How to convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG

You copy a photo from your iPhone to a laptop, try to attach it to a form, and the website says the file type isn’t supported. Or you double-click it on a Windows PC and nothing useful opens. The photo is almost certainly a HEIC file.

This guide explains what HEIC is, how to convert HEIC photos to JPG in a few clicks, and how to make your iPhone save JPGs from now on if that suits you better.

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC is the format iPhones use for photos by default. It belongs to a family of formats called HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format), and its main selling point is size: a HEIC photo usually takes up less space than a JPG of similar quality, which saves room on your phone and in iCloud.

The trade-off is compatibility. JPG has been around for decades and opens on practically every device, app and website. HEIC support is much patchier:

Many upload forms (job portals, government sites, older content systems) only accept JPG or PNG.
Some Windows PCs need extra extensions from the Microsoft Store before they can show HEIC files.
Older photo editors, printers and kiosks may not recognize the format at all.

You’ll see both .heic and .heif file extensions. They’re the same family, and the converter accepts both.

How to convert HEIC to JPG in your browser

The HEIC to JPG converter runs entirely in your browser. Your photos are read and converted on your own device, so they’re never uploaded to a server.

Open the HEIC to JPG converter.
Drop your HEIC photos onto the page, or click to choose them. You can add as many as you like.
Adjust the settings if you want (see below). The defaults work well for most people.
Click Convert.
Download each JPG on its own, or download them all together as one ZIP file.

The two settings worth knowing

Quality runs from 40% to 100% and starts at 90%. At 90% most people can’t tell the JPG apart from the original. Move it up to 100% if you plan to edit or print the photo, or down if you need smaller files for email.

Size keeps the original dimensions by default. You can also cap the longest side at 4096, 2048 or 1080 pixels. Shrinking to 2048 or 1080 pixels is handy when a website rejects big files or when you’re sending a batch of photos by email.

If you need a photo under a specific size in KB for an online form, use the image compressor instead. It accepts HEIC photos directly and hunts for the best quality that fits your limit.

JPG, PNG or PDF?

JPG is the right choice for most photos. But there are two other options you might find useful.

HEIC to PNG

The HEIC to PNG converter saves your photo in PNG, a lossless format. Nothing is thrown away during compression, so the result is pixel-for-pixel what was decoded from the HEIC. The catch is file size: PNG photos are often several times larger than JPGs. Choose PNG when you’ll be editing the image heavily or when a tool specifically asks for PNG. For sharing, stick with JPG.

HEIC to PDF

If you photographed a set of receipts, pages or forms, you may want them in one document instead of a pile of separate images. The HEIC to PDF converter puts each photo on its own page, in the order you set. You can choose A4, US Letter or a page the same size as the picture, plus the orientation and margin.

For straightening photographed paperwork into proper scans, see the document scanner.

A note on photo details (metadata)

When the converter makes a JPG, it draws the picture and saves it as a brand-new file. Information stored inside the original HEIC, such as the camera model, the date the photo was taken and any location tags, isn’t copied into the JPG.

That’s often a plus. If you’re sending a photo to someone you don’t know well, you probably don’t want to share where it was taken. But if you’re converting photos for your long-term archive and rely on the “date taken” to sort them, keep your original HEIC files as well.

How to stop your iPhone saving HEIC

If you regularly need JPGs, you can tell your iPhone to save them instead:

Open Settings.
Tap Camera.
Tap Formats.
Choose Most Compatible.

From then on, the camera saves photos as JPG and videos as H.264. To go back, pick High Efficiency in the same place.

A few things to keep in mind:

Existing photos don’t change. Photos you’ve already taken stay in HEIC. Use the converter for those.
Files get bigger. JPGs take up more space than HEIC, so your storage and iCloud will fill a little faster.
The option only appears on models that can capture HEIF/HEVC. Older iPhones that can’t shoot HEIC won’t show the Formats menu.

Let your iPhone convert when you copy photos to a computer

There’s a second setting that only affects transfers over a cable. Go to Settings › Photos (on recent iOS versions, Settings › Apps › Photos) and look for Transfer to Mac or PC:

Automatic converts photos and videos to a compatible format when you import them to a computer.
Keep Originals copies the HEIC files exactly as they are.

If you mostly move photos to a PC with a USB cable, Automatic can save you a step while still letting the camera use space-saving HEIC.

Troubleshooting

“This HEIC photo couldn’t be read”

The file may be damaged, or it may use a less common HEIF variant the converter doesn’t support. Try exporting the photo again from your phone’s Photos app, or send it to yourself a different way (for example, by email instead of a messaging app).

The JPG is bigger than the HEIC

That’s normal. HEIC compresses more efficiently than JPG, so the same photo usually needs more bytes as a JPG. If the size matters, lower the quality a little or pick a smaller maximum size, such as 2048 pixels.

Will converting reduce quality?

JPG uses lossy compression, so in theory a little detail is lost. In practice, at the default 90% quality the difference is very hard to see. If you want no compression loss at all, use HEIC to PNG and accept the larger file.

Can I do this on my phone?

Yes. The converter works in mobile browsers too. Open the page on your phone, choose your photos and download the results. Everything still happens on the device.

Quick summary

HEIC is the iPhone’s space-saving photo format, but many sites and PCs can’t open it.
Convert with the HEIC to JPG converter: drop photos in, convert, download one by one or as a ZIP.
Use HEIC to PNG for lossless copies and HEIC to PDF to combine photos into one document.
To make your iPhone save JPGs, go to Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible.