Apple Photos Memories: Create, Edit & Share (2026)

Where to Find Memories

Memories live in the For You tab at the bottom of the Photos app. iOS surfaces one to three featured Memories at the top, with a scrollable row of others below. Each Memory is labeled with a title (such as "Summer 2025" or "Best of Jake") and a thumbnail.

Tap any Memory to open it. It will begin playing automatically as a video slideshow. You can also see all Memories by tapping See All next to the Memories row.

How to Edit a Memory

While a Memory is playing, tap the screen to reveal playback controls. From here you can:

• Change the music: Tap the music note icon. Choose a mood-based Apple soundtrack or pick a song from your Apple Music library. The Memory re-syncs its pacing to match your track.
• Change the duration: Tap the three-dot menu and choose Short, Medium, or Long. Short Memories run about 30 seconds; Long can run several minutes depending on available photos.
• Change the style/theme: Tap the three-dot menu to browse visual themes — different color grades, transition styles, and title card designs.
• Add or remove photos: Tap the three-dot menu, then Edit. You can toggle individual photos in or out of the Memory.
• Rename the Memory: Tap the title text while in Edit mode to give it a custom name.

How to Create a Custom Memory

iOS does not limit you to automatically generated Memories. You can create your own from any album or photo selection:

1. Open any album in the Photos app, or navigate to a date range in the Library view.
2. Tap the three-dot menu (top right) and choose Play Memory Movie.
3. iOS generates a Memory from the album's photos on the spot.
4. Use the playback controls to edit music, duration, and theme.

Alternatively, select specific photos by tapping Select, choose your photos, tap the Share button, and choose Add to Memory or create a new slideshow directly.

Apple Intelligence Memory Movies (iPhone 15 Pro & 16+)

On supported devices running iOS 18.1+, Apple Intelligence dramatically upgrades Memories. You can now create a Memory Movie using a text prompt. Open the Photos app and in the search bar type something like:

• "Make a movie about our beach vacation"
• "Show me a Memory of the whole family from last Christmas"
• "Create a video of all my hiking photos"

Apple Intelligence searches your entire library, identifies relevant photos across all years, generates a narrative structure with a title, selects appropriate music, and produces a polished Memory Movie. This is a significant step beyond the automatic Memories — it understands the content of your photos, not just dates and locations.

How to Share a Memory

To share a Memory as a video, play it, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Share. The Memory is exported as a .mov video file you can send via Messages, AirDrop, or save to your library. The exported video includes the soundtrack and all transitions.

Note that if you used an Apple Music track as the soundtrack, the exported video may play muted for recipients who do not have Apple Music, due to licensing restrictions. Use royalty-free tracks from the built-in Apple Soundtracks library if you plan to share widely.

Do Memories Use Storage?

The Memory Movies themselves are generated on-the-fly and do not permanently consume storage — they are rendered when you watch them. However, if you export a Memory as a video to your library, it is saved as a new file (typically 30-200 MB depending on length and resolution).

The photos that appear in Memories use storage as they normally would. If you have thousands of photos, their cumulative storage impact is significant regardless of Memories. See our guide on managing iPhone storage and consider using Swype Photo Cleaner to delete low-quality shots that can still end up in Memories.