What Is a HEIC File and How to Open It on Windows
A HEIC file is a photo saved in Apple's High Efficiency format, the default camera format on iPhones and iPads. It looks like any other photo on your phone, but many Windows PCs, websites and older apps refuse to open it. This guide explains what HEIC is, how to open it on Windows, Mac and Android, and when it makes sense to convert it to JPG.
What is a HEIC file?
HEIC is the file extension Apple uses for images stored in HEIF, the High Efficiency Image File Format. HEIF was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), the same group behind many video standards. Inside a HEIC file, the picture is usually compressed with HEVC, also known as H.265, a video codec that keeps a lot of detail in a small file.
Apple made HEIC the default photo format with iOS 11 in 2017, and macOS High Sierra added support on the Mac the same year. Since then, every iPhone set to the High Efficiency camera option saves its photos as HEIC instead of JPG.
Why Apple uses HEIC
The main reason is storage. A HEIC photo usually takes noticeably less space than a JPG of similar visual quality. The same phone can hold more pictures, and backups to iCloud finish sooner.
The format can also store things a classic JPG cannot:
- Higher color depth than the 8 bits per channel of a standard JPG, which helps smooth skies and gradients.
- Extra image data, such as the depth map that lets you change the background blur of a Portrait mode photo after you take it.
- Transparency, through an alpha channel.
- Several images in one container, for example image sequences.
The downside: compatibility
JPG has worked on practically every device since the 1990s. HEIC is much newer, and support depends on the operating system, the app and sometimes an extra codec. Many upload forms still accept only JPG or PNG, so a HEIC photo may simply be rejected as an unsupported file.
How to open a HEIC file on Windows
Windows 10 and Windows 11 can display HEIC photos, but often not out of the box. You have three practical options, depending on whether you only want to look at the photos or need to share them.
Option 1: Install the HEIF Image Extensions
- Open the Microsoft Store and search for HEIF Image Extensions.
- Install it. It is free and published by Microsoft.
- If the photos still do not open, also install HEVC Video Extensions. Microsoft charges a small fee for it, although some PCs come with it already installed by the manufacturer.
- Open the HEIC file in the Photos app. Thumbnails should now appear in File Explorer as well.
This lets you view the photos on your own PC. It does not help when you need to email them to someone else or upload them to a website that wants JPG.
Option 2: Convert HEIC to JPG in your browser
If you just need a normal image file, converting is the quickest route. Open the HEIC to JPG converter, drop in one or many HEIC files, and download the JPG copies one by one or all together as a ZIP.
FileKiwi decodes HEIC inside your browser with the open source libheif decoder, so your photos are not uploaded to a server. There is no signup and no watermark, and each file can be up to 50 MB.
Option 3: Get JPG files from the iPhone directly
You can also make the iPhone deliver JPG files in the first place. The settings for that are explained further down in this guide.
How to open HEIC on Mac, iPhone and Android
Mac
Macs running macOS High Sierra or later open HEIC in Preview and Photos with no extra software. To save a JPG copy, open the photo in Preview, choose File > Export, pick JPEG as the format and click Save.
iPhone and iPad
HEIC photos open normally in the Photos app. When you share a photo with an app or service that does not understand HEIC, iOS often converts it to a compatible format automatically, but not every app triggers this.
Android
Android added support for HEIF images in Android 9, so most recent phones can show HEIC files in Google Photos or the built in gallery. Older phones and some apps still cannot, and that is when a conversion helps.
How to stop your iPhone from saving HEIC
If you often move photos to a Windows PC, two iPhone settings make life easier.
- Camera format: go to Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPG. The tradeoff is that they use more storage.
- Transfer setting: go to Settings > Photos and, under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic. The iPhone then converts photos to a compatible format when you copy them to a computer with a cable.
Neither setting changes photos you have already taken. For those, a converter is the simplest fix.
Should you convert HEIC to JPG?
Keep HEIC when the photos stay inside the Apple world, for example in iCloud Photos, on your iPhone and on your Mac. You save space and lose nothing.
Convert to JPG when:
- A website, government portal or job application form only accepts JPG or PNG.
- You are sending photos to friends or colleagues who use Windows PCs or older phones.
- You want to edit the photo in software that does not read HEIC.
- You are printing at a photo shop or kiosk that asks for JPG.
Need a PDF instead, for example to send several receipts in one file? The HEIC to PDF tool turns your iPhone photos into the pages of a single PDF. For design work that needs lossless quality, HEIC to PNG is the better choice, although PNG files are much larger.
What happens to quality and metadata
JPG uses lossy compression, so converting does discard a tiny amount of information. At the FileKiwi default quality of 92%, the difference is very hard to see. You can raise the quality slider for even more detail or lower it for smaller files.
Photo orientation is applied, so portrait shots stay upright. Metadata such as your GPS location is not copied into the new JPG, which is a nice privacy bonus when you post photos online.
If the JPG files are still too large for an upload form, run them through the image compressor, or read our guide on how to reduce photo size to 20 KB or 50 KB.
HEIC vs JPG at a glance
| Feature | HEIC | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| File size at similar quality | Smaller | Larger |
| Compatibility | Apple devices, plus Windows and Android with support installed | Almost every device, app and website |
| Color depth | More than 8 bits per channel possible | 8 bits per channel |
| Transparency | Supported | Not supported |
| Best for | Storing photos on iPhone and Mac | Sharing, uploading and printing |
Other modern formats make similar tradeoffs between size and compatibility. Our comparison of WebP vs PNG vs JPG and the explainer on what AVIF is cover the web side of the story.
FAQ
Is HEIC better than JPG?
HEIC stores similar visual quality in a smaller file and supports extras such as higher color depth and transparency. JPG wins on compatibility, because nearly every device, app and website opens it. For storage on Apple devices HEIC is better, while JPG is the safer choice for sharing and uploading.
Why can't I open a HEIC file on Windows?
Windows needs the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and on some PCs also the HEVC Video Extensions, to show HEIC photos. Without them the Photos app shows an error. If you prefer not to install anything, convert the files to JPG in your browser instead.
Does converting HEIC to JPG reduce quality?
JPG is a lossy format, so a small amount of data is lost when you convert. At a high quality setting such as 92%, which is the FileKiwi default, the difference is almost impossible to see in normal viewing. Keep the original HEIC files if you want a perfect archive.
Are my photos uploaded when I convert HEIC on FileKiwi?
No. FileKiwi decodes HEIC photos inside your browser with the libheif decoder, so the images stay on your device. The JPG files are created locally and you download them directly. There is no account to create and no watermark on the results.
