HEIC to JPG Converter

HEIC is the photo format iPhones use by default, and while it keeps files small, many websites, upload forms, Windows programs and online shops will not accept it. Our free HEIC to JPG converter turns iPhone HEIC and HEIF photos into JPG or PNG directly in your browser. Choose a quality level, convert a whole batch at once and download the results one by one or as a ZIP. Nothing is uploaded, and the converted files do not carry over the original metadata such as GPS location, which makes them safer to share.

How to use the HEIC to JPG

1. 1 Get the HEIC files onto your deviceCopy the photos from your iPhone to your computer, or use the converter directly on the phone. Files usually end in .heic or .heif.
2. 2 Add the photos to the converterDrop the HEIC files onto the tool or pick them from your files. You can add a batch in one go.
3. 3 Choose JPG or PNGJPG is the right choice for almost every photo: small files that open anywhere. Choose PNG only if a system specifically asks for it or you plan to edit the image heavily.
4. 4 Set the qualityFor JPG, a quality around 85 to 90 keeps photos looking as good as the original. Lower it if you need smaller files for email or upload limits.
5. 5 Download your JPGsDownload each converted photo, or grab them all at once as a ZIP file.

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. It is Apple's use of HEIF, the High Efficiency Image File Format, and it has been the default photo format on iPhones since iOS 11 in 2017 when the camera is set to High Efficiency. It uses modern compression to store photos at roughly half the size of an equivalent JPG, which saves a lot of storage on a phone.

The catch is compatibility. JPG has been around since the early 1990s and opens everywhere. HEIC support is patchier: many website builders, booking systems, job portals, marketplace listings and council or insurance claim forms only accept JPG or PNG. Some versions of Windows need an extra extension from the Microsoft Store to open HEIC files at all, and older software simply shows an error.

When you need to convert HEIC to JPG

Typical situations for UK businesses and individuals include:

• Uploading job photos to a website, Google Business Profile, trade directory or social media scheduler that rejects HEIC.
• Adding product photos taken on an iPhone to an online shop or marketplace listing.
• Sending photos to a client, accountant, insurer or letting agent who uses Windows.
• Attaching evidence photos to official forms that list JPG or PNG as the only accepted types.
• Putting photos into Word documents, PDFs or slide decks on software that cannot read HEIC.

Location data and privacy

iPhone photos normally carry EXIF metadata: the date and time, the phone model, camera settings and, if location services are on for the Camera, the exact GPS coordinates where the photo was taken. Share an original photo of a customer's home, your own house or a child's school event, and you may be sharing a precise address as well.

Our converter does not copy this metadata into the JPG or PNG it creates. The converted file contains the picture and nothing else, which is a useful privacy step before posting photos publicly or sending them to people outside your business. If you do need the original date or location for your records, keep the HEIC originals.

The conversion also happens entirely in your browser. Your photos are never uploaded to MakeItFlow or anyone else, which matters when they show people, homes or documents and you want to keep things simple under UK GDPR.

Live Photos, bursts and multi-image HEIC files

A HEIC file can hold more than one image, for example extra frames, thumbnails or depth information used by Portrait mode. The converter extracts the primary image, which is the photo you see in the Photos app, and turns that into a JPG or PNG.

Live Photos are stored as a HEIC still plus a separate short video file. Converting the HEIC gives you the still photo; the motion part is not included. If you want to keep the movement, export it from the Photos app as a video instead.

Stopping your iPhone saving HEIC in the first place

If you regularly need JPGs, you can change the iPhone camera setting. Go to Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPG, but they will take up more storage space on your phone.

There is also a transfer setting. In Settings, then Photos, the Transfer to Mac or PC option set to Automatic tells the iPhone to convert photos to a compatible format when you copy them to a computer over a cable. This only applies to cable transfers, so files sent by other routes, such as cloud storage or some messaging apps, may still arrive as HEIC. For anything already saved as HEIC, the converter is the quickest fix.

Getting converted photos ready for your website

iPhone photos are large: usually around 4000 pixels wide. That is fine for print, but far bigger than any web page needs. After converting, run the JPGs through our image resizer to bring them down to 1600 or 2000 pixels wide, or use our image compressor, which can cap the width and convert to WebP for even smaller files.

Lighter images make pages load faster, which helps Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), the Core Web Vital that measures how quickly the main content of a page appears. Our free website audit will show you if oversized images are still slowing your site down.

Converting HEIC on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone

Because the converter runs in a web browser, the same steps work on any device: a Windows laptop in the office, a Mac at home, an Android tablet or the iPhone that took the photos. There is no software to install and nothing to configure.

On an iPhone, open the converter in Safari, tap to add files and choose photos from your library or the Files app. On Windows, copy the photos from the phone or from iCloud Photos to a folder first, then drop them onto the page. Converted files land in your usual downloads folder.

Macs can open and export HEIC natively through Preview and the Photos app, and the built-in sips command shown below can convert files in Terminal. The browser tool is often quicker for a mixed batch, and it gives you JPG files without location metadata, ready to send to colleagues or clients on any system.

JPG or PNG: which output to choose

For almost every iPhone photo, JPG is the right choice. Photos are full of gradual changes in colour and light, which JPG compresses very efficiently, so a converted picture at quality 85 to 90 looks the same as the original while staying a sensible size for email, forms and websites.

PNG is lossless, which means no detail is thrown away, but a photo saved as PNG is often several times larger than the same photo as JPG. Choose PNG only when you plan to edit the image further and want to avoid any compression along the way, or when you are converting screenshots and graphics with sharp text. If the photo is heading for a website, you can convert to JPG here and then use our image converter to make a WebP copy, which is usually smaller again.

Examples you can copy

Keeping or printing photos     JPG, quality 90-95
Website or social media        JPG, quality 80-85, then resize to 1600-2000 px
Email or upload with a limit   JPG, quality 70-80
Heavy editing to follow        PNG (lossless, much larger files)

sips -s format jpeg IMG_1234.HEIC --out IMG_1234.jpg

heif-convert -q 90 IMG_1234.HEIC IMG_1234.jpg

Save new photos as JPG:
  Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible

Convert automatically when copying to a computer by cable:
  Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC > Automatic

Common mistakes to avoid

Frequently asked questions