HEIC to JPG — iPhone photos that open everywhere
Drop in a photo, pick a format, take the file. We convert the colour to ordinary sRGB, apply the rotation the camera recorded, and strip metadata along with the coordinates.
- Formats
- 6HEIC, JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, GIF
- Location
- Strippednone of it stays in the file
- HEIC
- HEIF
- JPEG
- PNG
- WebP
- TIFF
- GIF
Why convert HEIC to JPG
A photo from an iPhone looks perfect on the iPhone and then refuses to open almost everywhere else: Windows Photos, an older editor, the upload form on a classifieds site, a document management system. Nothing is wrong with the picture — the container around it is the problem, and converting to a format everyone reads solves it.
How it works
Three steps with nothing in between:
- Upload the photo — drag it into the field or pick it from the dialog. On an iPhone, open Photos straight from that dialog;
- Pick a format. JPG is the default: it opens everywhere and weighs the least;
- Take the file. Conversion takes a fraction of a second and the download starts on its own.
Why iPhones shoot HEIC at all
HEIC is a container in which the photo is compressed by HEVC, a video codec. The approach is unusual but pays off: at the same quality the file takes about half the space of a JPEG. On a phone, where storage runs out and photos number in the thousands, that difference is real — which is why Apple made it the default in iOS 11.
Compatibility is what paid for it. JPEG is read by anything that can display a picture, including hardware from a decade ago. HEIC is read by the Apple ecosystem and some modern software, and there the list ends.
Why Windows asks you to pay for an extension
What blocks HEIC is not the container but the HEVC codec inside it: it is patent-encumbered and carries royalties. Microsoft chose not to bundle support, so the Photos app offers to sell you an extension from the store instead.
Converting removes the question entirely: JPG needs no extension and no payment on any system.
The same reasoning makes this converter one-way. We can read HEIC, and we will not write it: encoding relies on that same patented codec.
How to open a HEIC file without converting it
When you only need to look at the photo rather than hand it to someone, converting is optional — what works depends on the system:
- Windows 11 — Photos and Paint usually open HEIC on their own, with nothing to install;
- Windows 10 — the system offers an extension from the store. Only the part handling the container is free; Microsoft charges for the HEVC decoder, without which the photo will not decompress;
- macOS and iOS — open HEIC out of the box, it is the system’s native format;
- Android — version 10 and later show HEIC in the gallery; older ones need a third-party viewer;
- Free viewers — XnView MP and FastStone Image Viewer read HEIC on any Windows, store aside.
Dragging the file into a browser window, the trick the internet likes to recommend, does not always help: Safari displays HEIC, Chrome on Windows does not. More to the point, none of this solves the original problem if the file has to go to someone else or into an upload form — there it meets their software, not yours.
Getting photos off an iPhone as JPG
- To shoot JPEG from the start: Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. It changes nothing about photos already taken, and new ones will take about twice the space;
- To convert on transfer: Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic. Connect the cable and what lands on the computer is JPEG rather than HEIC;
- If the photos are already on the computer as HEIC, phone settings cannot fix that after the fact — converting is what is left, and the form above does exactly that.
Why colours fade in many converters
Since the iPhone 7 the camera captures in Display P3, a colour space noticeably wider than the familiar sRGB, especially across reds and greens. The file holds a set of numbers and a note saying which space to read them in.
A converter that simply moves those numbers into a JPG produces an image where the values stayed the same but the interpretation switched to sRGB. A vivid sunset turns flat, greenery turns thin. The file is technically valid, and nothing in it reveals what happened — you only see the result.
We recalculate the colour using the profile embedded in the photo, and we do not carry that profile into the result. The second part matters as much as the first: leaving the profile attached to already recalculated numbers makes the viewer apply the conversion a second time, and the picture drifts further than if the colour had been left alone.
Why photos sometimes come out sideways
Cameras nearly always write the pixels in one fixed orientation and record how to turn them as a separate flag in the metadata. While the flag is read, everything is fine. The moment a program ignores it, a portrait shot lies on its side.
We apply the rotation to the pixels themselves before converting. The result is upright even where metadata is never consulted — and after us there is nothing to consult, because we remove it.
What happens to the metadata
EXIF, XMP and GPS coordinates are stripped from the result, leaving only the picture. That is deliberate rather than incidental: a phone photo carries the place it was taken to within a building, the date, the device model and the camera settings, and all of it travels with the file into a chat or onto a website.
- Removed: GPS coordinates, capture date and time, phone and lens model, exposure settings, serial numbers, the embedded preview thumbnail;
- Kept: the image and its dimensions. Orientation has already been applied to the pixels by then, so only the flag is lost, not the rotation.
The trade-off is plain: if you needed that metadata — for a photo catalogue, or to evidence where a shot was taken — keep the original. It cannot be recovered from the result.
Which format to choose
| Format | Size | Opens on | Transparency | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HEIC | half of JPG | Apple hardware and some recent software | yes | storing photos on the phone |
| JPG | the baseline | everywhere, without exception | no | photographs and anything you send on |
| PNG | several times heavier on photos | everywhere | yes | screenshots, graphics, images with text |
| WebP | a quarter lighter than JPG | every current browser | yes | images for a website |
Pick JPG when in doubt. A photograph in PNG comes out several times heavier and gains nothing — lossless compression earns its keep on hard edges and text, not on a sunset. WebP wins on size, but older software and some editors still do not read it, so sending one to a stranger is a gamble.
What happens to your files
The photo you upload never reaches the disk: it lives in memory for exactly as long as the conversion runs. The result is written to disk because it has to be handed to you, and is deleted by age — roughly half an hour later, whether you collected it or changed your mind.
The link to the finished file is signed and lives as long as the file does. It cannot be guessed, and once the time is up it stops working along with the file. We keep no download history and ask for no account — the site has no accounts at all.
What is HEIC and why does my iPhone use it?
HEIC is a container holding an image compressed with the HEVC codec. At the same quality it takes roughly half the space of a JPEG, which is why Apple made it the default in iOS 11. The cost is compatibility: outside Apple's ecosystem these files often will not open at all.
Why will HEIC not open on Windows?
Windows support for HEIC depends on the HEVC codec, which Microsoft does not ship by default because of patent royalties — hence the Photos app asking you to buy an extension. Converting to JPG removes the problem entirely: every program reads JPG with no add-ons.
How do I make my iPhone shoot JPG instead?
Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. From then on the camera records JPEG. Photos you have already taken stay HEIC and still need converting, and expect the new ones to take about twice the storage.
Why do colours look washed out after other converters?
iPhones capture in the wide Display P3 colour space, while browsers and Windows assume a JPEG is sRGB. A converter that copies the numbers across without recalculating between the two leaves vivid reds and greens looking faded. We convert the colour using the profile embedded in the photo, so the result matches what you saw on the phone.
Why do some converters leave the photo on its side?
Cameras almost always store the pixels in one orientation and keep the rotation as a separate flag in the metadata. Software that ignores that flag — or drops it along with the metadata — shows the photo rotated. We apply the rotation to the pixels themselves before converting, so the file is upright even where the flag is never read.
Does the location data stay in the file?
No. EXIF, XMP and GPS coordinates are stripped completely — only the picture remains. That matters when a photo goes into a chat or onto a website: the place it was taken, the phone model and the date do not travel with it. The trade-off is that if you needed the metadata, keep the original.
Is the conversion lossless?
It depends on the target. PNG is lossless, though the file comes out much heavier. JPG and WebP are re-compressed: we save at quality 90, where the difference from the original is not visible to the eye. HEIC is itself already lossy, so no conversion can bring back what it discarded.
How many files can I convert at once?
One at a time: pick a photo, take the result, then upload the next one. There is no cap on how many rounds you make.
What does HEIC stand for?
High Efficiency Image Container — a container for images compressed with high efficiency. You will also see HEIF nearby: that is the name of the standard itself, and HEIC is the variant where the picture is compressed with the HEVC codec.
HEIC or JPEG — which is better?
For storage on the phone, HEIC: at the same quality it takes about half the space. For anything leaving the phone, JPEG: every program opens it, and plenty of them cannot open HEIC. The choice is not about quality but between saving space and being readable everywhere.
What is the file size limit?
64 MB, which phone photos clear easily: a typical HEIC runs 2–4 MB, and even a 48-megapixel shot rarely passes 10 MB.
What happens to my file after converting?
The original is never written to disk — it exists in memory only while the conversion runs. The result is kept for about half an hour so you can collect it, then deleted by age whether or not it was downloaded.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in the browser, the same way on a computer, a phone and a tablet. No extensions, no desktop software, no account.
Does this work on the iPhone itself?
Yes. In the file dialog pick Photos or Browse and select the shot. The finished file lands in Safari's Downloads, from where you can move it to Files or save it back to your library.
Can I convert back, from JPG to HEIC?
No, and that is deliberate. The HEVC codec inside HEIC is patent-encumbered, and encoding into it would carry licensing obligations. Reading HEIC we can and do; writing it we will not.