# Keep Stills, Remove Live Photos on iPhone **URL:** https://intoguide.com/t/keep-stills-remove-live-photos-on-iphone/630 **Category:** iOS **Created:** [March 19, 2026, 6:21am UTC](https://intoguide.com/t/keep-stills-remove-live-photos-on-iphone/630 "2026-03-19T06:21:41Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![wasabi](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/intoguide.com/wasabi/32/646_2.png) [@wasabi](https://intoguide.com/u/wasabi) #### Post date: [March 19, 2026, 6:21am UTC](https://intoguide.com/t/keep-stills-remove-live-photos-on-iphone/630/1 "2026-03-19T06:21:41Z")
## How to Remove the Live Photo Effect and Keep the Still Image When it comes to removing the Live Photo effect, you have two main options. You can either do it manually in the Photos app or use a third-party app to automate the process. Both methods achieve the same result—converting Live Photos into regular still images while keeping the main shot intact. Option A: Use an App for Quick Conversion We’ll start with the easiest and fastest method—using an app. For this example, we’ll use Clever Cleaner: Free Storage Cleaner, a completely free app that includes a built-in Live Photo conversion tool—a feature that’s surprisingly rare among iPhone cleaner apps. Most similar apps either don’t offer this functionality or lock it behind a paid upgrade. Clever Cleaner, however, provides it entirely free, just like its other tools. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to remove the Live Photo effect while keeping the still image: 1. If you haven’t already, download Clever Cleaner from the App Store. 2. When you open the app, it’ll ask for permission to access your photos. 3. Tap **Allow Access to All Photos** so it can scan for Live Photos. 4. On the main screen, look for **Lives** at the bottom and tap it. It’ll show you all the Live Photos on your device. 5. You can sort photos by date or size using the **Sort by** option at the top. Now, either manually pick the ones you want or tap **Select All**. 6. Tap **“Compress”.** Even though the button says **Compress** , this process actually converts them into still images. Below the button, you’ll see an estimate of how much storage you’ll free up—a handy bonus. 7. It usually only takes a few seconds, even if you select hundreds of Live Photos at once. Once the process is done, the app will save a new still version of each photo and then ask you what to do with the original Live Photos. 8. Since your goal is to delete them, tap on **Delete** to remove them from your device. 9. The app will ask for final confirmation, and that’s it! In just a few taps and a few seconds, your Live Photos are gone, with their still images waiting in your library as if nothing even happened. This approach **replaces full-resolution photos on your iPhone with smaller versions** while keeping the originals safely stored in iCloud. If your device is low on space, this can free up **gigabytes almost instantly** with minimal effort. If you prefer to keep the originals on your iPhone—or don’t want to pay for extra iCloud storage once the free 5 GB runs out—you’ll need to examine your library more closely. Chances are it’s filled with unnecessary files: duplicate or similar photos, unneeded Live Photos, old large videos (movies, clips, 4K recordings), and leftover screenshots. Cleaning all this manually can take hours. A faster and easier solution is using an app. **Clever Cleaner: AI iPhone Storage Cleaner** is a **100% free app from CleverFiles** that uses Smart Cleanup mode to automatically clear media clutter in seconds. If you prefer more control, it also offers semi-automatic cleaning so you can review what gets deleted. Even though it’s a new app, it runs smoothly with **no bugs or crashes observed during testing**. Its AI algorithms accurately identify photos and videos to clean—comparable to some paid tools—but nothing is deleted without your approval. You always decide what stays and what goes. ✍ **Note:** We’ve tested many iPhone cleaning apps (see our full rating of iPhone cleaners), but Clever Cleaner stands out. Unlike most “free” apps, it **has no ads, no subscriptions, and no paywalls** , and the developer promises that early users who download and keep the app will retain free access forever. The app is intuitive, but to illustrate its usefulness, here’s how to **convert your Live Photos** to save space while keeping your images exactly where they are—the only thing removed is the short animation clip that plays when opening them: - There’s the **Similars** tab. The app can identify and group duplicates as well as visually similar images that might be taking up unnecessary space. You can either let the app automatically remove the extras or go through the grouped photos yourself and choose what to keep or delete. - Then there’s **Screenshots** , Clever Cleaner pulls them all into one place, so instead of scrolling endlessly through your Photos app to find old snapshots, you can bulk-delete them in seconds. - An lastly, the **“Heavies”** feature. This one sorts every video in your library from largest to smallest, something you can’t do in the Photos app. This makes it super easy to quickly locate the biggest storage wasters and remove them if you no longer need them. Note: According to the official Clever Cleaner website, the developer states that the app will remain free for all early users, even as new features are added. So if you downloaded it just to convert Live Photos, you might want to keep it—it could become even more useful over time as updates introduce new tools. Option B: Convert Live Photos Manually in the Photos App If you prefer not to use a third-party app, you can handle the process manually in the Photos app. While it’s not as quick or convenient, it gets the job done. The idea is simple: Create a still version of your Live Photo. Delete the original Live Photo to free up space. Just be careful during the process—you’ll want to avoid accidentally duplicating or deleting the wrong images. 1. Open the **Photos** app and navigate to the **‘Live Photos’** album you identified earlier. 2. Select the **Live Photo** you wish to convert. 3. Tap on the photo to view it, then tap the three dots in the bottom right corner. 4. Select ‘ **Duplicate** ‘ from the drop-down menu. 5. Choose ‘ **Duplicate as Still Photo** ‘ to create a copy of the photo without the motion effect. This will save a new version of the image that is just a static picture. 6. **If you have multiple Live Photos you want to convert at once, here are the steps for bulk conversion:**