Dr. Patricia Caldwell(click for bio)

Embrance Ambassador

How Long Should a Funeral Slideshow Be?

It depends on one thing more than any other: whether people will sit and watch it, or whether it will play in the background while they gather.

• Watched together, as part of a service, a memorial, or a video call, aim for 5 to 10 minutes. Everyone is giving it their attention, so a tight slideshow holds the room.
• Playing in the background, at a visitation, wake, or reception, length stops being a constraint and becomes an advantage. Nobody watches it start to finish. A longer slideshow simply repeats less often for the people standing near the screen, so use as many photos as you have.

Most advice online only describes the first case, which is why families are often told to cut photos they did not need to cut.

If you would rather not do the arithmetic while planning a service, the calculator below does it for you. Tell it how the slideshow will be shown and it adjusts.

Slideshow length calculator

The simple math

Runtime comes down to two numbers: how many photos you have, and how long each one stays on screen.

photos × seconds per photo = total runtime

At the pace most families choose, roughly 5 to 6 seconds per photo, that works out to:

• 40 photos is about 3 to 4 minutes
• 60 photos is about 5 to 6 minutes
• 80 photos is about 7 to 8 minutes
• 100 photos is about 8 to 10 minutes

Why 5 to 6 seconds per photo

Under about 3 seconds, faces go by before anyone can place them, and the room ends up watching a blur rather than remembering a person. Past about 8 seconds, attention drifts and the pacing starts to feel heavy.

Five to six seconds is long enough to recognize a face, register who is standing next to them, and feel something before the next photo arrives. If a particular photo carries a lot, a wedding day or a final holiday, it is fine to let that one sit a beat longer.

When everyone watches it together

This is the case most guides describe: the slideshow is an item on the order of service, the lights come down, and the room gives it their attention. It also covers virtual memorials, where someone shares their screen on a video call and everyone watches at once.

Here length genuinely matters:

• Under 3 minutes can feel like it ended before everyone settled. If you have more photos, use them.
• 5 to 10 minutes is the range that fits most seated viewings comfortably.
• Over 12 minutes starts to ask a lot of a grieving room that is sitting still. If you have more photos than that, consider trimming, or show the full version as a background loop instead.

Ask the funeral director how much time is set aside. Some services have a defined slot between readings, and a slideshow that runs past it creates an awkward moment nobody needs. On a video call, keep it tighter still: attention drifts faster on a screen, and someone always has connection trouble.

When it plays in the background

At a visitation, a wake, or a reception afterward, the slideshow usually plays on a screen or television while people arrive, greet each other, and talk. Nobody watches it start to finish, and people drift past it at different moments.

Here the usual advice inverts. Longer is better.

• There is no upper limit worth worrying about. A 20 minute slideshow is completely fine.
• A longer slideshow repeats less, so someone standing near the screen for half an hour does not see the same photos come around three times.
• Use the photos you were told to cut. The ordinary ones, the near-duplicates, the slightly blurry candid everyone loves. There is room for all of them.
• If you are making one slideshow for both purposes, build the long version for the visitation and trim a shorter cut for the service.

This is the case families most often get wrong, because almost every guide online only describes the seated viewing and tells them to cut photos they never needed to cut.

Let the music decide

Many families find it easier to work backward from songs rather than photos. Pick two or three pieces that meant something, and let their combined length set the runtime.

Two songs runs roughly 6 to 8 minutes, which lands squarely in the comfortable range. Our list of funeral slideshow songs has ideas organized by mood and relationship if you are still choosing.

What if you have hundreds of photos

This is common, especially for a long life. First, check whether you actually need to cut anything: if the slideshow is playing in the background at a visitation, you do not. Use them all.

If it is being watched together and you do need to trim:

• Choose the photos where they look most like themselves. Not the most flattering ones, the most them.
• Cover the whole arc, not every year. Childhood, young adulthood, the family they built, recent years. A few from each beats twenty from one decade.
• Favor candids over posed portraits. Those are the ones that make people smile through tears.
• Keep the long version too. Show the trimmed cut at the service and let the full one loop at the visitation or reception.

Our full guide on how to make a funeral slideshow walks through gathering and ordering photos, and memorial slideshow ideas covers themes, titles, and closing slides.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a funeral slideshow be?

It depends on how it will be shown. If everyone watches it together as part of a service or a video call, aim for 5 to 10 minutes. If it plays in the background during a visitation, wake, or reception, there is no upper limit worth worrying about, and longer is better because it repeats less often.

How many photos should a funeral slideshow have?

For a slideshow everyone watches together, 40 to 80 photos suits most services. At roughly 5 to 6 seconds each, that gives a runtime of about 3 to 8 minutes. For one playing in the background, use as many as you have.

How many seconds should each photo be shown?

Five to six seconds is the pace most families choose. Under 3 seconds, faces go by before people can place them. Past 8 seconds, the pacing starts to feel heavy. Let a particularly meaningful photo sit a beat longer.

How many photos do I need for a 5 minute slideshow?

At 5 seconds per photo you would need about 60 photos for a 5 minute slideshow. At 6 seconds per photo, about 50.

Can a memorial slideshow be too long?

Only if people are sitting and watching it. Past about 12 minutes a slideshow starts to ask a lot of a seated room, so trim to your favorites or show the full version as a background loop instead. If it is playing during a visitation or reception, it cannot really be too long, because nobody watches it start to finish and a longer slideshow repeats less.

Should the slideshow be different for a visitation than for the service?

Many families make two versions from the same photos: a longer one that loops on a screen during the visitation or reception, and a tighter 5 to 10 minute cut for the moment everyone sits and watches together. If you only make one, build the long version and trim it down for the service.