How to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows, Mac and iPhone

iPhones save photos as HEIC by default. The files are small and look great, but Windows often refuses to open them, and plenty of websites, upload forms and older apps reject them. Converting to JPG fixes that. Every major operating system has a built-in way to do it, each with its own catch. This guide covers them all, and when a browser converter is quicker.

What HEIC is, and why it causes trouble

HEIC is Apple’s name for HEIF images compressed with HEVC, the same codec used for high-efficiency video. Apple made it the iPhone’s default in iOS 11, in 2017, under the camera setting “High Efficiency”. A HEIC photo is often about half the size of a JPG of similar quality, which saves a lot of storage.

The trouble is HEVC. It is covered by patents and licensing fees, so not every operating system, browser or app includes a decoder. Apple devices open HEIC natively. Windows needs extra extensions, and most websites cannot show or accept HEIC at all.

Which method to use

Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows

With the Photos app or Paint

1. Open the Microsoft Store and install HEIF Image Extensions, which is free.
2. Install HEVC Video Extensions as well. This one is paid, although some PCs come with it preinstalled by the manufacturer. Without it, HEIC photos from an iPhone still will not open.
3. Open the HEIC photo in Photos, select the “…” menu and choose Save as.
4. Pick JPG as the file type and save.

Paint works the same way once the extensions are installed: open the photo, then File → Save as → JPEG picture. Both handle one photo at a time, which is fine for a few images and tedious for a camera roll.

Without installing anything

Open Graviton in Edge, Chrome or Firefox. It reads HEIC with its own decoder (libheif) running inside the browser, so you do not need the Windows extensions. Drop in a folder’s worth of photos and download them as one ZIP.

Convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac

macOS opens HEIC natively, and there are several built-in ways to convert.

Finder Quick Action (fastest for batches)

1. Select one or more HEIC files in Finder.
2. Right-click and choose Quick Actions → Convert Image.
3. Choose JPEG as the format and an image size (Actual Size keeps the full resolution).
4. Leave “Preserve Metadata” checked if you want to keep the date and location, then convert.

The JPGs are saved next to the originals. This Quick Action is available in macOS Monterey and later.

Preview

Open the photo, choose File → Export, set the format to JPEG, adjust the quality slider and save. To convert several, open them together, select them all in the sidebar and choose File → Export Selected Images, then pick the format under Options.

Photos app

Select the photos, choose File → Export → Export Photos, and set Photo Kind to JPEG. This is handy when the photos live in your library rather than in folders.

Terminal

For a folder full of files, macOS includes a command-line tool called sips:

for f in *.HEIC; do sips -s format jpeg "$f" --out "${f%.*}.jpg"; done

Convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone or iPad

Convert existing photos in the Files app

1. In Photos, select the photos, tap Share and choose Save to Files.
2. Open the Files app and go to that folder.
3. Touch and hold a photo, then choose Quick Actions → Convert Image.
4. Choose JPEG and a size. The JPG is saved next to the original.

This works on iOS 16 and later. Select several files first to convert them together.

Stop new photos being saved as HEIC

Go to Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPG. The trade-off is storage: they take noticeably more space, and some video modes, such as 4K at 60 fps, need High Efficiency.

Convert automatically when copying to a computer

Go to Settings → Photos and, under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic. Photos copied to a computer over a cable are then converted to a compatible format, JPG, on the way. The setting only affects cable transfers.

You can also convert straight from the iPhone in Safari: open the HEIC to JPG converter and choose photos from your library. There is no app to install.

Converting with Graviton

1. Open the HEIC to JPG converter and drop in your photos, up to 250 at a time and up to 100 MB each.
2. Graviton converts them at JPG quality 85, which looks identical to the HEIC on screen.
3. Sign in with a free account, then download each JPG, or all of them as a ZIP that keeps the original file names.

Everything happens in your browser. Your photos are never uploaded, and you can confirm it by opening your browser’s network tab while they convert. Colors are converted to sRGB so they look the same on every screen, and location, camera and other metadata are removed, which is useful before you share photos publicly. If you need to keep the original date and location in the file, use the Mac Quick Action with Preserve Metadata instead.

Converting is unlimited. The free plan includes 3 downloads a day, and Pro removes the daily limit, so a whole camera roll downloads at once. See plans for details.

Common questions

Does converting lose quality?

Technically yes, because JPG is lossy too, but at quality 85 the difference is not visible on screen. Expect the JPG to be larger than the HEIC, since JPG compresses less efficiently. If you want smaller files for sharing, add a size limit: compress to 1 MB converts and shrinks in one step.

What about Live Photos?

A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video stored separately. Every method here converts the still image only.

Should I use PNG instead?

Only for editing. PNG is lossless, so nothing is lost, but photos become very large. For sharing and uploading, JPG is the right choice. For editing, use HEIC to PNG.