On iPhone, open Photos, go to Collections → Media Types → Live Photos, tap Select, pick the Live Photos you want, tap the ⋯ button and choose Save as Video. Photos joins them into one video in your library. It's free and takes a few seconds. If you want music, an even pace, a set length or a vertical video for Stories and Reels, use an app like Ichie, which does all of that in one step.
Method 1: Save as Video in the Photos app (free)
- Open Photos and tap Collections.
- Scroll to Media Types and tap Live Photos. Now you only see Live Photos.
- Tap Select and tap each Live Photo you want in the video.
- Tap the ⋯ button.
- Choose Save as Video.
The new video is saved to your library. It's dated to when the Live Photos were taken, not to today, so it may not appear at the bottom of your library. Look under Media Types → Videos, or sort the library by Recently Added.
Tips for a better result
- Check the order. Look at the finished video before you share it. If the order is wrong, delete it, select the photos again in the order you want and save once more.
- Fewer, better clips. Each Live Photo is about three seconds, so 20 photos already make a minute of video. Skip near-identical shots taken seconds apart; they make a video feel long.
- Trim first. A Live Photo includes the moment before and after you tapped the shutter, often including the phone moving up or down. To trim one, open it, tap Edit, then the Live Photo button, and drag the ends of the frame bar.
What Save as Video can't do
Save as Video is good for a quick keepsake. It joins clips; it doesn't edit them. If you want any of the following, you need another tool:
| You want… | Save as Video | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Your own music under the film | No | iMovie, CapCut or Ichie (see adding music) |
| A set length, e.g. a 15-second recap | No: the length is the sum of the clips | Trim each clip by hand, or let Ichie trim them to fit |
| An even, calm rhythm | No: clips keep their own length | Ichie gives every clip the same length |
| A full-screen 9:16 video for Stories, Reels, TikTok | No format choice | Ichie's Story format (crop, or blur to keep each clip whole) |
| Date, time or place on each clip | No | Ichie shows them on each clip |
| Leave out near-identical shots | Only by picking carefully | Ichie can hide clips taken seconds apart |
| Watch it before saving | No: it saves straight away | Ichie shows the film before export |
Method 2: Make a short film with Ichie
Ichie is an iPhone and Mac app that does one thing: turn a set of Live Photos into one short film. There's no timeline to learn.
- Open Ichie and pick your Live Photos. Only Live Photos show up, so you don't have to dig through the whole library.
- Select the moments you want. Ichie puts them in the order they were taken.
- Optional: add your own music. Ichie trims or loops it to fit the film.
- Pick a format. Story (9:16) fills the screen on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Mixed portrait and landscape shots? Crop fills the frame; Blur keeps every clip whole over a soft, blurred copy of itself.
- Choose the pace: every clip the same length, or set a total length and Ichie trims each clip to fit.
- Optional: show the date, time and place on each clip, and hide similar shots taken seconds apart.
- Watch the preview, then save the film to Photos or share it straight from Ichie.
Private by design: Ichie works on your device. Your photos, music and films are never uploaded, and there's no account. The one exception, only if you turn it on: for place names, a clip's coordinates go to Apple to look up the place.
What it costs: Ichie is free for films up to 15 seconds, with a small "Made with Ichie" credit. Ichie Pro is a one-time purchase, no subscription. It removes the credit, allows longer films and shows place names. One purchase covers iPhone and Mac, and Family Sharing is included.
On a Mac
Photos for Mac doesn't join Live Photos into one video for you. You can export each Live Photo's video and join the clips in QuickTime Player; the Mac guide shows how. Or use Ichie for Mac: pick Live Photos straight from your Photos library and export one film.
Which one should you use?
- Save as Video if you just want the clips in one file to keep or send to family, and you don't mind the result's pace and shape.
- Ichie if the video is going somewhere people will watch it: a Story, a Reel, a TikTok, a group chat after a trip. Music, an even pace and a full-screen format are what make a stack of Live Photos feel like a film.
- iMovie or CapCut if you want full manual control and have the time to edit clip by clip.