Exporting/importing Live Photos to iPhone through external harddrive

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Exporting/importing Live Photos to iPhone through external harddrive

Hi, is there a way to export live photos from iPhone directly to an external harddrive and then import them back so they keep their Live Photo format? I have bought a dedicated SSD for this exact purpose to backup my photos since I don't want to use the cloud. I have exported them to the harddrive through a usb-c cable directly from my iPhone. They export as an HEIC image and a MOV video just like they do when I export them to a windows PC. Now the problem is when I want to import them back they also import to the iPhone as a video and a photo they don't become one file and turn into a Live Photo. Am I missing something obvious or is it iOS being iOS?

iPhone 16, iOS 18

Posted on Nov 13, 2024 3:19 AM

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Answer 1

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Yer_Man

Level 10

166,104 points

Nov 13, 2024 6:54 AM in response to skip924

What you want to do is not possible. Live Photos only exist in the form within Photos.

Why not import them to Photos, and if space is a premium then move your Photos library to the external.

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Answer 2

Nov 13, 2024 7:17 AM in response to skip924

As Yer_Man says, "Live Photos" doesn't exist outside of the Apple Photos environment. Unlike jpgs and movies, Live Photos isn't a universal format, so once it leaves Photos, it's just not a "Live Photo" anymore--there's no universal format that keeps all the data.

While we copy Photos Libraries to external drives from our Macs, as far as I know you can't copy an intact Photos Library from an iPhone to an external drive, and an iPhone can't run a Library from an external drive. The best you can do for backup is to export the pictures, as you're doing.

I'm thinking that Live Photos which you want to keep need to stay on the iPhone.

By the way, iCloud Photos at iCloud.com does preserve Live Photos.

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Exporting/importing Live Photos to iPhone through external harddrive

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