How to take Airbnb photos with an iPhone that get booked

What Airbnb itself asks for

Airbnb publishes its own photo guidance for hosts in its Resource Center (the version we used was last updated November 8, 2024). These are its main points, all of which an iPhone can meet:

Airbnb's photo tour sorts your photos by room automatically, and you can move, remove or add photos. It also asks for captions that explain what a photo can't show, like how far a table extends, which floor a room is on or whether it has an ensuite. Professional photography through Airbnb is offered only in select cities. Photos are one part of what a listing needs before it goes live; the rest, from ID verification to city permit numbers, is in Airbnb listing requirements.

iPhone settings that matter

• Flash off, always. Airbnb's own advice, and the quickest way to avoid hard shadows.
• Grid on, to keep door frames and wall edges vertical and the horizon level.
• 1× for most rooms, 0.5× for small ones. The ultra-wide fits a small bedroom or bathroom, but tilting the phone even slightly makes walls lean. Keep it level.
• Landscape orientation for every listing photo.
• Wipe the lens. A smudged lens makes photos look hazy and soft.

For the details, see iPhone camera settings for real estate photos. Much of it applies to rentals too.

Prepare the place first

Airbnb's first instruction is to clean and declutter, so the photos show what guests can expect. Shoot right after a turnover clean, while the place looks the way it will for the next guest.

• Make the beds, plump the cushions and set out fresh towels the way you stage them for guests.
• Put away personal items, cleaning supplies, cables, mail and anything on the floor.
• Clear the kitchen counters except for one or two things guests will use, like a coffee maker.
• Close toilet lids. Hide bins.
• Switch on every lamp and open every curtain, then turn off any light that leaves a color cast.

Our photo prep checklist goes room by room.

The shot list

Airbnb's guidance is to make a shot list covering every room and guest area from several angles. Its own backyard example lists the whole yard, the pool, the patio seating and the gate latch. A typical list for a one- or two-bedroom rental:

Accuracy: what Airbnb won't accept

Bright and tidy is fine. Different from reality is not. CTV News reported in July 2026 that Airbnb's policies require hosts to provide photos and a description that accurately represent the space. It also reported that Airbnb will ask hosts to remove content where AI or other digital technology was used to edit flaws, hide damage or add anything that isn't part of the listing. In that case Airbnb fully refunded the guest and suspended the listing while it reviewed it.

Airbnb also checks. Its Help Center describes photo verification: hosts take new photos of the space as it is now, in person through the Airbnb app, matching the angles of their listed photos. Photos from the camera roll can't be uploaded for that review.

• Correcting light, color and a leaning horizon: fine, and Airbnb's own guide tells you to adjust brightness and straighten.
• Making a bed you'll make anyway, or tidying away things guests won't find: shows the place as guests receive it.
• Removing a stain, a crack or a building site next door, or adding furniture or a view you don't have: misrepresentation. Don't.

Doing it faster with October

If you'd rather not learn composition and editing, the October app guides you through each room between two stays. It shows you where to stand, keeps the phone level and takes the frames itself. Know what you get: October's photos are AI-generated from that capture. The frames are stitched into wide views, and an AI image model draws each finished photo with a daylight look, beds made, cushions plumped and loose items like towels, bottles and cables left out. The model is told to keep the rooms, the furniture and the view, and each photo is checked against your capture, but AI can still get a small detail wrong. Airbnb acts on photos where AI was used to hide flaws or add things, so compare every photo with the room before you upload it, so guests find what they booked.

A rental of up to 6 rooms counts as one place: $49 for photos, or $99 with a walkthrough video. Your first place is free, and you need an iPhone 12 or newer. More on the short-term rental page and in the Airbnb photography cost guide.

Step by step

1. Clean and declutter

   Shoot right after a turnover clean. Make the beds, set out towels, put away personal items and clear the counters.

2. Wait for the light

   Shoot each room when it gets the most daylight, and the outside in the hour after sunrise or before sunset. Open the curtains and turn the flash off.

3. Set up the iPhone

   Turn on the grid, wipe the lens and hold the phone horizontally. Use 1× for most rooms and 0.5× for small ones.

4. Work through the shot list

   Take a wide shot of every room from the entrance and from the opposite corner, then close-ups of the bed, kitchen appliances, workspace and outdoor seating.

5. Keep it level and honest

   Hold the phone straight ahead at chest height without tilting it. Edit only light, color and straightness, never flaws or features.

6. Upload, order and caption

   Upload photos of at least 1200 × 800 pixels, pick a cover photo that works as a square, check the photo tour's room sorting and add captions with bed sizes and amenities.

Questions