How to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows, Mac and iPhone: every free way

How to change HEIC to JPG on any device

The browser route works everywhere: iPhone, Android, Chromebook, Windows or Mac, with nothing installed and a whole camera roll at once. It is one of the pairs in our image converter. Open the HEIC to JPG converter, drop the photos, download the JPGs. Up to 10 files a run without an account, one ZIP at the end, each file keeping its name with the new extension so your library stays in order.

1. 1

   Get the photos onto the device with the browser

   On the iPhone itself, open the converter in Safari and pick the photos from the picker. On a PC or Mac, copy them over by cable, AirDrop or the cloud first.

2. 2

   Drop the files, or press the zone to browse

   Up to 10 at once, 30 MB each. A whole folder can go in one drop on a computer.

3. 3

   Download one JPG or the ZIP

   Each result has a before-and-after view. The ZIP holds every JPG with the original filenames.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows 11 and Windows 10

A HEIC holds a picture compressed with HEVC, the video codec behind 4K video. It is patented, so Windows ships without it, and this is where most guides skip a step: there are two extensions, not one. HEIF Image Extension is free in the Microsoft Store and teaches Windows the container. Every iPhone HEIC also needs HEVC Video Extensions for the picture inside, which costs $0.99 in the US Store, unless your laptop came with the “from Device Manufacturer” version preinstalled. Install the first alone and Photos still shows a broken thumbnail.

With the Photos app

1. 1

   Open the Microsoft Store and search for HEIF Image Extension

   Install it, then add HEVC Video Extensions, which an iPhone HEIC needs as well, unless the free manufacturer version is already on the machine.

2. 2

   Open the photo in Photos

   Double-click the file. Once the codecs are in, it opens like any JPG.

3. 3

   Save as, then choose JPG

   Click the three dots in the top bar, choose Save as, set the file type to .jpg and save. The HEIC stays where it was.

With Paint

Paint opens a HEIC too, with the same codecs installed. Open the file, choose File, then Save as, then JPEG picture. It is the same one-at-a-time work in a different window.

Convert multiple HEIC files to JPG on Windows

Windows has no built-in batch conversion. For a folder, the browser converter above takes runs of 10. If you would rather stay offline, iMazing HEIC Converter is a free desktop app for Windows and Mac that takes a folder and writes JPGs beside it, with a quality setting and the option to keep the metadata.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac

A Mac reads HEIC without help, so this is quick, and there are three built-in ways.

Save a HEIC as JPG in Preview

For one photo, open it in Preview, choose File, then Export, set the format to JPEG, pick a quality and save. The HEIC stays where it was.

One photo from the Finder: Convert Image

1. 1

   Control-click the HEIC photo, then choose Quick Actions

   Convert Image is built into the Finder from macOS Monterey. If it is not listed, choose Customize to add it.

2. 2

   Choose Convert Image, then JPEG and a size

   On macOS 27, click More first. Apple does not state the sizes in pixels or where the copy is saved.

Many HEIC photos at once: Preview’s sidebar

1. 1

   Open the photos in one Preview window

   They line up in the window’s sidebar.

2. 2

   Select them all in the sidebar

   Apple’s Preview guide gives these steps for several files at once.

3. 3

   Choose File, then Export, and pick JPEG

   Choose where to save the copies. The HEIC originals stay as they were.

Export from the Photos app

If the pictures live in the Photos library rather than in a folder, select them, choose File, then Export, then Export Photos, set Photo Kind to JPEG and export. The library keeps its HEICs.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone

Since iOS 11 in 2017, an iPhone saves every photo as HEIC unless you tell it not to. The phone can convert what you already have, stop new photos arriving as HEIC, or send JPGs to a PC while keeping HEIC for itself. The settings below are the ones in Apple’s support note.

Save existing photos as JPG

Copy a photo in the Photos app and paste it into the Files app: Files saves it as a JPEG. Handy for one photo, not for a hundred; for many, open the browser converter above in Safari and pick them from the library. Sharing by AirDrop, Messages or Mail sends a JPEG only when the device at the other end cannot read HEIC, so do not count on it.

Stop your iPhone taking HEIC photos

Open Settings, Camera, Formats and choose Most Compatible. The camera saves JPEG from then on, at more bytes per photo. Photos already taken stay HEIC; convert those with any method on this page. Choose this if you send photos to Windows users every week.

Send JPGs to a PC, keep HEIC

Open Settings, Apps, Photos and, under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic. Photos stay HEIC on the phone and become JPEG when you copy them by cable to a computer that cannot read HEIC. You keep the small files and the PC gets the compatible ones. Choose this if storage on the phone matters.

What you lose when you convert HEIC to JPG

Less than the format war suggests. HEVC is the better compressor, so a HEIC takes less space than a JPEG of the same picture at the same quality. The trade is compatibility: JPG opens on everything made in the last thirty years. What does not survive the conversion is the extra colour depth a HEIC can hold and the depth map behind a Portrait photo. On a screen at normal size you will not see the first; the second means you can no longer re-edit the blur of a Portrait shot once it is a JPG.

We ran our reference photo, one of our photographs, saved as a 1920 × 1280 HEIC of 343.0 KB by the Mac’s sips at its default quality, through the same engine in every format. At Auto the JPG came out at 267.4 KB, 22% smaller than the HEIC itself. Ask for more and it grows: 330.0 KB at quality 85, just under the HEIC’s 343.0 KB, and 532.1 KB at quality 90, over it.

Which format to convert HEIC to

• JPG for a person, a form or a print shop. It opens everywhere and it is small.
• WebP or AVIF for your own website. 211.4 KB and 121.9 KB on our 1920 × 1280 HEIC photo against 267.4 KB for the JPG, and every current browser reads WebP. Keep a JPG fallback for old mail clients.
• PDF for a form that asks for one. Put the photos into a single file with image to PDF after converting them.
• PNG only for a screenshot, flat art or transparency. A lossless PNG keeps every pixel exactly: our 1920 × 1280 HEIC photo became a 2,896.1 KB PNG at quality 100 through HEIC to PNG. Even the Auto PNG, cut to 256 colours, was 997.2 KB, 2.9 times the HEIC. Never for a photo.

If a form states a byte cap, use the size target instead of guessing a quality. The same HEIC capped at 240 KB came out at 234.1 KB: under the cap, with the pixels kept.