Share or export your iMovie project
Send your movie to friends and family, export it to watch it on other devices, or share it on social media.
Share or export your iMovie project on iPhone or iPad
Send your movie via email or text message, export your movie to watch on another device, or share your movie to the web. If you want to edit your movie after sharing it, open the saved project in iMovie, make your changes, then share it again when you’re ready.
Send your movie via email or text message
You can send a finished movie to others in an email with the Mail app or in a text message with the Messages app.
From the Projects browser, tap the movie you want to share. If you’re editing a project, tap Done in the upper-left corner.
Tap the
, then tap Messages or Mail.Complete the message or email that was created, then tap Send.
If your movie is too large to send, you can reduce the size of the movie file. Cancel your current message or email, return to the share screen, tap Options, then choose a lower resolution.
Export your movie to watch on another device
If you want to watch the movie on another nearby Apple device, you can use AirDrop to transfer the file. You can also save your movie to your Photos library.
From the Projects browser, tap the movie you want to share. If you’re editing a project, tap Done in the upper-left corner.
Tap the
.To change the resolution or format of your movie, tap Options, then tap Done when you’ve set your options.
Choose where you want to export your movie:
To use AirDrop, tap AirDrop, then tap the profile picture of its user at the top of the screen. Or you can use AirDrop between your own Apple devices.
To export the movie to your Photos library, tap Save Video. If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you can access the video from all Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account.
To save your movie to iCloud Drive, to a folder on your device, or to another third-party storage service you’ve enabled in the Files app, tap Save to Files, choose a location, then tap Save.
Share your movie on the web
Save your movie in the Photos library, then upload it to the web.
In the Projects browser in iMovie, tap the project you want share, then tap the
.If you want to change the resolution of your video, tap Options under the movie title, then choose a resolution. 1080p is a good choice for sharing to the web.
Lower resolutions like 720p HD produce smaller files that upload to the web faster than movies with higher resolutions.
Tap Save Video to save your movie in the Photos library on your device.
Open an app like YouTube or Facebook on your device, or visit the website for the service you want to use, then upload your video.
Share or export your iMovie project on Mac
Email your movie, add the movie to your Photos library, or prepare your movie to share on the web. If you want to edit your movie after sharing it, open the saved project in iMovie, make your changes, then share it again when you’re ready.
Send your movie via email
You can email your movie to others with the Mail app.
From the Projects browser, select the iMovie project you want to send, click the More button, then choose Share Project. If you’re editing a project, click the
.Click Email.
Click Share. If your movie file exceeds the recommended limit (usually 10 MB), you’ll see a warning on the share screen.
Click the Resolution pop-up menu, choose a resolution that reduces the movie file to a size most mail servers support
Click Share. Once iMovie has completed exporting the movie to email, you’ll see a notification.
Complete the email that was created, then click Send.
Add the movie to your Photos library
When you save the movie as a file, you can add the movie to your Photos library, store it in iCloud Drive, or save it in another location. If you want to email the movie using another email client or other service, you should also save the movie as a file.
From the Projects browser, select the iMovie project you want to send, click the More button, then choose Share Project. If you’re editing a project, click the
.Click File.
Click the Resolution pop-up menu and choose a size for your video. The default resolution is based on the content of your movie. Choosing a lower resolution produces a smaller file that uploads to the web more quickly. Choosing a higher resolution produces a larger file that’s great for viewing on a Mac or on a high-definition television (HDTV) through Apple TV.
Choose a location to save the video file, then click Save.
Drag the exported movie file into the Photos app to add the movie to your photo library. If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you can access the video from all Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account.
Share your movie on the web
iMovie provides optimized settings for sharing to YouTube and Facebook. This special setting also works well for sharing to other websites like Vimeo and Twitter.
With your project open in iMovie, click the
.Click YouTube & Facebook.
Choose a location to save the video file, then click Save.
In a web browser, visit the website where you want to share your video, then upload the video file.