How to convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG
HEIC is the format the iPhone has used for photos since iOS 11 whenever the camera is set to High Efficiency. It takes roughly half the space of a JPG of similar quality, but plenty of Windows programs, government and job-application portals and website builders still refuse to open it.
This converter takes your HEIC photo and gives you back a standard JPG that opens on any computer, phone or browser. It is the fix when an upload form rejects your photo or you need to send it to someone who is not on Apple devices.
Step by step
- Click Select file and choose your .heic or .heif photo (up to 50 MB), or drag it onto the box.
- Check that Convert to shows JPG.
- Click Convert image to JPG and keep the tab open while it processes.
- Download the JPG. For lots of photos, add them to the Workspace and download them together as a ZIP.
What is kept and what changes from HEIC to JPG
The image is rotated according to the orientation it was taken in, so it will not come out sideways. The JPG is saved at quality 88, a level where the difference from the original is invisible in normal viewing and the file stays a reasonable size.
EXIF metadata is removed: GPS location, phone model and also the date taken. That is a plus if you are posting the photo publicly, but worth knowing if you sort your albums by date. JPG has no transparency, so any transparent area becomes white.
If the HEIC holds several images, such as a burst or a sequence, only the first one is converted. HDR information and Portrait mode depth data do not carry over; the JPG is a standard 8-bit image.
Live Photos and limits
A Live Photo is really a HEIC still plus a short MOV video stored separately. Converting the HEIC gives you the still photo; the motion is not part of that file.
Images up to 40 megapixels and 50 MB are accepted, which covers the 12, 24 and 48 MP iPhone cameras. If you want the iPhone to shoot JPG from now on, go to Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I lose quality converting HEIC to JPG?
- The photo is recompressed, but at quality 88 you will not notice it in normal photos. The JPG will be somewhat larger than the HEIC because JPG is a less efficient format.
- Are the date and location kept?
- No. EXIF metadata, including GPS location and the date taken, is removed during conversion.
- Can I convert multiple HEIC files to JPG at once?
- Yes. The Workspace has no limit on files per batch, and you can download all the JPGs as a ZIP.
- What happens to Live Photos?
- You get the still photo. The Live Photo video is a separate MOV file that is not inside the HEIC.
- Do you keep my photos?
- No. The photo is processed only for this conversion and deleted from the server when it finishes; it is never published.