how to add photos to apple watch

View photos and Memories on Apple Watch

On Apple Watch, browse your photos in the Photos app and show a photo on your watch face.

The main screen of the Photos app on Apple Watch, with several photos displayed in a grid.

Browse photos in the Photos app on Apple Watch

Open the Photos app on your Apple Watch and use these actions to browse your photos.

Tap a Memory, Featured Photos, or an album you've synced to your Apple Watch.
Tap a photo to view it.
Swipe left or right to see other photos.
- Turn the Digital Crown to zoom, or drag to pan a photo.
- Zoom all the way out to see the entire photo album.

While viewing a photo, turn the Digital Crown to zoom, drag to pan, or double-tap to switch between viewing all of the photo and filling the screen. Swipe left or right to see the next photo. Tap the Watch Face button at the bottom left to create a watch face from the photo.

View a photo memory on the watch face

In addition to viewing photo memories in the Photos app on your Apple Watch, you can view them on the Siri and Photos watch faces.

See a recent memory from the Siri watch face: Choose the Siri watch face, then tap a memory.
See photos from Memories on the Photos watch face: Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap Face Gallery, tap the Photos watch face, then tap Dynamic.

The Dynamic watch face displays photos from your recent Memories, and it updates when you have new ones.

View a Live Photo on Apple Watch

Look for the Live Photo symbol in the bottom-left corner of a photo, then touch and hold the photo.

For more information about Live Photos, see the iPhone User Guide.

Share a photo

While viewing a photo in the Photos app on your Apple Watch, tap , then choose a sharing option.

Create a photo watch face

While viewing a photo in the Photos app on your Apple Watch, tap , turn the Digital Crown to scroll up, then tap Create Face. You can also create a Kaleidoscope watch face based on the photo, or add a new Photos watch face in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. See Customize the watch face.

Tip: You can easily create a watch face on your iPhone. Open the Photos app on your iPhone, tap a photo, tap , swipe up, then tap Create Watch Face.

To learn how to choose a different photo album, see Choose a photo album and manage storage on Apple Watch.