How to Open and Convert iPhone HEIC Photos on Windows and Android

You plug your iPhone into a Windows laptop, copy your holiday photos, and every one of them is called something like IMG_4821.HEIC. Double-click and nothing useful happens. Or you try to upload a photo to a job portal and get “file type not supported.”

Nothing is broken. Your iPhone is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Here is what HEIC is, how to open and convert it, and how to choose which format your phone uses.

What HEIC is, and why iPhones use it

HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. It is Apple’s use of HEIF, a modern image standard, and it has been the iPhone camera’s default since iOS 11 in 2017. The appeal is simple: a HEIC photo takes roughly half the storage of a JPG of the same quality. When phones hold thousands of photos, that adds up to gigabytes.

HEIC can also hold more than one picture in a single file, which is how features like Live Photos, burst shots and portrait-mode depth information are stored.

The catch is compatibility. Apple devices handle HEIC seamlessly, but older Windows versions, some Android apps, many websites and nearly all official upload forms expect JPG.

Option 1: convert HEIC to JPG

This is the most reliable fix when you need to share, upload or edit photos elsewhere.

1. Open HEIC to JPG in any browser, on Windows, Mac, Android or the iPhone itself.
2. Add all the photos at once.

   Select or drop a whole folder’s worth. Files with several images inside, portrait shots and photos from non-Apple cameras are handled too.

3. Leave the quality around 92%.

   That keeps photos looking the same as the originals. Lower it only if you need smaller files.

4. Download each JPG, or everything as a single ZIP.

The conversion happens in your browser, so personal photos aren’t uploaded to a server. If you need the photos in a document rather than as images, HEIC to PDF puts them straight into a PDF, one photo per page.

If the photos are going to a form with a size limit, skip a step: the target-size image compressors accept HEIC directly and give you a JPG of the right size.

Option 2: open HEIC on Windows

On Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, the Photos app opens HEIC files directly. Check your version under Settings → System → About. If you are up to date, double-clicking a HEIC file should just work.

On Windows 10 and older Windows 11 versions, Photos needs two add-ons from the Microsoft Store: HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions. Microsoft charges a small fee for the HEVC package. Once both are installed, Photos and File Explorer thumbnails handle HEIC.

Even then, other programs on your PC (older photo editors, office software, upload dialogs on websites) may still not understand HEIC. If you share or edit the photos elsewhere, converting is usually less hassle than chasing extensions.

Option 3: open HEIC on Android

Most recent Android phones can display HEIC photos in their gallery app or Google Photos, and some Samsung phones can even shoot in HEIF. Where you run into trouble is when you try to send those files onward: messaging apps, websites and older apps may refuse them or show a blank thumbnail. Converting the photos to JPG in the phone’s browser solves that without installing anything.

Stop the problem at the source: iPhone settings

Two settings on the iPhone decide what format you end up with.

Which should you choose? If storage is tight and you mostly stay within Apple devices, keep High Efficiency; convert the occasional photo when needed. If you constantly send photos to Windows, forms or clients, switch to Most Compatible and accept that photos take more space. Either way, setting the transfer option to Automatic avoids most surprises when copying to a PC.

Many iPhone apps also convert automatically when sharing. Emailing a photo or sharing to some apps often sends a JPG even when the original is HEIC. It is inconsistent from app to app, so it’s not something to rely on for important uploads.

Does converting lose quality?

A tiny amount, technically, because JPG is a lossy format. At around 90% quality, the difference is not visible in normal viewing or printing. What you will notice is that the JPG is larger than the HEIC, often around twice the size. That is expected: HEIC is simply more efficient.

Two things don’t carry over: Live Photo motion and portrait-mode depth data. A JPG is a single still image. If those matter, keep the HEIC originals and convert copies.

What about location and date information?

Photos carry information about when, and often where, they were taken. If you’re converting photos to share publicly, such as a photo of your house for a listing, think about whether you want location information attached. On the iPhone, the share sheet has an Options button where you can switch off location before sharing. For documents, our guide to removing hidden data from PDFs covers the same idea.

Common mistakes

• Renaming .HEIC to .JPG. The file is still HEIC inside, and many systems will still reject or misread it.
• Converting at very low quality to save space, then using the JPG as your only copy.
• Deleting the HEIC originals of Live Photos or portraits you might want later.
• Uploading private photos to unknown converter sites. Use a converter that works on your device.
• Switching to Most Compatible on an iPhone that is already nearly full. JPG photos take more space.

Frequently asked questions