How to Save a Live Photo as a Video on iPhone

This article explains how to save a Live Photo as a video so you can more easily share it.

How to Save a Live Photo as a Video on iPhone

Apple's Live Photos combine a still photo with a little video before and after, but the feature doesn't work well outside Apple's apps. Follow these steps to save a Live Photo as a video. This method will work on both iPhone and iPad devices.

1. In the Photos app, open the Live Photo you want to save as a video and tap the share button.

2. Select Save as Video from the list of options. The Live Photo will save as a video immediately.

The new video doesn't always appear in your Photos view, which is the default when the Photos app is opened. You may need to navigate to Albums, then Recents, to find the video file.

How to Save a Live Photo as a Video Using a Shortcut

This method will set up a shortcut for saving a Live Photo as a video on your iPhone or iPad. This is useful if you do this often or want to quickly save a large number of live photos as videos.

1. Open Shortcuts and select the + icon in the upper right to create a new shortcut.

2. Select Add Action.

3. Search for Live Photos in the field that appears, then select Get Latest Live Photos.

   After adding this variable, you can tap it to change the number of live photos that will appear when the shortcut is activated.

4. Select Choose from List. The Latest Live Photos variable will be added by default.

5. Use the search bar at the bottom of the Shortcut creation screen to search for Encode Media. Tap to add it to the shortcut.

6. Use the search bar again to search for Save to Photo Album. Tap to add it to the shortcut.

7. Exit the Shortcut creation screen to save the shortcut.

   Once created, you can use the Shortcut widget available in iOS to add this shortcut to your home screen. This makes it easy to find and save a recent Live Photo as a video.

   You can also tweak this shortcut in a variety of ways. It can be modified to save multiple videos at once, for example, or you could send the video directly to a social media app instead of saving it to a photo album.
   

   Why Should I Save a Live Photo as a Video?

   Saving a Live Photo as a video is most useful for sharing the Live Photo on an application that doesn't support the feature. Most apps not made by Apple are fussy about Live Photos or won't recognize them at all. Saving as a video gets around this.

   It's also necessary to save a Live Photo as a video if you'd like to use the Live Photo as part of a video you're making in a video editing app.

   FAQ

   • Why can't I save a Live Photo as a video on my iPhone?

     If you added effects using the Live Photo editor, you won't see “Save as Video” as an option.

   • How do I turn off Live Photo on my iPhone?

     To turn off Live Photos, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and disable the Live Photo slider. Then, go to the Camera app and tap the Live Photo icon to disable it.
     

   • How do I turn a video into a Live Photo on my iPhone?

     Use a free app like intoLive for iPhone to turn your videos into Live Photos.