UntouchedShort answer
You can’t do it natively inside the Photos app. Optimize iPhone Storage applies to your whole library; iOS has no setting that exempts one video, one album or your Favorites. When switching to "Download and Keep Originals" is impossible due to limited iPhone storage, the most reliable way to keep specific videos playable instantly and offline is storing their unmodified originals outside the Photos library container—either manually via Share › Export Unmodified Original to the Files app (On My iPhone), or with live download feedback, paired Live Photo retention, and SHA-256 verification using Untouched. The rest of your library stays optimized in iCloud, so you keep the space you freed.
Why there’s no per-video switch
Optimize iPhone Storage is one setting for the whole library. With it on, your iPhone decides which originals to replace with smaller versions based on how much space it needs, and Apple offers no way to pin particular items. Anything inside the Photos library is subject to that decision, so the only way to guarantee a video stays playable offline is a copy that isn’t part of the library.
Option 1: Turn off optimization for everything
Choose Download and Keep Originals in Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Photos (in iOS 27, then iPhone Storage). Every video plays instantly again.
Trade-off: your iPhone needs room for your entire library. If you turned on Optimize because a 150 GB library had filled a 256 GB phone, it won’t fit back.
Option 2: Export the videos to the Files app yourself
- In Photos, select the videos you want to keep on the phone.
- Tap Share, then Export Unmodified Original.
- Choose a folder under On My iPhone and tap Save.
- From then on, play them from the Files app.
If a video’s original is only in iCloud, it downloads first. For edited items, Apple notes that the unmodified original is exported.
Trade-offs: while free and built-in, manual export has four major friction points: (1) downloading multiple large 4K videos through the system ShareSheet frequently freezes or silently cancels with zero progress feedback; (2) videos land as bare filenames like IMG_4712.MOV with no continuous gallery swipe-to-play; (3) Live Photos lose interactive touch playback by splitting into separate still and video files; and (4) items in a Face ID-locked Hidden album cannot be exported until you turn off protection in Settings.
Option 3: Use an app that keeps them for you
Untouched does option 2’s job with the gaps filled in. You pick videos in the usual photo picker. For each one it downloads the original once, then keeps every file Photos holds for the item (a Live Photo’s video, an edited clip’s unedited original) in one readable folder in Files › On My iPhone › Untouched. You play them in Untouched or Files, instantly and offline. It records a SHA-256 checksum for every file so you can verify it later, shows whether each item’s original is still on the device in Photos, and never modifies your library.
Trade-offs: it uses space for what you keep; one item is free and keeping more is paid; and it isn’t a backup. Deleting the app deletes its folder.
Which to choose
| Download and Keep Originals | Export to Files | Untouched | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which videos play instantly | All of them | The ones you exported | The ones you picked |
| Space needed | Your whole library | Just those videos | Just those videos |
| Rest of the library | Not optimized | Stays optimized | Stays optimized |
| Where you play them | Photos | Files | Untouched or Files |
| Check the copy is intact | Not needed | No | SHA-256, on demand |
| Cost | Free | Free | One item free, then paid |
If your library fits on your phone, option 1 is simplest. If it doesn’t, and there are a handful of videos you want to be able to play any time, keep those outside the library with option 2 or 3. Either way, copy the ones that matter to a computer or drive now and then: a copy on one device isn’t a backup.
Sources
- Back up and sync your photos and videos with iCloud, iPhone User Guide (iOS 27)
- Import and export photos and videos on iPhone, iPhone User Guide
- Manage your photo and video storage, Apple Support