Live Photos is an iPhone feature that captures 1.5 seconds of video and sound on either side of each still photo so you can press and hold a picture to bring it to life. But sometimes you want to turn it off for many reasons, e.g., your photos take up too much storage, the moving photos are annoying in shared albums, you want plain photos for printing or you find the feature creepy.
Heads up before you start. There are two different settings. Disabling Live Photos for the current photo versus making the change permanent so your camera defaults to off. Trust me on this, most people only turn it off once per session and then it comes back the next time.
This easy guide will help you turn off Live Photos on your iPhone by showing you the quick toggle, the permanent default setting and helping you convert existing Live Photos to regular still images.
Method 1: Turn Off Live Photos in the Camera App
This is the quick toggle for one session.
- Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
- Look for the Live Photos icon at the top right (looks like three circles, kind of a target).
- Tap it once. A line strikes through it.
- Live Photos is off for this session.
Heads up, the next time you open Camera it usually defaults back to on. Use Method 2 to make it permanent.
Method 2: Make Live Photos Off the Default
This is the permanent fix. Camera stays in your last-used mode.
- Open Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Camera.
- Tap Preserve Settings.
- Toggle Live Photo on.
Now whenever you turn Live Photos off in the Camera app, it stays off until you turn it back on. Solves the daily reset problem.
Method 3: Disable Live Photos on Existing Photos
If you have photos already saved as Live but want them as stills:
- Open the photo in Photos.
- Tap Edit.
- Tap the Live Photo icon at the top.
- The icon gets a line through it.
- Tap Done.
The photo is now a still. The Live video portion is hidden but not deleted. You can re-enable later.
Method 4: Convert Live Photo to Still Permanently
If you want to actually delete the video portion to save storage:
- Open the Live Photo.
- Tap the share icon (square with arrow up).
- Tap Duplicate.
- Choose Duplicate as Still Photo.
- You now have a still copy. Delete the original Live version if you want.
This saves real storage space. Live Photos are about 2-3x the size of still photos.
How Much Storage Does Live Photos Use
Real talk. Each Live Photo is roughly 3-5 MB compared to 1-2 MB for a still. If you have 5000 Live Photos, that is an extra 15 GB or so.
Bulk converting old Live Photos to stills can free up serious space. Worth doing on an older iPhone running low on storage.
My Honest Opinion
Personally I keep Live Photos on for family events but off for everything else. The Preserve Settings trick is the actual move so it does not flip on every time you reopen Camera.
If you share photos to Android friends, Live Photos send as regular stills anyway. So leaving it on does not hurt sharing.
Final Thoughts
Turning off Live Photos is one toggle in the Camera app, plus one Settings tweak to make it stick. Existing Live Photos can be converted to stills via Edit or Share menu.
Also, if you follow our steps and still face difficulties turning off Live Photos on iPhone, seek help from Apple Support or leave a comment in the comment section of our blog.