How to Open iPhone HEIC Photos on Windows and Android
You copy photos from an iPhone to a Windows laptop or send them to a friend with an Android phone, and they won't open, or they show up as files ending in .heic. Nothing is broken: the photos are simply in a format that not every device understands yet. Here is what is going on and the quickest ways to fix it.
What is a HEIC file?
HEIC is the file type Apple uses for photos taken with the iPhone camera since iOS 11. It stores the picture with modern compression (the same family of technology as HEVC video), so a HEIC photo is usually much smaller than a JPG of the same quality. That saves a lot of space on your phone.
The downside is compatibility. Apple devices open HEIC without any trouble, but:
- Windows needs an extra codec to show HEIC files, which is not always installed.
- Older Android phones and many apps can't read them.
- Websites and online forms often accept only JPG or PNG.
The quick fix: convert HEIC to JPG
JPG opens on every computer, phone and website. To convert:
- Open the HEIC to JPG converter.
- Add your HEIC photos. You can choose many at once.
- Download the JPGs, one by one or all together as a ZIP.
Photos come out the right way up, and at the default quality the difference from the original isn't visible. If you need a version with no compression loss at all, for example for editing, convert to PNG instead using the Image Converter; the files will be larger.
Why not just rename the file?
Changing .heic to .jpg in the file name doesn't change what is inside. The file stays a HEIC image with the wrong label, and most programs will still refuse it or show an error. The picture data has to be converted.
Stop your iPhone from making HEIC files
If you share photos with Windows or Android users all the time, you can make the iPhone save JPG instead:
- Open Settings › Camera › Formats and choose Most Compatible.
New photos will be JPG. Photos you already took stay HEIC, so convert those as above. Keep in mind that JPG photos take more space on your phone.
There is also a setting that converts automatically when you copy photos to a computer: Settings › Photos › Transfer to Mac or PC › Automatic. It helps when you use a cable, but not when photos are shared in other ways.
What about Live Photos and HEIF?
A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video. Converting gives you the still picture as a JPG. HEIF is the general name of the format; HEIC is the version Apple uses. Converters handle both.
Privacy: your photos stay on your device
Photos often show your home, your family or your documents, and iPhone photos usually contain the GPS location where they were taken. The converter linked above works inside your browser: the photos are converted on your own device and never uploaded. If you also want to remove the location before sharing, our guide to removing photo metadata explains how.
Summary
- HEIC is Apple's space-saving photo format; not every device can open it.
- Convert to JPG for maximum compatibility, or PNG for no quality loss.
- Renaming the file doesn't work; the picture has to be converted.
- Set your iPhone to Most Compatible if you want JPG from the start.