How to Find Photo Memories on iPhone & iPad

This guide shows you how to find and revisit your photo memories on an iPhone or iPad. The Memories feature automatically groups related photos and videos into themed collections, complete with music and transitions. You’ll learn where to find them, how to play them, and how to manage or hide ones you don’t want to see.

What You’ll Need

An iPhone or iPad running iOS 13 or later (or iPadOS 13 or later).
Your device must have at least one photo or video in the Photos app.
iCloud Photos is optional but recommended if you want memories to sync across devices.

Step-by-Step

Open the Photos app. Tap the multicolored flower icon on your home screen.
Tap the “For You” tab. This is at the bottom of the screen (on iPhone) or in the sidebar (on iPad). The tab icon looks like a cluster of four circles.
Scroll down to the “Memories” section. It appears as a horizontal row of cards, each with a title like “Last Summer” or “Trip to the Beach.” Tap any card to see a preview.
Tap a memory to play it. The memory will start playing automatically with music. You can tap the screen to pause, and swipe left or right to skip to the next memory.
Tap the screen while a memory is playing to reveal controls. You’ll see options to pause, mute, share, edit, or add to favorites.
To view the photos in a memory as a grid, tap the “Photos” button (the icon that looks like a stack of rectangles) in the top-right corner of the memory player. This shows all the individual photos and videos included.
To see all memories at once, tap “See All” next to the “Memories” heading. This opens a full-screen grid of every memory your device has created.
To search for a specific memory, go to the “Search” tab at the bottom of the Photos app. Type a keyword like a person’s name, a place, or a date (e.g., “2023” or “Hiking”). Memories that match will appear under the “Memories” section of the results.
To hide a memory you don’t like, tap the three-dot (…) menu on the memory card and choose “Hide from Memories.” This removes it from the Memories section but keeps the photos in your library.
To delete a memory entirely, tap the three-dot menu and choose “Delete Memory.” This removes the memory but does not delete the underlying photos or videos.

Common Mistakes

Looking in the wrong tab: Memories are not in the “Library” or “Albums” tabs. They only appear under “For You.”
Expecting memories to be instant: The Photos app needs time to analyze your library. If you just imported a bunch of photos, it may take a few hours or days for new memories to appear.
Confusing “Memories” with “Featured Photos”: Featured Photos are single images, not the multi-photo slideshows that Memories are.
Hiding vs. deleting: Hiding a memory just removes it from the main view. Deleting removes it permanently. If you delete a memory, you can’t get it back (though the photos remain).
Not updating iOS: Older versions of iOS have a different layout. Make sure your device is updated to at least iOS 13 to see the current Memories interface.

Tips

Edit a memory’s title and music: Open a memory, tap the three-dot menu, and choose “Edit Memory.” You can change the title, pick different music, adjust the duration, and choose which photos are included.
Add a memory to favorites: Tap the heart icon on a memory card to save it to your “Favorites” album. This makes it easy to find later.
Share a memory as a video: Tap the share button (the square with an arrow) while a memory is playing, and choose “Save Video” to export it as a standard video file you can send via Messages or social media.
Use the “Memory Mixes” feature: On newer iOS versions, you can tap the shuffle icon while a memory plays to apply different music and editing styles.
Create your own memory: In the “For You” tab, tap the “+” button in the top-right corner to manually create a memory from selected photos and videos.

Troubleshooting

No Memories section appears: This usually means your photo library is too small or too new. Add more photos and wait a few days. Also check that you have “Show Memories” enabled in Settings > Photos (on iOS 14 and later).
Memories are not playing music: Make sure your device is not in Silent mode (the ring/silent switch on the side). Also check that the volume is turned up. In the memory player, tap the speaker icon to unmute.
Memories won’t load or are stuck: Close the Photos app completely (swipe up from the bottom and swipe the app away) and reopen it. If that doesn’t work, restart your device. If the problem persists, check that you have enough storage space.
Memories are showing the wrong photos: You can edit the memory to remove unwanted photos. Tap the three-dot menu, choose “Edit Memory,” then tap “Photos” and deselect any you don’t want.
Memories are gone after an iOS update: This is rare, but sometimes the indexing process takes time after an update. Give it a few hours. If they still don’t appear, go to Settings > Photos and toggle “Show Memories” off and on again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I download a memory to save it permanently?

Yes. Open the memory, tap the share button, and choose “Save Video.” This exports the memory as a standard video file in your photo library.

Do memories use a lot of storage?

Memories themselves are small metadata files, but the videos they create when you export them can take up space. The automatic memories don’t consume extra storage until you save them as videos.

Can I turn off the Memories feature entirely?

Yes. Go to Settings > Photos and toggle off “Show Memories.” This hides the Memories section from the “For You” tab, but your photos remain untouched.

Why do some memories have people I don’t recognize?

The Photos app uses face recognition to group people. If it incorrectly identifies someone, you can go to the People album, tap the person’s name, and choose “Remove from People” to stop them from appearing in memories.

Can I add my own music to a memory?

Yes. When editing a memory, tap “Music” and you can choose from Apple Music’s library (if you have a subscription) or from your own music library.

Do memories sync across all my Apple devices?

If you have iCloud Photos enabled, memories you create or edit on one device will appear on your other devices signed in with the same Apple ID.

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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