How to Convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone, Windows and Mac
If you have ever sent an iPhone photo to a Windows PC or uploaded it to a website and got an error, the culprit is HEIC. It is a modern, efficient photo format, but plenty of software still expects JPG. Here is every way to convert, from fastest to most manual.
Why iPhone photos are HEIC
Since iOS 11, iPhones save photos in HEIC by default (the High Efficiency setting). HEIC stores the same picture at roughly half the file size of a JPG, which saves storage. The trade-off is compatibility: many websites, older Windows programs and print services cannot open HEIC.
The fastest way: an online converter
Open the HEIC to JPG converter, drop in your photos (up to 20 at once) and press Convert. Download each JPG or all of them as one ZIP. Quality 85 to 90 is visually close to the original and a lot smaller than quality 100.
On the iPhone itself
- Stop shooting HEIC: open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPG.
- Convert while transferring: in Settings, open Photos and under Transfer to Mac or PC choose Automatic. iOS converts photos to JPG when you import them to a computer.
- Convert existing photos: copy them into the Files app, or share them from the Photos app to apps that request a JPG. The app receives a converted copy.
On a Mac
Open the photo in Preview, choose File, then Export, and set the format to JPEG. To convert many at once, select them in Finder, open them in Preview, select all thumbnails in the sidebar and export together. You can also export from the Photos app and pick JPEG.
On Windows
Install the HEIF Image Extensions (and, if asked, the HEVC Video Extensions) from the Microsoft Store. After that, Photos and Paint can open HEIC files, and you can use Save as to store a JPG copy. For many files, an online converter is quicker.
Which quality setting should I pick?
For sharing and the web, quality 80 to 90 gives a good balance. For printing or further editing, choose 95 or higher, or convert to PNG to avoid a second round of lossy compression. Photos converted from HEIC keep their resolution unless you set a smaller width.
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Frequently asked questions
Does converting HEIC to JPG reduce quality?
A small amount, because JPG is also lossy. At quality 90 the difference is rarely visible. The file will be larger than the HEIC.
Are Live Photos kept?
Only the still image is converted. The short video part of a Live Photo is not included.
Is location data kept?
The converter removes metadata such as GPS position from the output for privacy.