How to move Live Photos to a Mac or PC and keep them live

To move Live Photos to a Mac and keep them live, get them into the Photos app on the Mac with iCloud Photos or a USB import. Copying them to a Finder folder, or a normal export, gives you files instead. A Live Photo is a still and a short video that only Photos keeps together as one item.

Outside Photos, on a Mac or a Windows PC, you get either the still on its own or the two parts as separate files.

So the question is less “how do I copy it” and more “where should it end up”. Here are the routes, starting with the ones Apple documents.

Why Live Photos turn into stills or two files

Inside Photos on iPhone, iPad or Mac, a Live Photo shows a Live badge and plays its motion. On disk it is a still (HEIC or JPEG) and a QuickTime movie that share one identifier; what’s inside a Live Photo explains the details. Apple’s Mac guide says it plainly: with Export Unmodified Original, “a Live Photo is exported as two separate files: a still-image file and a video file.”

Whether those two files are ever shown as one moving picture again is up to the app that receives them. That is why the same Live Photo can look fine in Photos, appear as a still in a folder, and appear as a photo plus a short clip on a PC.

Method 1: iCloud Photos (Mac, and iCloud.com on a PC)

If iCloud Photos is on for your iPhone and your Mac, signed in to the same Apple Account, there is nothing to move. Apple describes iCloud Photos as keeping your photos and videos “available automatically on all of your Apple devices, on iCloud.com, and even on your PC”. Live Photos synced this way are Photos library items on the Mac, so Photos for Mac plays them.

This is the simplest way to keep a whole library live across devices. On a PC it gives you access to your photos, but Apple’s page doesn’t say how a Windows app shows the motion.

Method 2: import into Photos on a Mac with a USB cable

Apple’s steps for a Mac:

1. Connect your iPhone or iPad to the Mac with a USB cable. If the Mac asks to allow the accessory, click Allow.
2. Open the Photos app. It shows an Import screen with the photos and videos on the device.
3. Unlock your iPhone or iPad if asked.
4. Next to Album, choose an existing album or create a new one.
5. Select the photos and click Import Selected, or click Import All New Items.
6. Wait for the import to finish, then disconnect the device.

Because the photos land in the Photos library rather than in a folder, this is the route to use when you want them to stay Live Photos. Open one after the import and check that it plays.

Method 3: export both parts from Photos on a Mac

Sometimes you need files, for a backup drive, another app or a PC. In Photos on Mac:

1. Select the Live Photos.
2. Choose File › Export › Export Unmodified Original.
3. Pick a folder and export.

Each Live Photo becomes a still-image file and a video file, in the format it was imported in. Keep the two together and don’t rename one without the other.

The other command, File › Export › Export [number] Photos, lets you choose JPEG, HEIC, TIFF or PNG, and Apple notes that you can “export a Live Photo as a still image” this way. If your exported Live Photos came out as stills, this is usually why.

Method 4: a Windows PC

Apple’s steps for Windows:

1. Install the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store.
2. Connect the iPhone or iPad with a USB cable and unlock it if asked.
3. If the iPhone asks you to Trust This Computer, tap Trust or Allow.
4. Import with the Microsoft Photos app, following Microsoft’s instructions.

If iCloud Photos is on, Apple says to download the original, full-resolution versions to the iPhone before you import to a PC.

Apple’s page doesn’t mention Live Photos. Outside Apple’s Photos app a Live Photo travels as its two parts, a still and a short video, and whether the receiving app shows them as one moving picture is up to that app.

Two settings matter for a PC:

• Keep Originals. When you import over USB into Photos, Image Capture or a PC, Apple says HEIF and HEVC media “might be converted to JPEG or H.264”. To stop that, open Settings › Apps › Photos on the iPhone and tap Keep Originals.
• Most Compatible. If your PC struggles with HEIC and HEVC files, Apple suggests Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible, after which the camera captures JPEG and H.264. This only affects new photos and videos.

Method 5: AirDrop to your own Mac

AirDrop is quick for a few photos, but Apple says that on a Mac “some items are automatically saved in the Downloads folder”, and it doesn’t describe how a Live Photo is delivered. A file in Downloads is not in your Photos library. If what arrived plays only as a still, use iCloud Photos or a USB import for the Live Photos you want to keep moving. When the person on the other end is a friend rather than your own computer, why your Live Photo stops moving after you send it covers that case.

When the computer only needs the motion: convert it

A PC, a website or a video editor often doesn’t need a Live Photo at all; it needs the moving part in a format it already plays. Turn the Live Photo into an ordinary video (or a GIF) first. Apple’s way to do that on iPhone, and what to do when the option is missing, is in how to save a Live Photo as a video.

Beavery does this on iPhone, iPad and Mac. It opens a Live Photo from your Photos library with both parts, the full-size still and its movie, and can make:

• a video of the movie, as MOV or MP4, with its sound;
• a GIF, up to 20 seconds;
• a still from any frame, as HEIF, JPEG or PNG;
• a new Live Photo with a different range or cover.

Choose Save to Files and pick a folder, such as a USB drive or a shared folder, and the video or GIF is an ordinary file any computer can open. Processing happens on your device and your photos aren’t uploaded. The Mac version opens Live Photos from Photos on the Mac in the same way.

Two things Beavery does not do here. A Live Photo saved to Files from Beavery becomes one .beaverylive package that Beavery itself can reopen, not a loose still and video for a PC. If you need the two loose parts, the Export Live Photo components action in Shortcuts returns a photo and its paired movie. And Beavery doesn’t repair broken Live Photos or join a separate still and video from a folder back into one.

Which route keeps what

Which one should you use?

For your own Mac, turn on iCloud Photos or import over USB into Photos; both keep Live Photos as library items. For a backup or another Mac app, use Export Unmodified Original and keep each pair together. For a Windows PC, import with Keep Originals on, and if someone there only needs to watch the moment, send a video or GIF made from the Live Photo instead.

Questions

Why did my Live Photo arrive on my Mac as only a still?

A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video, and it only plays as one inside Photos. If it was exported with File › Export › Export [number] Photos, Apple says a Live Photo can be exported as a still image; use Export Unmodified Original to get both parts, or import into Photos instead of copying to a folder.

Why does a Live Photo show up as two files on Windows?

Outside Apple's Photos app, a Live Photo travels as its two parts: a still image and a short video with the same name. Apple's Mac guide describes the same thing for Export Unmodified Original. Keep both files together if you want to bring it back to Photos later.

Can I see the motion of a Live Photo on a Windows PC?

Apple's instructions for PCs don't mention Live Photos. The reliable way to watch the motion on any computer is to save the Live Photo as a video, which plays like any other clip.

Does AirDrop keep Live Photos when I send them to my own Mac?

Apple says AirDrop saves some items to the Downloads folder on a Mac, and doesn't describe how a Live Photo is delivered. Files in Downloads are not in your Photos library, so for Live Photos use iCloud Photos or a USB import into Photos.

Can Beavery join a separate photo and video back into a Live Photo?

No. Beavery doesn't repair or re-pair Live Photos, and a separate still and video in a folder open as two separate files. Beavery works with Live Photos that are already in your Photos library.