Free HEIC to JPG Converter — Open iPhone Photos Anywhere
Drop in the HEIC files your iPhone produced and take JPG or PNG out. The conversion runs inside this page, so the photographs never leave your device — which matters more here than for most converters, because camera files carry location data. Convert a whole batch at once, set the quality, and download them individually or as a ZIP.
Why iPhone photos will not open on Windows
Since iOS 11 an iPhone saves photographs as HEIC rather than JPG. The format holds roughly the same picture in about half the space, which is why Apple moved to it, and it is the reason a phone can hold tens of thousands of photos. The cost is that a great deal of software has never learned to read one.
Windows will open HEIC only if the HEIF Image Extensions package from the Microsoft Store is installed. Plenty of Android phones, older photo editors, print shops and web upload forms simply reject the file. Nothing is wrong with the photograph; it is written in a container the other program does not know.
Converting to JPG solves that permanently. JPG is the most widely readable image format there is, and every piece of software that handles pictures at all can open one.
JPG or PNG, and what quality to pick
JPG for almost everything: sharing, uploading, emailing, printing. It is smaller and opens everywhere. PNG only if the image is going to be edited again and you want to avoid another lossy pass — for a photograph it will produce a file several times larger with no visible improvement.
On quality, 90% is a sensible default and the difference from the original is not visible on a screen. Going to 100% mostly adds bytes rather than detail. Below about 70% you start to see it, first in flat areas of sky and skin.
Worth being clear about what conversion can and cannot do: HEIC is itself a lossy format, so the picture has already been compressed once. Converting adds a second pass. It cannot recover detail the phone discarded, and no setting will make a converted file sharper than the HEIC it came from.
- JPG at 90% — the right answer for sharing and uploading
- PNG — only when the image will be edited again
- Neither can recover detail HEIC already discarded
Location data and privacy
A photograph taken on a phone usually carries EXIF metadata: where it was taken to within a few metres, which device took it, and when. That travels with the file when you send it.
Because the conversion redraws the image from pixels, none of that metadata survives into the JPG. If you are about to post a photograph publicly that is a useful side effect; if you were relying on the location for your own records, export it before converting.
The files themselves are never uploaded. Decoding and re-encoding both happen in this browser tab, there is no account, and nothing is stored after you close it.
Converting a whole camera roll
Select as many files as you like in one go — there is no limit and no queue, because nothing is waiting on a server. Each file is converted in turn and the progress is shown per photo.
Download them one at a time, or take the whole set as a single ZIP. The converted files keep their original names with the new extension, so a batch stays recognisable.
HEIF files work identically. HEIF is the underlying format and HEIC is Apple's name for it; both are handled the same way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is HEIC and why do iPhones use it?
HEIC is the container Apple has saved photographs in by default since iOS 11. It holds roughly the same picture as a JPG in about half the space, which is why Apple adopted it — a phone with 40GB of photos gets a lot more room. The trade is compatibility: Windows, most Android phones and a great deal of older software still cannot open one.
Why will my iPhone photos not open on Windows?
Because they are HEIC files, and Windows only reads them if the HEIF extension from the Microsoft Store is installed. Nothing is wrong with the photo. Converting it to JPG makes it open everywhere without installing anything, which is what this page does.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
A little, in the same way any JPG does. HEIC is itself a lossy format, so the picture has already been compressed once; re-encoding it as JPG adds a second pass. At 90% quality the difference is not visible on a screen. Choose PNG if you want no further loss at all — the file will be considerably larger.
Should I convert to JPG or PNG?
JPG for anything you are sharing, uploading or emailing: it is smaller and opens everywhere. PNG only if the image will be edited again and you want to avoid another lossy pass. For a photograph PNG will typically produce a file several times the size with no visible gain.
Can I convert several HEIC files at once?
Yes. Drop in as many as you like and convert them in one pass, then download them individually or take the whole set as a ZIP. There is no limit and no queue, because the work happens on your own machine rather than on a server.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. The decoding and re-encoding both happen inside the browser tab. The photo never leaves your device, nothing is stored, and no account exists. That matters more here than for most converters — camera photographs carry location data and are often personal.
Does converting remove the location and camera data?
Yes. The image is redrawn from pixels, so EXIF metadata — GPS coordinates, camera model, timestamp — does not survive into the converted file. That is usually welcome before posting a photo publicly, and worth knowing if you were relying on it.
What about HEIF files?
HEIF is the same underlying format; HEIC is Apple's name for it. Both are handled the same way here, and both convert to JPG or PNG.