How to open HEIC files and convert iPhone photos to JPG
Photos copied from an iPhone often end in .heic and won’t open. Here is what HEIC is, why it causes trouble, and how to convert it to JPG in each situation.
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What is HEIC?
HEIC is a photo saved in HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format). Apple made it the default iPhone camera format with iOS 11 in 2017. At similar quality a HEIC file is roughly half the size of a JPG, which saves storage on the phone.
Why won’t it open?
- Windows: the built-in Photos app often needs the “HEIF Image Extensions” and “HEVC Video Extensions” from the Microsoft Store, and the HEVC one can be paid.
- Websites and upload forms: many only accept JPG or PNG.
- Older software: older photo editors and office programs cannot read HEIC.
Option 1: shoot JPG from the start (iPhone setting)
Go to Settings → Camera → Formats and choose “Most Compatible”. New photos are saved as JPG, but each one takes more space, and photos you already took stay HEIC.
Option 2: convert when transferring
Set Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC to “Automatic”. Photos copied over a cable are then converted to a compatible format. Some apps also convert to JPG when you send photos by mail or chat.
Option 3: convert on a Mac
Open the HEIC file in Preview, choose File → Export and pick JPEG. You can open several photos at once, select them all and export them together.
Option 4: convert in your browser (no upload)
If you would rather not install anything, use a browser converter. Many online converters upload your photos to their servers first, so for personal photos pick one that keeps files on your device.
- Open the HEIC to JPG page of AlphaConverter.
- Drag in your HEIC files or choose them with the file picker; several at once is fine.
- Press Convert. The photos become JPG inside your browser, and several files can be downloaded as one ZIP.
Conversion happens only on your device, so photos are never sent to a server, and the converted JPG files do not keep EXIF data such as location. You can set the quality in the options; around 90% is hard to tell apart from the original.
Before you convert
- Keep the original HEIC files. Converting to JPG loses a tiny bit of quality, and Live Photo motion is dropped.
- Need PNG instead? Convert HEIC to PNG the same way; PNG files are much larger.
- If the result is still too big for an upload limit, run it through Compress Image.