How to Save a Live Photo as a Video

A Live Photo moves when you press and hold it in Photos, but many places you share images show only its still frame. If the motion matters, make a video first. The best route depends on whether you want a new, easy-to-share video or the original movie stored inside the Live Photo.

On iPhone: use Save as Video

You do not need another app for a Live Photo already in your iPhone library.

1. Open Photos and find the Live Photo. In the collection view, Media Types → Live Photos can help you find it.
2. Open the photo and tap the More button in the upper-right corner.
3. Choose Save as Video.
4. Find the new item in Recently Saved. The original Live Photo remains in the Live Photos collection.

These are the steps in Apple's iPhone guide. If you cannot see Save as Video, first check that the item really is a Live Photo: open it in Photos, look for the Live control, and press and hold to test the motion. A plain still image has no movie to save.

Use this method when you want a video to send in a chat, upload to a site, or edit in a video app. Check the new video before deleting or moving anything; it is a separate item from the original.

On a computer: extract the original MOV

If you have a .livp package or the two original files, use the Live Photo to video tool. Drop in the .livp, or select the HEIC/JPEG and MOV together, then download the movie. Extraction does not re-encode the movie, so it preserves the video stream stored in the Live Photo.

On a Mac, Photos also has a built-in route: select the Live Photo, then choose File → Export → Export Unmodified Original. Apple explains that a Live Photo exported this way becomes two files, one still image and one video. Use the video file when you need the original movie, and keep both files if you may want to preserve the Live Photo pair for later.

Our browser tool is useful when those files are already outside Photos, especially on Windows. It reads the files in your browser; there is no upload step.

Which result should you choose?

• A video from a Live Photo still in your iPhone library: Photos → Save as Video.
• The movie component without re-encoding: Export Unmodified Original on Mac, or use our extraction tool.
• Motion for a place that accepts images but not video: Live Photo to GIF.
• One frame for a form or profile picture: Live Photo to JPG.

The extracted MOV is just the movie half. Playing or uploading that file will not turn it back into a Live Photo; the still image and pairing information are needed for that. If you plan to archive the original, keep the full pair together.

Common questions

Will saving a video remove my Live Photo? No. Apple's Save as Video creates a new video while the Live Photo stays in the Live Photos collection.

Why did I get two files from my Mac? That is expected for Export Unmodified Original. A Live Photo has a still image and a movie component. The MOV is the part to use as a video.

Can I use a screenshot? A screenshot captures only one frame. Use Save as Video or extract the MOV if you need movement and sound.