How to Convert HEIC to JPG (iPhone, Windows, Mac and Android)

You take a photo on your iPhone, send it to a friend, and they cannot open it. Or you try to upload it to a form and it is rejected. The culprit is almost always HEIC, the format modern iPhones use by default. This guide explains what HEIC is, why it causes trouble, and every practical way to turn those photos into JPG.

What HEIC is

HEIC is the file extension for images in the HEIF format (High Efficiency Image File Format) that use HEVC compression. Apple adopted it in 2017 because it stores photos in roughly half the space of a JPG at similar quality, so your phone can hold more pictures. It also supports features such as depth information and multiple images in one file.

Why it causes problems

JPG is universal. HEIC is newer and less widely supported: many Windows programs, older Android phones, web forms, print services and marketplaces do not accept it. Part of the reason is licensing and part is that software takes time to catch up. The result is a photo that opens on the device that took it and nowhere else.

Method 1: Convert in your browser

The quickest way for most people is the HEIC to JPG converter. Drop up to 30 photos onto it, choose JPG (or PNG), set the quality and convert. Each photo appears with a preview and its new size, and you can save them one by one or download all of them as a ZIP. The conversion runs in your browser, so your photos are not uploaded.

Use 90 percent quality for photos that will be viewed or shared. Choose PNG only if you need lossless output and can accept much larger files.

Method 2: Change the iPhone setting

To stop taking HEIC photos, open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPG. The trade-off is larger files. You can switch back at any time; photos you have already taken stay as they are.

Method 3: Let iOS convert when you share

When you share photos from the Photos app, iOS can convert them for you. Tap Share, then Options at the top, and choose the Most Compatible format before sending. Email and messaging apps often convert automatically, but uploading to a website may send the original HEIC.

Method 4: Use your computer

• Mac: open the photo in Preview, choose File, then Export, and pick JPEG.
• Windows: install the HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store to view HEIC in Photos. Then open and save as JPG, or use a converter.
• Android: Android 10 and later can display HEIF images, and Google Photos can view and share them; many upload forms still reject the format.

Batches and quality

Converting many photos one by one is slow, which is where a batch converter helps. The JPG files will be bigger than the HEIC originals, often by 30 to 100 percent, because JPG is less efficient. If size matters, run them through the Image Compressor or reduce the dimensions with the Image Resizer. For sharing on the web, see how to compress images for faster websites.

What happens to colour, orientation and metadata

A good converter keeps the picture upright and the colours natural. Photos with wide colour ranges may look slightly different on older screens, which is a limit of JPG, not of the conversion. Camera and location details stored in a photo can be lost when a picture is redrawn, which is often a privacy benefit but means you should not rely on a converted file to keep the location tag.

Common problems

• The converted photo is sideways. Use a converter that applies the stored orientation, as this one does.
• The file will not convert. It may be damaged or not truly HEIC. Try opening it on the phone and sending it again.
• Live Photos. The still image converts; the motion part is a separate video file.
• Burst photos. A file with several images is saved as several numbered pictures.

After conversion

Turn a set of converted photos into a single document with JPG to PDF, or compare formats in JPG vs PNG vs WebP.