Live Photos and original iPhone files on a NAS: what actually gets copied

By Isaac Griffiths, developer of SMBDrop · 7 October 2026

You copy a few hundred photos from your iPhone to a NAS, and later notice some are JPEGs when you expected HEIC, the file sizes don't match, or your Live Photos have stopped moving. Nothing is broken. The tool you used made a copy that isn't the original. Here's what "original" means on an iPhone, where copies diverge, and how to check what you've really got.

What an "original" is

When the camera takes a picture, Photos stores the file exactly as captured. Its format depends on Settings → Camera → Formats:

High Efficiency: photos as .HEIC, videos as HEVC in a .MOV.
Most Compatible: photos as .JPG, videos as H.264 in a .MOV.
ProRAW, ProRes and some other modes on supported models produce their own formats (such as .DNG).

That captured file, with its camera metadata, capture date, and location if you allowed it, is the original. If you later edit a photo in Photos, the original is kept and the edit is stored alongside it; Photos shows you the edited version, and Revert takes you back. So an edited photo has two possible "copies": the untouched original, or a rendering of the edit. Decide which you want in your archive.

Why "Save to Files" can give you something else

The share sheet's Save to Files asks Photos to export a copy for another app. What comes out depends on the iOS version, the photo, and the options you've chosen, and it isn't always the original:

Edited photos are typically exported as the edited rendering, not the original capture.
Live Photos often arrive as the still image only, leaving the video half behind.
Share-sheet Options (at the top of the share sheet) let you leave out location and other data. A copy with location removed is, by definition, no longer byte-identical to the original.
Format conversion: depending on the destination and settings, iOS may hand over a more compatible format, such as JPEG instead of HEIC.

A related setting, Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC (under Settings → Apps → Photos on newer iOS), chooses between Automatic (convert to compatible formats) and Keep Originals. It governs copies made to a computer over a cable, but it shows how readily iOS converts by default.

Live Photos are two files

A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video, stored as a pair: typically IMG_1234.HEIC and IMG_1234.MOV (or .JPG + .MOV with Most Compatible). Both files carry a matching content identifier in their metadata, which is how Apple's software knows they belong together.

To keep a Live Photo on a NAS you need both files, unmodified. With only the still, you have an ordinary photo; with a re-encoded or renamed video, software that pairs them may not recognise the pair. Some NAS photo apps can show the pair as a Live Photo; plain file browsers just show two files side by side, which is fine. The important thing is that both are there.

Don't forget iCloud "Optimise Storage"

If iCloud Photos is on with Optimise iPhone Storage, the phone may only hold a smaller version of older photos, with the original in iCloud. Any app that copies originals has to download them first, so a large first transfer can take a while and needs an internet connection. Switching to Download and Keep Originals before a big archive run avoids surprises, if you have the space.

How to verify originals on your NAS

1. Check the format and size

In Photos, open a photo and swipe up (or tap ⓘ). The info panel shows the format (HEIF, JPEG…), resolution and, on recent iOS versions, file size. Compare that with the file on the NAS: a .JPG where Photos says HEIF, or a much smaller file, means you have a converted copy.

2. Check the metadata

ExifTool (free, for Windows, macOS and Linux) shows what's inside a file:

exiftool -Make -Model -DateTimeOriginal -GPSPosition IMG_1234.HEIC

An original from the camera should show your iPhone model, the capture time, and location if it was recorded. Missing fields suggest an export that stripped them.

3. Check Live Photo pairs

Make sure every Live Photo has its .MOV next to it, then compare the identifiers:

exiftool -ContentIdentifier IMG_1234.HEIC IMG_1234.MOV

Both files should report the same value.

4. Compare checksums (the definitive test)

If two files have the same SHA-256 hash, they're byte-for-byte identical. Get a reference copy of a photo by a route known to preserve originals (for example, importing to a Mac with Image Capture with Keep Originals selected on the iPhone), then hash both:

# macOS
shasum -a 256 IMG_1234.HEIC
# Linux / most NAS shells
sha256sum IMG_1234.HEIC
# Windows PowerShell
Get-FileHash IMG_1234.HEIC -Algorithm SHA256

Matching hashes mean the file on your NAS is the original. You only need to spot-check a few photos to trust a method.

Viewing HEIC files on the NAS

Keeping HEIC originals is the right call for an archive, but not every device previews them. Windows may need Microsoft's HEIF and HEVC extensions, and some NAS web interfaces don't generate HEIC thumbnails. That's a viewing problem, not a reason to convert your archive. Convert copies for sharing if you need to, and keep the originals as they are.

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