VR Photos: How to View Your Own Photos in a Headset

A viewer app's photo gallery in a headset: immerGallery's Local Gallery. This is the maker's marketing image, not a view through a lens. Image: immerVR, from immervr.com.

Which app to open on your headset

Last checked November 2, 2026: features and the immerGallery price, from each maker's website, not hands-on tests. The price was checked from outside the US.

immerGallery's free demo shows your own images, up to 10 files per folder. Folder browsing and 2D-to-3D conversion need the full version, which is $29.99 or 29.99€ depending on location [4]. The maker's table lists one free conversion a day [4].

How to get your photos onto the headset

Meta Quest, from a phone. Meta's notes say you can upload photos to your headset from the Horizon app [1]. UploadVR's walkthrough from May 2026 gives the path: open the app menu, tap Gallery, pick photos from the camera roll and tap upload [5]. Meta then processes them into 3D photos for the headset [5].

Meta Quest, from a Windows PC. Follow these steps:

1. Connect the cable. Use a USB cable made for data; some carry charge only [9].
2. Put the headset on. Select Allow on the prompt. If you see no prompt, open the notifications from the bell icon on the universal menu [9].
3. Copy the files. The Quest shows up as a drive on your computer [10].

For movies, see how to watch movies in VR.

Meta Quest, from a Mac. Meta's page still names Android File Transfer [10]. If the photos are also on your phone, you can send them with the Horizon app instead [1]. Owners' reports are below.

Apple Vision Pro. Turn on iCloud Photos: Settings, your name, iCloud, Photos, then turn on "Sync this Apple Vision Pro". Use the same Apple Account on your iPhone or Mac [14].

Galaxy XR. Sign in to Google Photos with your Google Account. It reads your existing backup and anything saved on the headset, so nothing needs uploading again [3].

PICO 4 Ultra. PICO says to import Apple spatial photos into the headset's photo gallery [8]. That page gives no steps.

What Quest owners report about moving files

We have not tested these. They come from Meta's forum, about March 2026, and a YouTube comment from October 2026.

• The prompt: "I never realized that I had to be on the headset while connecting to the PC." [11]
• The folder: an expert contributor on Meta's forum wrote, "The name of the folder doesn't matter." [12]
• A Mac: a MacBook Air owner wrote that Android File Transfer "is no longer supported by the developer and is known to crash", and that MacDroid "requires a paid account". The owner then got OpenMTP working: "it actually did work earlier; I just didn't understand what I was doing" [13].
• No copying: another owner runs Skybox, a paid player whose streaming app shares computer folders over Wi-Fi [13].

How to view 360 photos in VR

A 360 photo is one flat image that a viewer wraps around you. Most 360 cameras save an equirectangular JPG or PNG, which is ready to view [15]. The shape to look for is 2:1, twice as wide as it is tall [15][16].

What a 360 photo looks like before a viewer wraps it around you: a 2:1 equirectangular image of the Rheingauer Dom in Geisenheim. Photo: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scaled down.

On a Quest, copy the file over, open immerGallery and pick it. On a Galaxy XR, open Google Photos, select Spatial on the left, then pick the photo [3].

How to view 3D and spatial photos

A 3D photo holds a different picture for each eye. Three kinds turn up:

• Side-by-side or top-bottom: one image with both eyes' pictures in it. immerGallery reads these [4].
• MPO: the file type many older 3D cameras save. A 2025 blog lists .mpo among immerGallery's formats [18], and a Quest 3 owner reported in 2024 that it "found and displayed the images with no trouble" [19].
• Apple spatial photo (.heic): Vision Pro shows it in the Spatial tab [2]. immerGallery lists iPhone spatial photos [4], and PICO 4 Ultra accepts them too [8].

To take them, see 3D photo apps. For what an iPhone's spatial photo is, see spatial photos.

Turn 2D photos into 3D for VR

First, try your headset's built-in option:

• Quest: photos in Gallery open in 3D automatically, and you can switch back to 2D [1]. The notes say this reaches Quest 3, 3S, Pro and 2 gradually [1].
• Vision Pro: open a 2D photo, tap the button at the top, then Create Spatial Photo [7].
• Galaxy XR: open the photo, select Go immersive, then Spatial. Google says results vary, conversion happens in the cloud, and sharing or backing up the result isn't supported yet [3].

These stay in that headset's app. If you want a 3D file you can keep and open in a viewer app on other headsets or 3D screens, convert it on a computer. The Owl3D converter takes ordinary JPG or PNG photos and saves a side-by-side or top-bottom image, working on your own computer, not in the cloud. It is an AI conversion: the depth is estimated from one picture, not captured by two lenses. It works with NVIDIA, AMD or Intel graphics on Windows, or on a Mac. Steps are in turning a photo into a stereoscopic 3D image.

From Owl3DOwl3D converterA desktop app for Windows and Mac that turns 2D videos and photos into 3D.

What goes wrong, and what to do

FAQ

Can I see my iPhone photos on a Meta Quest?

Probably. Meta says you can upload photos from the Meta Horizon app [1]. UploadVR describes choosing them from your phone's camera roll [5]. Neither source mentions the iPhone, so try one photo first.

Is there a free VR photo viewer?

Yes. The built-in apps above are free with the headset. immerGallery's demo is also free, with the 10-file limit per folder [4].

Where can I find VR photos to look at?

DeoVR's photo page lists more than 8,000 VR photos [22]. immerGallery's demo includes 80 sample images, and the full version more than 250 [4]. For VR video rather than photos, see VR video players.