How to Convert HEIC to JPG

Learn how to convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG — a quick guide to exporting compatible images right on your Apple device.

What is HEIC?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the default photo format on iPhones and iPads since iOS 11. It stores photos at roughly half the size of a JPG with no visible quality loss — great for your device, but awkward elsewhere. Many websites reject HEIC uploads, Windows needs an extra codec to open them, and most browsers can't display them at all.

Why convert.now doesn't convert HEIC in your browser

Reading a HEIC file means decoding HEVC, which is covered by patent licensing that free software can't ship. Rather than bundle a licensed decoder, we leave HEIC to the device that took the photo — every Apple device already has a fully licensed decoder built in, so converting there takes seconds and gives the best quality.

On iPhone or iPad

Stop shooting HEIC: open Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos save as JPG.

Export an existing photo: in Photos, select the photo, tap Share, then Copy Photoor save to Files — iOS converts HEIC to JPG automatically when sharing to apps that need it.

On a Mac

Open the file in Preview, choose File → Export, set the format to JPEG, and save. To convert many at once, select them in Finder, right-click, and use Quick Actions → Convert Image.

Already have JPGs or other formats?

Once your photos are out of HEIC, convert.now can resize, recompress, or convert between PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, and more — all privately in your browser. Head to the image converter.

01 — Overview

How it works

Apple stores iPhone photos as HEIC by default — a smaller format than JPG, but one that most Windows machines, websites, and editing tools can't open. Decoding HEIC means decoding HEVC, which is patent-encumbered, so convert.now doesn't decode HEIC in the browser. The best place to convert a HEIC photo is on the Apple device that took it, where a fully licensed decoder is already built in. This guide walks through the fastest ways to do that on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

02 — Use cases

When to use it

  1. 01

    Convert iPhone photos to JPG for a Windows PC

  2. 02

    Make HEIC photos uploadable to a website that rejects them

  3. 03

    Email a HEIC photo to someone who can't view it

03 — Examples

Real input, real output

04 — FAQ

Frequently asked

iPhones default to HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) on iOS 11 and later because the files are roughly half the size of JPG at equivalent quality. The downside is that HEIC isn't natively supported on Windows, on most websites, or in older software. If you want your iPhone to capture JPG instead, go to Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible.

05 — More

Tools that pair well

Image Converter

Convert between PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, TIFF, BMP, GIF, SVG, ICO, and HDR — instantly, in your browser. No upload. No waiting. Free for unlimited files.

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Image Compressor

Compress PNG, JPG, and WebP images without changing format. Privacy-preserving — runs in your browser, not on a server.

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Images to PDF Converter

Combine JPG, PNG, and WebP images into a single PDF. Drag to reorder, pick a page size, download. No upload, ever.

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