Convert HEIC to JPG.

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC is Apple's name for photos saved in HEIF, the High Efficiency Image File Format. The "C" refers to the compression inside it: HEVC, also known as H.265, the same technology used for efficient video. Apple switched iPhones to it with iOS 11 in 2017, and any iPhone from the iPhone 7 onwards captures photos this way unless you tell it not to.

The appeal is simple. A HEIC photo typically takes up much less space than a JPG of the same scene at the same visible quality, which on a phone full of photos adds up to gigabytes. The format can also hold extra information alongside the picture, such as the depth data behind Portrait mode.

The catch is that JPG has been the universal photo format for over thirty years and HEIC hasn't caught up. On an iPhone, iPad or Mac, HEIC just works. Elsewhere, it's patchy.

HEIC vs JPG at a glance

Why won't my HEIC photos open?

If a HEIC file won't open, it's almost always one of these:

• A Windows PC without HEIF support. Windows 10 and 11 can show HEIC photos once Microsoft's HEIF Image Extensions (and, on some setups, the HEVC Video Extensions) are installed from the Microsoft Store. Some PCs have them already; many don't.
• An upload form that only accepts JPG or PNG — job sites, council portals, passport and visa services and older online shops are common culprits.
• Older software, including some versions of photo editors, print-shop kiosks and document tools.
• Some Android phones and older smart TVs or photo frames.

In all of these cases, converting to JPG fixes it immediately.

How to convert HEIC to JPG

In your browser, on any computer or phone

1. Open HEIC to JPG.
2. Drop in one or more HEIC (or HEIF) photos.
3. Pick Standard for smaller files that are great for sharing, or High for close-to-original quality.
4. Save the result. A single photo downloads directly; several come back together as a .zip.

Everything is decoded and converted inside your browser tab, so your photos — often the most personal files you own — aren't sent anywhere. Ordinary photos convert reliably; a few Live Photo and burst variants aren't supported yet, and exporting those as a regular photo from your iPhone first usually solves it.

On a Mac

macOS reads HEIC natively. For a batch, select the photos in Finder, right-click and choose Quick Actions → Convert Image, then pick JPEG. For a single photo, open it in Preview, choose File → Export, set the format to JPEG and adjust the quality slider.

On Windows

Once HEIF support is installed, you can open a HEIC photo in the Photos app and use Save as from the menu to save a JPG copy. If you can't install extensions — on a work PC, for example — a browser-based converter is the simplest way round it.

From the iPhone itself

You often don't need to convert anything by hand. According to Apple, when you share by Mail, Messages or AirDrop to a device that can't handle HEIC, the iPhone may automatically send a more compatible JPG instead. When you copy photos to a computer over a USB cable, the setting at Settings → Apps → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC controls what happens: Automatic converts to a compatible format, while Keep Originals copies the HEIC files as they are. (On older iOS versions, Photos is directly under Settings rather than under Apps.)

How to make your iPhone take JPG photos instead

If you regularly send photos to Windows users or upload them to fussy websites, it can be easier to switch formats at the source:

1. Open Settings and tap Camera.
2. Tap Formats.
3. Choose Most Compatible.

New photos are then saved as JPG (and videos as H.264). Photos you've already taken stay as HEIC. Two trade-offs: each photo takes more storage, and some newer camera features and high-frame-rate video modes need High Efficiency to be switched on. Many people are better off leaving the camera on High Efficiency and converting only the photos they need to share.

Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?

Technically a little, because JPG is a lossy format and the photo is re-compressed. In practice, at a high quality setting the difference is invisible for viewing, sharing and printing. What you do give up is some efficiency — the JPG will usually be larger than the HEIC it came from — and any extras the HEIC was carrying, such as depth data. Details like date and location (EXIF metadata) aren't always carried across by every converter, so if you rely on them, keep your originals.

That's the general rule: convert copies, keep the HEIC originals in your photo library, and you lose nothing. If you're converting because a file is too big to upload rather than because of the format, see our guide on how to resize an image. And if the converted photos are going into a document, how to convert JPG to PDF picks up from here.