You email a photo from your iPhone to a colleague and it arrives as a file nobody can open. You upload holiday pictures to a job portal and it rejects every one of them. The culprit is almost always the same: HEIC, the format Apple has used by default since iOS 11.
Converting HEIC to JPG takes seconds once you know where to look. Here are four ways to do it, plus the one setting that stops the problem happening again.
What is a HEIC file, and why does Apple use it?
HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. It stores a photo compressed with the HEIF standard, and its headline advantage is size: a HEIC photo is typically around half the size of the same shot saved as a JPG, with no visible loss in quality. On a phone holding thousands of pictures, that adds up quickly.
The trade-off is compatibility. JPG has been readable by essentially every device, browser and application since the 1990s. HEIC is newer, and plenty of Windows machines, older Android phones, web forms and printing services still refuse to open it. That gap is why conversion comes up so often.
Four ways to convert HEIC to JPG
Pick whichever matches the device in front of you right now.
1. Convert online, in your browser
This is the fastest option when you are on a borrowed computer, a work laptop where you cannot install anything, or a phone that is not yours. Use our HEIC to JPG converter:
- Open the converter page.
- Drag your HEIC files in, or tap to browse and select them.
- Wait a moment for the conversion to finish.
- Download the JPG files, individually or all at once.
Nothing needs installing and it works the same on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone. If you have a mixed batch of formats to deal with, our all-in-one image converter handles PNG, WEBP, BMP and more in the same place.
2. Change the format on your iPhone
The cleanest long-term fix is to stop your iPhone producing HEIC files in the first place:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Camera, then Formats.
- Select Most Compatible instead of High Efficiency.
Every photo you take from that point onward is saved as a JPG. Note that this only affects new photos, so anything already in your library stays as HEIC.
There is also a second setting worth knowing about. Under Settings → Photos, scroll to the bottom and set Transfer to Mac or PC to Automatic. With that on, your iPhone converts HEIC photos to JPG as it transfers them over a cable.
3. Convert HEIC on Windows 10 or 11
Windows can open HEIC files once the HEIF Image Extensions are installed from the Microsoft Store. Some machines have them already. Once a HEIC file opens in the Photos app:
- Open the photo in the Photos app.
- Click the three-dot menu and choose Save as.
- Pick JPG in the file type dropdown and save.
This works well for one or two photos. For a folder of forty, the online converter will be considerably faster.
4. Convert HEIC on a Mac
macOS handles HEIC natively, so conversion is built in:
- Open the file in Preview.
- Go to File → Export.
- Choose JPEG as the format and set the quality slider.
To do several at once, select them all in Finder, right-click, and use Quick Actions → Convert Image.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
Slightly, and it is worth understanding why. Both formats are lossy, so re-encoding a HEIC photo as a JPG means the image is compressed a second time. At normal quality settings the difference is invisible on screen and in print.
What you will notice is file size. Because JPG is less efficient, the converted file is often roughly twice the size of the HEIC original. If that becomes a problem for email attachments or upload limits, run the results through our image compressor afterwards, or reduce the dimensions with the image resizer before sending.
One thing worth knowing: converting to JPG flattens Live Photos into a single still frame, and it discards the depth data used by Portrait mode. If you plan to edit the background blur later, keep the HEIC original.
Should you switch off HEIC completely?
It depends on how you use your phone.
Stay on High Efficiency if your storage is tight and you mostly view photos on Apple devices or share them through iCloud and iMessage, which handle HEIC transparently.
Switch to Most Compatible if you regularly send photos to Windows users, upload to job portals or government forms, use a print shop, or work with older editing software. The extra storage is usually a fair price for never thinking about the problem again.
What to do with the JPG files afterwards
Once your photos are in JPG, the rest gets easier. You might want to combine them into a single PDF for an application or a claim, save one as a PNG if you need a transparent background, or pull the text out of a photographed document so you can edit it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert HEIC to JPG without any software?
Yes. A browser-based converter runs entirely on the web page, so there is nothing to download or install. It works identically on a phone, a tablet and a desktop.
Why will my HEIC file not open on Windows?
Windows does not support HEIC out of the box. You need the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and on some systems the HEVC Video Extensions as well. Converting the file to JPG sidesteps the issue entirely.
Can I convert several HEIC files at once?
Yes. Select multiple files when you upload and they are converted together, then downloaded as a batch.
Is it safe to upload personal photos to a converter?
Check any tool’s policy before uploading anything sensitive. Our converter processes your files and does not keep them, and you can read the details in our privacy policy.
What is the difference between HEIC and HEIF?
HEIF is the image standard. HEIC is Apple’s container for it, which is why the file extension differs from the format name. In everyday use the two words are used interchangeably.
Does converting to JPG remove photo metadata?
Most converters keep basic EXIF data such as the date, camera model and orientation. Location data is often stripped, which is usually what you want before sharing a photo publicly.
The short version
For a handful of photos right now, use an online HEIC to JPG converter. To stop the problem recurring, set your iPhone camera to Most Compatible. And if the resulting JPG files are too large to send, compress them before you hit attach.