How to open HEIC photos on Windows and convert to JPG

Why Windows can’t open HEIC

HEIC is the format iPhones have used for photos since iOS 11, and many Android phones offer it too. It packs a photo into about half the space of a JPG at the same quality. The catch is how it does that: the picture inside a HEIC file is compressed with HEVC, the same codec as 4K video, and Windows doesn’t decode HEVC on its own.

So Windows needs two pieces. Microsoft’s own Store listing for the HEIF Image Extension says that the HEVC Video Extensions package “must be installed in order to view images stored in HEIF files that use the .heic, .hif or .heif file extensions.” Plenty of PCs ship with the HEIF part but not the HEVC part. That’s why a folder of iPhone photos shows blank thumbnails, or Photos refuses to open them.

You have three ways out, and which one fits depends on what you want to do with the photos.

You want to	Best option
Look at the photos on your own PC	Install the two extensions
Send, upload, print or edit them anywhere	Convert them to JPG
Stop new photos being HEIC	Change the iPhone’s camera format

Option 1: Install the HEIF and HEVC extensions

1. Open the Microsoft Store on your PC and search for HEIF Image Extension. It’s free. Install it, or check that it says Installed.
2. Search for HEVC Video Extensions. It costs $0.99 in the US (the Store shows your local price). If your PC maker included HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer, it’s already there and free, and you can skip this.
3. Close and reopen the Photos app. HEIC photos now open in Photos, show thumbnails in File Explorer and open in Paint.
4. To keep a JPG copy of a single photo, open it in Paint and choose File > Save as > JPEG picture.

The HEVC extension also plays iPhone videos recorded in HEVC, which is a useful side effect. The limits: it only fixes your PC. The HEIC files still won’t open for the person you send them to, on a website’s upload form, or at a print shop. Saving copies one by one in Paint is slow for a whole holiday album.

Option 2: Convert HEIC to JPG in your browser

Converting gives you ordinary JPG files that open on every computer, phone and website. You don’t need the extensions for this.

1. Open tuul.io/heic-to-jpg in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on your PC. Nothing is installed.
2. Drag the .heic files from File Explorer onto the page, or click Choose files. You can add a whole folder’s worth at once.
3. Leave the quality at 90%, which keeps photos looking the same. Lower it if you need smaller files.
4. Download each JPG, or press Download all to get them in one ZIP file.

The photos are converted on your PC and never uploaded. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox a HEIC decoder downloads once, with the first photo; Safari decodes HEIC itself. A few things are worth knowing before you convert a whole library:

• Portrait photos stay upright. iPhones store them sideways with a note to turn them, and that turn is applied.
• Colours are converted from the iPhone’s Display P3 to sRGB, so they look right on any screen.
• The JPG is bigger than the HEIC. That’s expected: HEIC is about twice as efficient.
• Metadata is removed, including the location and the date the photo was taken. That’s good for privacy, but a photo library will sort the JPGs by the day you converted them. If you need the original dates, use the cable method in option 3 instead.
• Live Photos and HDR photos become a normal still JPG in standard range, because JPG can hold neither the video part nor HDR.

If you plan to edit the photos, convert them to PNG on tuul.io/heic-to-png, which loses nothing. If the JPGs are too big for an email or a form, compress them on tuul.io/image-compressor; How to make a photo smaller in KB explains which settings to use. To put several photos into one PDF, use tuul.io/heic-to-pdf.

Option 3: Make the iPhone save JPG

1. On the iPhone, open Settings, tap Camera, tap Formats and choose Most Compatible. Apple says all new photos then use JPEG and new videos H.264.
2. To have the iPhone convert existing photos when you copy them to a PC with a USB cable, open Settings, tap Apps, tap Photos and, under Transfer to Mac or PC, keep Automatic selected. Apple notes that photos imported this way “might be converted to JPEG”. Keep Originals copies the HEIC files unchanged.

Most Compatible has a cost: each new photo takes about twice the space, so your iPhone and iCloud storage fill faster, and the iPhone notes that some video modes need High Efficiency. A good middle way is to leave the camera on High Efficiency, keep Automatic for cable transfers, and convert in the browser when you need to send or upload a batch.

When you share photos from an iPhone with an app or device that can’t read HEIC, iOS often sends a JPG on its own. Apple says the photo “might automatically be shared in a more compatible format”, so it isn’t guaranteed. Photos synced through iCloud Photos stay HEIC.

Which option should you pick?

For a few photos you only want to look at, the extensions are the least effort. For anything that leaves your PC, a JPG avoids the problem for everyone after you, and converting in the browser handles hundreds at once. If you never want to see a HEIC again and have the storage to spare, switch the camera to Most Compatible.

Sources

• Microsoft Store: HEIF Image Extension, free, with the note that HEVC Video Extensions are needed for .heic files.
• Microsoft Store: HEVC Video Extensions, $0.99.
• Microsoft Store: HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer, the free version some PCs include.
• Apple Support: Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices: the Most Compatible setting, Keep Originals and sharing in a compatible format.
• Apple Support: Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC.