{"id":"mac-storage-basics.do-live-photos-take-more-space","url":"/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-live-photos-take-more-space","category":{"id":"mac-storage-basics","title":"Mac storage basics"},"subcategory":{"id":"photos-music-video","title":"Photos, music and video"},"question":"Do Live Photos take up more space than normal photos?","alt_questions":["live photos file size","turn off live photos to save space","live photo video part storage","are live photos bigger","live photos storage mac"],"short_answer":"Yes — each one is a still image plus a short video, so it's larger than a still. Turn Live off in the iPhone Camera for future photos.","answer_markdown":"Yes. A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip, so it takes noticeably more space than a still alone. You can turn Live Photos off on your iPhone's Camera for future shots.\n\nExisting Live Photos can be turned into stills in Photos by editing and switching Live off, but the original video part is kept unless you export a still and delete the original.","answer_html":"<p>Yes. A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip, so it takes noticeably more space than a still alone. You can turn Live Photos off on your iPhone&#39;s Camera for future shots.</p>\n<p>Existing Live Photos can be turned into stills in Photos by editing and switching Live off, but the original video part is kept unless you export a still and delete the original.</p>","answer_text":"Yes. A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip, so it takes noticeably more space than a still alone. You can turn Live Photos off on your iPhone's Camera for future shots.\n\nExisting Live Photos can be turned into stills in Photos by editing and switching Live off, but the original video part is kept unless you export a still and delete the original.","tags":["live photos","photos","iphone"],"related":[{"id":"mac-storage-basics.do-heic-and-hevc-save-space","question":"Do HEIC photos and HEVC videos save space compared with JPEG and H.264?","url":"/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-heic-and-hevc-save-space"}],"applies_to":"all","last_reviewed":"2026-10-01","title":"Do Live Photos take up more space than normal photos? — Storage Studio FAQ","description":"Yes — each one is a still image plus a short video, so it's larger than a still. Turn Live off in the iPhone Camera for future photos.","crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"FAQ","path":"/faq/"},{"name":"Mac storage basics","path":"/faq/mac-storage-basics/"},{"name":"Do Live Photos take up more space than normal photos?","path":"/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-live-photos-take-more-space"}],"jsonld":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-live-photos-take-more-space","inLanguage":"en","dateModified":"2026-10-01","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Do Live Photos take up more space than normal photos?","alternateName":["live photos file size","turn off live photos to save space","live photo video part storage","are live photos bigger","live photos storage mac"],"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip, so it takes noticeably more space than a still alone. You can turn Live Photos off on your iPhone's Camera for future shots.\n\nExisting Live Photos can be turned into stills in Photos by editing and switching Live off, but the original video part is kept unless you export a still and delete the original.","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-live-photos-take-more-space"}}]},"fragment":"<div class=\"wrap fl-wrap\"><div class=\"fl-layout\"><aside class=\"fl-side\" aria-label=\"FAQ topics\"><details open><summary>All topics</summary><ul class=\"fl-tree\"><li><a href=\"/faq/getting-started/\">Getting started</a> <span>70</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/freeing-space/\">Freeing up space</a> <span>182</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/moving-folders/\">Moving folders</a> <span>144</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/apps/\">Apps</a> <span>146</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/external-drives/\">External drives</a> <span>169</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/finder-location/\">Finding things in Finder</a> <span>70</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/cloud-accounts/\">Cloud accounts</a> <span>158</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/icloud/\">iCloud &amp; iCloud Photos</a> <span>168</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/data-transfers/\">Data Transfers</a> <span>119</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/backups/\">Backups &amp; restore points</a> <span>126</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/delta-drive/\">Delta Drive, Delta Trust &amp; My Drive</a> <span>125</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/bridge-devices/\">Bridge &amp; your devices</a> <span>111</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/duplicates/\">Duplicate files</a> <span>74</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/junk-yard/\">Junk Yard</a> <span>113</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/tuhi-assistant/\">Tuhi, your storage assistant</a> <span>105</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/settings/\">Settings &amp; keep-time</a> <span>88</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/performance-battery/\">Performance &amp; battery</a> <span>62</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/privacy-safety/\">Privacy &amp; safety</a> <span>85</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/licensing-payments/\">Licensing &amp; payments</a> <span>131</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/troubleshooting/\">Troubleshooting &amp; messages</a> <span>180</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/comparisons/\">Comparisons &amp; alternatives</a> <span>75</span></li><li class=\"fl-open\"><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/\" aria-current=\"true\">Mac storage basics</a> <span>315</span><ul><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#storage-overview\">Checking your storage</a> <span>18</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#system-data\">System Data and the storage categories</a> <span>11</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#purgeable-snapshots\">Purgeable space and local snapshots</a> <span>9</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#caches-temp-logs\">Caches, logs and temporary files</a> <span>19</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#finding-big-files\">Finding big files, Downloads and the Trash</a> <span>26</span></li><li class=\"fl-on\"><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#photos-music-video\">Photos, music and video</a> <span>27</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#mail-messages\">Mail, Messages and chat apps</a> <span>14</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#iphone-backups\">iPhone and iPad backups and updates</a> <span>12</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#developer-space\">Developer tools</a> <span>22</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#apps-macos\">Apps and macOS itself</a> <span>20</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#disks-formats\">Disks, APFS and formats</a> <span>24</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#external-storage\">External storage and adding space</a> <span>13</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#memory-performance\">Memory, swap and speed</a> <span>9</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#full-disk\">When the disk is full</a> <span>8</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#erase-security\">Erasing, encryption and selling a Mac</a> <span>6</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#time-machine\">Time Machine basics</a> <span>18</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#finder-tools\">Finder tools for finding space</a> <span>10</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#library-folders\">Library folders explained</a> <span>6</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#browsers-everyday-apps\">Browsers and everyday apps</a> <span>10</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#creative-media\">Creative and media apps</a> <span>7</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#games-virtual-machines\">Games and virtual machines</a> <span>5</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#dev-languages\">Programming languages and toolchains</a> <span>12</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#updates-installers\">macOS updates and installers</a> <span>5</span></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#accounts-system-extras\">User accounts, voices and system extras</a> <span>4</span></li></ul></li></ul></details></aside><div class=\"fl-main\"><nav class=\"fl-crumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\"><ol><li><a href=\"/\">Home</a></li><li><a href=\"/faq/\">FAQ</a></li><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/\">Mac storage basics</a></li><li aria-current=\"page\">Do Live Photos take up more space than normal photos?</li></ol></nav>\n<form class=\"fl-search\" action=\"/faq/search\" method=\"get\" role=\"search\" data-fl-search>\n<label class=\"fl-visually-hidden\" for=\"fl-q\">Search the FAQ</label>\n<input id=\"fl-q\" type=\"search\" name=\"q\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"Search 2,816 questions…\" autocomplete=\"off\" spellcheck=\"false\">\n<button type=\"submit\">Search</button>\n<div class=\"fl-suggest\" role=\"listbox\" hidden></div>\n</form>\n<article class=\"fl-entry\">\n<p class=\"eyebrow fl-eyebrow\"><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/\">Mac storage basics</a> · <a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/#photos-music-video\">Photos, music and video</a></p>\n<h1>Do Live Photos take up more space than normal photos?</h1>\n<p class=\"fl-short\"><strong>Short answer:</strong> Yes — each one is a still image plus a short video, so it&#39;s larger than a still. Turn Live off in the iPhone Camera for future photos.</p>\n<div class=\"fl-answer\"><p>Yes. A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip, so it takes noticeably more space than a still alone. You can turn Live Photos off on your iPhone&#39;s Camera for future shots.</p>\n<p>Existing Live Photos can be turned into stills in Photos by editing and switching Live off, but the original video part is kept unless you export a still and delete the original.</p></div>\n\n<p class=\"fl-meta\">Last reviewed <time datetime=\"2026-10-01\">October 1, 2026</time></p>\n\n<section class=\"fl-related\"><h2>Related questions</h2><ul><li><a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-heic-and-hevc-save-space\">Do HEIC photos and HEVC videos save space compared with JPEG and H.264?</a></li></ul></section>\n<p class=\"fl-formats\">Also available as <a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-live-photos-take-more-space.md\">Markdown</a> and <a href=\"/faq/mac-storage-basics/do-live-photos-take-more-space.json\">JSON</a>.</p>\n</article></div></div></div>"}