Memories on the Photos app is a feature that tries to pick out special moments, people, places, and events from your iPhone’s photo library to make a nice little highlight reel called a Memory Mix. It’s kinda neat, but not always perfect—sometimes it pulls random pics or videos you don’t really care about. Luckily, you can tweak these a bit to make sure they’re more personalized. Ensuring your Memories sync across all your Apple devices isn’t hard—just sign into iCloud with the same Apple ID on everything and turn on iCloud Photos. That way, your edits stick everywhere, which is pretty handy.
How to Add or Remove Photos and Videos from Memories
If you’re not feeling the automatic selections or want to make the Memory more your style, here’s the lowdown. You can add or remove specific videos or photos anytime. The idea is that customizing your Memories makes them more meaningful, especially if you’ve got a big library that gets a bit cluttered. However, be aware that on some setups, changes sometimes don’t save immediately or need a quick restart of the Photos app or even the whole device. Also, if you’re trying to do this on a Mac with Photos, the steps are pretty similar—just menu paths differ a bit.
Method 1: Adding Photos and Videos to a Memory
This helps when Apple’s automatic picks miss your fave shots or videos. Adding the ones you care about makes a big difference. It applies if your Memory isn’t quite capturing what you want—say, you want more shots from a particular event or video clips you think add all the right vibe. The expected result? Your Memory will showcase the content you handpicked, making it feel more personal. On some machines, you may need to re-launch the app or wait a bit for the changes to register.
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Head over to the For You tab (bottom).Sometimes you’ll find Memories listed here; if not, find them under Library > Memories.
- Pick the Memory you want to tweak.
- Tap the three dots menu in the top right corner.
- Select Manage Photos.
- Tap the + Add icon or manually select photos & videos from the grid that pops up.
- Once done, tap Done in the top right.
- To switch around the order or how they appear, tap the Grid icon at the bottom right.
- Drag and drop the photos/videos to rearrange. Yeah, it’s a bit fiddly sometimes, but it works once you get the hang of it.
Method 2: Removing or Hiding Photos and Videos from a Memory
If your Memory includes some items you’d rather skip, just remove or hide them. This is handy if your Memory is overwhelmed with clutter or if a certain shot just doesn’t fit anymore. Keep in mind, on some devices, changes might not “stick” if you don’t exit and restart the app or device after. Also, you can hide items from appearing again by choosing the “Hide from Memory” option, which is less disruptive than removing them entirely.
- Launch the Photos app, then find and open the Memory you want to edit.
- Tap three dots at the top right and pick Manage Photos.
- This shows all items in that Memory. Tap to select the ones you want to remove or hide.
- To remove an item, uncheck or deselect it, then tap Done.
- Or, for a softer approach, long-press on an image/video, then choose Hide from Memory. That way, it won’t appear in current or future Memories, but it’s still in your library.
Another quirky thing—reordering or removing items sometimes bugs out if the Photos app isn’t refreshed, so if changes aren’t showing immediately, try closing and reopening the app or even restarting your device. Because of course, Apple always has to make things a little more complicated than they need to be.
Extra Tips for Tuning Your Memories
If you want to take it even further, consider editing the Memory title, selecting a new highlight photo, or changing music for the montage. These options are usually available by tapping the Edit button on the Memory screen. Keep in mind that some features might only be available on newer iOS versions, so keeping your device up-to-date might help with smoother editing.
What If the Updates Aren’t Showing?
If your adjustments don’t seem to save or show up, sometimes it’s a sync glitch or a need for a quick cache refresh. Try quitting the Photos app completely, then reopen it. Or, if that doesn’t work, a full restart can often clear out any stuck processes. If you’re on the Mac, make sure iCloud Photos is enabled in System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud > Photos. Sometimes toggling this off and back on helps shove the sync into gear.
Because Apple’s ecosystem is pretty seamless when it works, but can be maddening to get there, especially if iCloud isn’t syncing properly.
Summary
- Use Manage Photos in Memories to add or remove videos and images.
- Rearrange content with the Grid icon and dragging items around.
- Hide unwanted photos/videos if you don’t want to delete them completely.
- Restart the app or device if changes don’t stick immediately.
Wrap-up
All in all, editing Memories on your iPhone isn’t super complicated once you get the hang of it—though Apple’s interface can be a bit clunky sometimes. Keeping your iCloud settings in check is key if you want your edits to sync properly. Otherwise, it’s mostly about patience and a little fiddling. Hopefully, this helps trim the clutter or make your Memories more meaningful. Fingers crossed this helps someone save a bit of time or frustration.