How-to
How to Convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone, Mac and Windows (Free)
Four ways to turn iPhone HEIC photos into JPG: online in any browser, on the iPhone itself, with Preview on a Mac and on Windows 10 or 11 - plus how to stop your iPhone saving HEIC.
· 2 min read · ConvertPixels Team
HEIC is the photo format iPhones and iPads use by default. It keeps files small, but Windows PCs, many Android apps, older software and plenty of upload forms can't open it. Converting HEIC to JPG gives you a photo that works everywhere.
Convert HEIC to JPG online (any device)
The quickest way, and the only one that works the same on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Chromebook:
- Open the HEIC to JPG converter.
- Drop in your HEIC photos - up to 30 at a time.
- Press Convert and download each JPG, or all of them as a ZIP.
Nothing to install, no account and no watermark. Need a lossless copy for editing? Use HEIC to PNG instead. Sending scans or receipts? HEIC to PDF puts them in one document.
On iPhone: let iOS convert for you
iOS turns HEIC into JPG automatically in a few situations:
- When you attach photos to an email in the Mail app.
- When you copy photos to a computer over USB with Settings › Photos › Transfer to Mac or PC set to Automatic.
There's no button in the Photos app to save a JPG copy, though. To convert photos on the phone itself, open the online converter in Safari - it picks photos straight from your library.
On a Mac: Preview
- Open the HEIC file in Preview.
- Choose File › Export.
- Set Format to JPEG, choose the quality and click Save.
To convert several photos, open them together in Preview, select all the thumbnails in the sidebar and choose File › Export Selected Images.
On Windows 10 and 11
Windows can only open HEIC files after you install Microsoft's HEIF Image Extensions (and, on some PCs, the paid HEVC Video Extensions). Once they're installed:
- Open the photo in the Photos app.
- Click … › Save as and choose .jpg.
If you don't want to install codecs, the online converter does the job without them.
Stop your iPhone saving HEIC
If you'd rather get JPGs from the start:
- Open Settings › Camera › Formats.
- Choose Most Compatible.
New photos will be JPG. They take roughly twice the storage, so this is worth it only if you move photos to non-Apple devices often.
HEIC or JPG: which should you keep?
Keep the HEIC originals in your iPhone library - they're smaller and hold more color detail. Convert to JPG when a photo leaves the Apple world: uploading to a website, sending to a Windows user, printing at a store kiosk or attaching to an application form.
FAQ