HEIC to JPG Converter
Convert iPhone and iPad photos from HEIC to JPG on any computer. Safari can read HEIC itself; in Chrome, Edge and Firefox this page loads a HEIC decoder the first time you add a HEIC photo and runs it on your device. Either way, your photos are never uploaded.
Drop HEIC photos here
Or paste with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac). Accepts PNG, JPG, JFIF, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, GIF and BMP. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert HEIC to JPG
- Add your HEIC photos. Drop in .heic or .heif files, or click Pick files. Copy them off the phone first, by cable, AirDrop or iCloud Photos.
- Set the quality. JPG is already selected at 90%, which keeps photos looking the same. Lower it if the files need to be small.
- Convert. Click Convert. Outside Safari the first photo takes a few seconds longer while the decoder, under 1 MB, downloads; each file then shows its size before and after.
- Download. Save each JPG, or all of them as one ZIP.
HEIC and JPG compared
| Feature | HEIC | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency | Possible, rarely used by cameras | No |
| Animation | Image sequences, such as bursts | No |
| Compression | Lossy (HEVC), 8 or 10-bit | Lossy |
| Typical file size | Roughly half a JPG of similar quality | Small for photos; text and sharp edges compress badly |
| Support | Apple devices and Safari; Windows needs add-ons | Universal |
| Best for | Storing photos on iPhone and iPad | Photos, email, upload forms |
Why your iPhone takes HEIC photos
Since iOS 11 in 2017, iPhones have saved photos as HEIC whenever the camera format is set to High Efficiency, which is the default. HEIC uses the HEVC video codec to store a photo in roughly half the space of a comparable JPG. Apple's devices read it natively; Windows needs extra extensions from the Microsoft Store, and most browsers other than Safari cannot display it at all.
Stopping HEIC at the source
Two iPhone settings help. Settings, Camera, Formats, Most Compatible makes the camera shoot JPG from now on, at the cost of bigger files. Settings, Photos, Transfer to Mac or PC, Automatic makes the iPhone hand over JPGs when you copy photos to a computer by cable. Neither changes photos already taken, which is what this converter is for.
Open-source components
Outside Safari, HEIC decoding uses heic-to 1.6.6, which packages libheif and libde265. All three are free software under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0, and their complete source code is available at those links. The decoder is loaded as its own file, separate from the rest of this page.
Things worth knowing
- Only the main photo is converted. Depth maps, HDR gain maps and burst sequences inside a HEIC are not carried over, and a Live Photo's motion lives in a separate video file this tool does not touch.
- Metadata is not copied into the JPG, so the date taken and any location are not in the new file. That makes it safer to share, but your photo library may sort it by the download date.
- HDR photos are converted to standard range. Very large photos, such as 48-megapixel shots, need a lot of memory and can be slow or fail on phones and older laptops.
Questions people ask
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. Outside Safari, the page downloads a HEIC decoder from this site and runs it in your browser; the photos themselves are decoded and re-encoded on your device and are never sent anywhere.
How do I open HEIC files on Windows?
Install HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store; the HEVC one carries a small fee. Or convert the photos to JPG here and open them with anything.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
Both formats are lossy, so the JPG is a re-compression. At 90% the difference is very hard to see in photographs. Expect the JPG to be roughly twice the size of the HEIC.
Can I convert HEIC to PNG instead?
Yes. Switch the output format above to PNG before converting. The PNG will be much larger, which is only worth it if you plan to edit the photo heavily.
If something goes wrong
A photo is reported as unreadable
The file may be damaged, or may not be a HEIC photo at all; iPhones also save videos and screen recordings as .mov files. Check it opens on the phone.
The first photo is slow
The decoder is about 3 MB once unpacked and is fetched the first time it is needed. After that, a 6-megapixel photo takes a few seconds, and files are converted one at a time.
It fails on my iPhone
Safari on iPhone limits the size of the drawing surface this tool uses, so large photos can fail there. Convert on a computer, or use Most Compatible for future photos.
Built by Dr. Dulan Dias. Last tested , converting real files end to end in the browser.
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