How to turn off Live Photos, and keep them off

Turn Live Photos off in the camera

Open Camera in Photo mode and find the Live Photo button, a set of concentric circles. Tap it so a slash appears through it. Depending on your iOS version, it sits at the top of the screen or inside the camera controls you open with the arrow or by swiping. Apple's article describes tapping the Camera Controls button first, then the Live Photo button.

That alone does not last. Apple notes that the Camera app turns Live Photo on again automatically.

Keep it off for good

1. Open Settings and go to Camera.
2. Tap Preserve Settings.
3. Turn on the Live Photo switch.

The wording looks backward, but this switch tells the camera to remember your last Live Photo choice. With it on, turning Live off in the camera keeps it off until you turn it back on. Other options on the same screen preserve the last camera mode and creative controls in the same way.

Turn Live off on photos you already took

Open the Live Photo in Photos, tap Edit, then tap LIVE at the top of the screen so it turns off, and tap Done. The photo now behaves as a still when you view or share it.

Edits in Photos can be undone, so you can switch Live back on later in the same place. That also means the clip is still held with the photo. If your goal is a lighter file rather than a still view, look in the More menu: recent versions of iOS can duplicate a Live Photo as a still photo, after which you can delete the original. Check the duplicate before deleting anything.

For sharing, Apple notes you can tap LIVE in the corner of the share sheet preview to send only the still image.

Do Live Photos take more space?

Yes. A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip with sound from just before and after the moment you press the shutter. That clip makes each Live Photo noticeably larger than the same still, and across thousands of photos the difference adds up, on the phone and in iCloud.

How much depends on your camera settings and the scene. The most reliable way to see the effect on your own library is to look at the Photos figure in Settings > General > iPhone Storage over time.

Before you switch them off

Live Photos have uses beyond the motion. They let you pick a better key frame after the fact, and the Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure effects turn a moving scene into something new. Long Exposure, for example, smooths a waterfall or blurs city traffic.

A middle path is to leave Live on for people and moments, and turn it off for receipts, documents and quick reference shots that end up as clutter. For other ways your library grows quietly, see burst photos and screenshots, and checking your storage to see where you stand.