Image guide

How to open iPhone HEIC photos on Windows

You copy photos from your iPhone to a Windows PC, double-click one, and nothing useful happens. The files end in .HEIC, and Windows either can't open them or asks you to install something. Your photos are fine. Since iOS 11, iPhones have saved photos in the HEIF format, with the .heic extension, whenever the camera is set to High Efficiency, the setting Apple recommends.

HEIC files are smaller than JPGs of similar quality, which is why Apple uses them. The catch is compatibility: Windows needs extra extensions to show them, and plenty of websites, upload forms and older programs only accept JPG or PNG. This guide shows the quickest fix, converting the photos to JPG in your browser, and the other options, from Microsoft's extensions to a setting on your iPhone.

Open HEIC to JPGFree · Runs in your browser · Nothing uploaded

Updated 5 min read

01Step by step

Convert HEIC to JPG in your browser

  1. Step 1: Open HEIC to JPG

    Open HEIC to JPG in Edge, Chrome, Firefox or any other modern browser. There's nothing to install and no account to create.

  2. Step 2: Add your photos

    Drag the .heic files onto the drop area, or click it to choose them. You can add many photos at once, up to 50 MB each. Your browser reads them and converts them on your computer, not on a server.

  3. Step 3: Choose JPG and the quality

    JPG opens everywhere, and at the default quality it looks the same as the original. Choose PNG instead if you need lossless files and don't mind them being much larger.

  4. Step 4: Download

    Save each photo on its own, or all of them together as a ZIP file. The converted photos keep their full resolution.

Open HEIC to JPGFree · Runs in your browser · Nothing uploaded

02Background

Why Windows can't open HEIC files

A HEIC file holds an image compressed with HEVC, also known as H.265, the same technology used for a lot of 4K video. Many Windows PCs can't decode it out of the box. Microsoft's help page says the Photos app needs two extensions from the Microsoft Store to open these files: HEIF Image Extensions, which is free, and HEVC Video Extensions, which costs US$0.99. You need both, even if you only want to view photos.

Even once your PC can show them, the files are still HEIC. As soon as you upload one to a website, attach it to an online form or open it in an older program, you can run into the same problem again. A JPG copy avoids that in one go.

03Alternatives

Other ways to deal with HEIC photos

Install Microsoft's extensions

If you want to open HEIC photos directly in the Photos app on a PC you use regularly:

  1. Open the Microsoft Store app and search for HEIF Image Extensions. Install it; it's free.
  2. Search for HEVC Video Extensions and buy it. Microsoft lists it at US$0.99; the price may differ in your country.
  3. Open your photos again. They should now show in the Photos app.

The extensions let that one PC show HEIC files, but the files stay HEIC. If you need to email them, upload them or open them on another computer, you'll still want JPG copies.

Let your iPhone convert photos as you copy them

If you copy photos to your PC with a cable, your iPhone can hand them over in a more compatible format. On iOS 18 and later, open Settings > Apps > Photos (on earlier versions, Settings > Photos), scroll down to Transfer to Mac or PC and choose Automatic instead of Keep Originals. Apple says photos may then be converted to JPEG as they're imported.

Take JPG photos from now on

To stop new photos being saved as HEIC, open Settings > Camera > Formats on your iPhone and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPG; the ones you've already taken stay HEIC. The trade-off is that each new photo takes up more storage on your phone.

Download JPGs from iCloud

If your photos are in iCloud Photos, you can download them from iCloud.com in a browser and choose Most Compatible in the download options to get JPGs instead of HEIC files.

On a Mac

Macs open HEIC files without any extras. To make a JPG copy, open the photo in Preview, choose File > Export, pick JPEG from the Format menu and save.

04Troubleshooting

Tips and troubleshooting

  • The JPG has no location or camera details. That's deliberate. The converted file doesn't carry the original's metadata, such as the GPS location and camera settings, so it's safer to share. Keep the HEIC original if you need that information.
  • A photo was skipped. Check that it really is a HEIC or HEIF file and that it's under 50 MB. Files that were damaged while copying, or renamed from another format, can't be read.
  • Live Photos come with a video. A Live Photo copied to a PC usually arrives as a HEIC still plus a separate .MOV clip. Only the still image is converted.
  • Converting hundreds of photos. All the work happens on your computer, so very large batches take longer on older machines. Converting in smaller batches keeps things responsive.
  • Too big to email or post? Shrink the JPGs with the Image Compressor, or reduce their dimensions with the Image Resizer & Converter.

05FAQ

Questions people ask

JPG is a lossy format, so a little detail is always discarded, but at the default quality the difference isn't visible in normal viewing. The photo keeps its full resolution. If you need a lossless copy, choose PNG; the files will be much larger.

With most online converters, your photos are uploaded to someone else's server. UtilOrb's HEIC to JPG runs inside your browser tab, so the photos never leave your computer. You can check this in your browser's developer tools: none of the network requests carry your photos.

Yes. A browser-based converter works in the browser you already have. Microsoft's extensions are only needed if you want to open HEIC files directly in the Photos app.

HEIC uses newer compression that stores a photo of similar quality in fewer bytes. That's why Apple uses it, and why the same photo takes up more space as a JPG.

Try it now

Ready? Open HEIC to JPG.

It's free, there's nothing to install, and your files stay on your device the whole time.

Open HEIC to JPGFree · Runs in your browser · Nothing uploaded

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