How to Loop Live Photos on macOS 13

You can easily turn Live Photos into repeating animations on macOS 13 Ventura using the built-in Photos app. Apple provides native effects that convert standard Live Photos into continuous loops or bouncing animations without requiring third-party software. Once applied, these effects can be viewed inside your library or exported as animated GIFs to share across other platforms.

Changing a Live Photo to a Loop or Bounce

1. Open the Photos app on your Mac running macOS 13.
2. Locate and double-click the Live Photo you want to animate.
3. Click the drop-down menu labeled Live in the lower-left corner of the image window (or click Edit in the top-right corner).
4. Select one of the looping animation options:
   • Loop: Repeats the action continuously in a seamless, forward-playing sequence.
   • Bounce: Plays the action forward, then immediately rewinds it in reverse, alternating back and forth.

The effect saves automatically and will now animate automatically whenever you view it.

Exporting as an Animated GIF

If you want to share your looping animation on social media, messaging apps, or websites, you can export it directly as a GIF:

1. Select the photo with the Loop or Bounce effect applied.
2. Click File in the top menu bar.
3. Select Export, then choose Export GIF.
4. Choose your destination folder and click Export.

The resulting file is a standard animated GIF that will loop indefinitely on any device or platform that supports GIF playback.