How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows

HEIC is the High Efficiency Image format that iPhones have used for photos since iOS 11. It stores photos more compactly than JPG, and some Android phones can save it too.

Outside Apple's world, support is patchier: some upload forms reject HEIC, older photo software can't open it, and Windows needs extra codecs first. JPG opens everywhere, which is why it's still the safe format to send.

HEIC photos are compressed with HEVC, a video codec, so Windows needs two extensions from the Microsoft Store to show them: HEIF Image Extensions, which is free, and HEVC Video Extensions, which is paid in most regions. With only the HEIF extension installed, .heic files still won't open.

Once both are in place, the Photos app opens HEIC photos like any other picture. AVIF images need the AV1 Video Extension in the same way. File Acture reads HEIC and AVIF through these same Windows codecs, the ones the Photos app uses, so install them first if Windows can't show your photos.

With the extensions installed, Photos and Paint can each save a HEIC photo as a JPG, one photo at a time, and an iPhone can do the conversion itself as you copy photos over.

• Photos: open the photo, click See more (…), choose Save as, pick JPG as the file type and save. The HEIC original stays as it was.
• Paint: open the photo and choose File > Save as > JPEG picture. There is no quality setting.
• iPhone, while copying: in Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic, and the iPhone converts photos to JPG as you copy them to your PC with a cable.
• iPhone, from now on: Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible makes new photos JPG from the start.

File Acture's Convert Images turns a batch of HEIC photos into JPG with one quality setting, on your PC.

Choose JPEG under Format and set Quality; 85 is the default. Keep metadata is off by default, so camera details and location are removed, while color profiles are always kept so colors don't shift. Photos are turned upright using their orientation tag, and each JPG keeps the original file name.

The same tool also converts to PNG and WebP, and it reads TIFF, GIF and BMP files as well as HEIC and AVIF. The new files go to the folder you pick under Save to, and the originals stay as they were.

The default of 85 is a sensible middle ground for photos: hard to tell apart from the original on screen, without wasting space.

Go up to 90 or more for prints and photos you'll edit again, and down to 70 or 75 for images that only need to look good on a web page. If a site sets a file-size limit, skip the guessing and use a target size instead.

When you convert HEIC to JPG, check what happens to file size, pixel dimensions, metadata and transparency.

• File size: a JPG is usually larger than the HEIC it came from. To hit a limit, use Compress Images with a target such as 500 KB.
• Pixel size: to make photos smaller for email or the web, resize them in bulk.
• Metadata: Keep metadata copies camera details where it can, but File Acture doesn't carry EXIF over from HEIC and AVIF files yet.
• Transparency: JPG has none, so transparent areas in PNG or WebP files turn white.
• Batches: the free version converts up to 5 photos per run, with 3 runs on each PC; see pricing for Pro.

Online converters upload your photos, and iPhone photos often carry the exact place they were taken. File Acture converts on your PC and removes location data by default, so neither the photo nor where you took it leaves your hands. For JPGs you already have, Remove Metadata strips the location without re-encoding them.

If the JPG is for a form, it probably has a KB limit too: pixel and KB limits, explained.