How to convert HEIC to JPG
- Add your HEIC photos. Drop them anywhere on the page, or click the box and choose files. You can select a whole folder's worth at once.
- Leave Convert HEIC to on JPG, or choose PNG if you need a lossless file.
- Press Convert. Every row shows the old and the new file size when it is done.
- Download with the link on a row, or use Download all as ZIP when you converted several.
Each result keeps the photo's name with a new ending, so IMG_2041.HEIC becomes IMG_2041.jpg. Your original HEIC files are not changed or removed.
Why a photo is HEIC in the first place
HEIC (a kind of HEIF file) is the format an iPhone or iPad uses for photos when the camera is set to High Efficiency, which is the default. It keeps a similar-looking picture in a smaller file than JPEG, so more photos fit on the phone. The cost is compatibility: many websites refuse to take a HEIC upload, older Windows programs cannot open it, and some printing and editing tools do not know it. A JPG works almost everywhere, which is why people convert.
Our HEIC vs JPEG guide explains the differences in more detail and how to stop your phone from making HEIC files in the first place.
What to expect from the result
- Quality. Under Quality, a slider runs from 50 to 100 and starts at 92. At that setting a photo looks the same as the HEIC at normal viewing size. Lower numbers make smaller files with more visible loss; keep 92 or higher for photos you care about.
- Colors. The HEIC is decoded without loss, and only the last step compresses the picture. We compared the decoder with macOS and with a current libheif on HEIC files made by Apple software, and the colors agreed to within about one level out of 255. An older HEIC decoder we tried first was off by six to ten levels and clipped bright areas, so we did not use it. Wide-gamut Display P3 color profiles are not carried over, so very saturated colors can look slightly different.
- Size and shape. The picture keeps its full pixel size, and the rotation of the phone is applied, so photos taken sideways open upright.
- File size. A JPG is usually bigger than the HEIC it came from, because JPEG is the less efficient format. Choose a lower quality, or shrink the pixels with the image resizer, if the files are too large.
- Transparency. HEIC photos rarely have any. If one does, JPG fills it with white (or the color you choose), and PNG keeps it.
What is not converted
- Camera details and location. Dates, camera settings and the GPS location stored in the photo are not copied to the JPG, because the new file is a fresh picture. That protects your privacy when you share the result, but it also means that photo apps which sort by the date inside the file will not know when the picture was taken. If you need that data, convert on your phone or computer instead.
- Live Photos become one still picture: the short video is not converted.
- Bursts and multi-image files. If one HEIC file holds several pictures, the first one is converted.
- Extra data such as depth maps and HDR information is not carried over: you get an ordinary picture.
The first photo takes a little longer
Safari can open HEIC itself, so there the conversion needs nothing extra. Other browsers cannot, so the first time you add a HEIC photo the page downloads a decoder of about 3 MB, and only then. It is libheif, an open-source HEIC library (LGPL-3.0), packaged for the browser as heic-to. After it is loaded, the rest of your photos convert without another download. If the page says it could not load the decoder, check your connection and try again.
Other ways to convert HEIC
- On the iPhone, when you share. In Settings → Photos, under Transfer to Mac or PC, Automatic converts photos to JPEG when you transfer them to a computer, according to Apple's own notes on the setting, while Keep Originals leaves them as HEIC.
- On the iPhone, going forward. Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible makes the camera save JPEG. The photos take more space.
- On a Mac, open a photo in Preview and choose File → Export, then pick JPEG, or export from the Photos app.
- On Windows, newer versions of Windows 11 can open HEIC in the Photos app. Older ones need the HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and the HEVC one has been a paid add-on in some regions.
This page is for the times when you have a pile of HEIC files and just want JPGs, without installing anything. For other kinds of conversion, such as PNG or WebP to JPG, see the image converter.
Privacy
The conversion happens in this tab, and the files on your disk are never changed or deleted. For what the site collects, see our privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert HEIC to JPG for free?
Drop your HEIC photos on this page, leave the type on JPG, and press Convert. Then download each file or the whole batch as a ZIP. Nothing needs to be installed.
Can I convert many HEIC files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like, and press Convert once. Download them one by one or all together as a ZIP. Every finished picture is held in memory until you download it, so very large folders are better done in groups, especially on a phone.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
A little, in principle, because JPG is a lossy format. At the default quality of 92 the difference is hard to see at normal size. If you need a lossless copy, choose PNG, and expect a much larger file.
Why does my photo not convert?
The most common reason is that the page could not download the HEIC decoder, which it says. Check your connection and try again. Very large photos can also fail if your browser runs out of memory: convert them in smaller groups. A file that is not really a HEIC photo, such as a renamed copy, may also be refused.
Will the JPG keep the date and location of the photo?
No. The converted file does not carry the camera details, date or GPS location of the original, which is good for privacy and bad if you need that information. The original HEIC is not changed, so you still have it.
Can I turn HEIC into PNG instead?
Yes. Choose PNG under Convert HEIC to. PNG is lossless and keeps transparency, but the files are usually much larger than JPG.