black currants late in the fall, after the leaves had fallen. I stashed them outside, in a pail of dirt and dedicated a 2" pipe, 1 ft long to each of them. (I love that system: I cut chunks of PVC, like 1 ft long, stand them up in tall totes with a few small holes about 1" from the bottom, on the sides and fill all the pipes with good soil. This way, I can put 50 cuttings or so in one tote.
They stay outside all winter and when I see them take off in the spring, I pick up each pipe and check for roots at the bottom. when the roots start coming out of the bottom, I know they are good enough to plant.
For chestnuts, I wrap them up in a blue Scott's towel, get it wet then squeeze most of the water out of it. In March, most have started germinating and I put them in pipes just like the currants.
Chestnuts are very touchy: You don't want to mess with the root, which is very fragile, because if you break it, you'll just have to throw it: It would never make a tree.
I wish I had a hothouse or a solarium, but I do not have much room in the house: Only 3 shelves are facing East and South windows, so spots for starting stuff inside are rather limited. I buy a number of plants (herbs in particular), as most are hard to start...
I guessed I went a bit longer than just answering the question. Sorry: It's all gardening, though.
So yeah. It's messy. It's complicated, but I love it!

Used to keep them all in one bag like Charles Tarnard was talking about. This system has been working out okay but it could be better.

I keep this in a backpack at all times, so I got them on the fly if I need them.

I went through several systems before landing on what works for me. The key insight was separating "what I have" from "when to plant."
For physical storage, I use a simple photo box with dividers by month of sowing. But I found the real challenge is tracking what varieties I've tried, what worked, and what I want to reorder. That's where having some kind of digital record really helps, whether it's a spreadsheet or an app.

No system. Saved seeds go into small plastic containers after well-dried. They sit around on my bookshelf until planting time and then everything goes into a plastic bag and tossed in the back of the car. Bought seed packs go into the same bag. I have some corn and beans in glass jars some in the freezer and some on the bookshelf. Last year's left-over seeds are still in last year's plastic bag, somewhere in the garage.

I'm not sure this counts as 'organized' but my seeds are mostly in two places ( a few still out drying).  The metal cabinet will get emptied and sorted neatly sometime late winter when it matters and my early seeds will sit on the dining room table ready to go....until then I just stuff them in as I package.

I store everything in paper, glass, tins or cloth, labeled and with the year harvested.

What takes up more space elsewhere are the tubs of stored moringa, dahlia and amaryllis roots and tubers and bulbs...

My wife uses a craft organizer. It’s just a plastic bin with slots that holds smaller plastic containers with labels on them.

Downside of the plastic containers I use is risk of mold. Make sure seeds are well-dried, especially if touching plastic.
I have a lot of them and they are a convenient size, so I use them even if not ideal.