Take and edit Live Photos

With Live Photos, your iPhone records what happens 1.5 seconds before and after you take a picture. Then you can pick a different key photo, add a fun effect, edit your Live Photo, and share with your family and friends.

How to take a Live Photo

  1. Open the Camera app.

  2. Make sure that your camera is set to Photo mode and that Live Photo is turned on. Tap the Camera Controls button, then tap the Live Photo button to turn Live Photo on or off.

    Camera app shows a monarch butterfly on a flower, with a shutter button and Live Photo icon.

  3. Hold your device still.

  4. Tap the Take Picture button.

Live Photo is on by default. You can turn Live Photo off temporarily or permanently.

You can take Live Photos on iPhone 6s and later, iPad (5th generation) and later, iPad Air (3rd generation) and later, iPad mini (5th generation) and later, and iPad Pro models from 2016 or later.

How to find and play your Live Photos

  1. Open the Photos app, then tap Collections.

  2. Scroll to Media Types, and tap Live Photos.

    iPhone Photos app screen showing Collections, Shared Albums, People, Places, and other categories.

  3. Tap one of the photos to open it.

  4. Press and hold the screen to play the Live Photo.

When you receive a Live Photo on your iPhone or iPad via Messages, tap the photo to open it, then press and hold to see it come to life.

If you're using Messages on your Mac, double-click the Live Photo to open it. The Live Photo plays through once. To play it again, click the LIVE button in the bottom-left corner of the photo.

How to change the key photo

  1. Open the Live Photo and tap the Edit button.

  2. Tap the Live Photo button.

  3. Drag the white frame to choose a different thumbnail.

  4. Release your finger, then tap Make Key Photo.

    Two people smile at the camera in a Live Photo being edited on a phone. A white frame surrounds a thumbnail with the Make Key Photo button above it.

  5. Tap Done.

You can also toggle the Live Photo effect off and on. When you're editing a Live Photo, tap the LIVE button at the top of the screen to turn Live Photo off or back on.

How to add Live Photo effects

  1. Open the Live Photo.

  2. Tap the Live Photo button near the top of the screen.

    iPhone screen showing a Live Photo of two people smiling, with a menu open to edit the Live Photo effects.

  3. Choose Loop, Bounce, or Long Exposure.

If you edit your Live Photo in a third-party app, you might lose any Live Photo effects that you've applied.

How to share your Live Photos

  1. Open the photo that you want to share, then tap the Share button.

  2. If you want to share the still photo and not the Live Photo, tap LIVE in the upper-left corner of the photo.

  3. Choose how you want to share your photo.

If you share a Live Photo via Mail, the Live Photo is sent as a still image. You can turn a Live Photo into a video on your iPhone.

How to turn off Live Photos

  1. From the Camera app, tap the Camera Controls button.

  2. Tap the Live Photo button to turn off Live Photo. A slash through the Live Photo button means that Live Photo is off.

The Camera app turns Live Photo on again automatically. To keep Live Photo off permanently:

  1. Go to Settings.

  2. Tap Camera, then tap Preserve Settings.

  3. Make sure that the switch next to Live Photo is turned on.

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