Why iPhone photos are HEIC and not JPEG
Since iOS 11, iPhones and iPads have saved photos as HEIC rather than JPEG. HEIC is a container for images compressed with HEVC, and it produces files roughly half the size of an equivalent JPEG at the same visual quality. On a phone full of photos, that saving is substantial.
The problem is everywhere else. Windows needs a codec extension to preview HEIC. Most website upload forms reject it. Older versions of Photoshop, plenty of print shops, email clients, WordPress media libraries and virtually every Android device will refuse it or show a broken thumbnail. The format is efficient, but it is not universal, and that gap is why converting to JPEG is still a daily task for a lot of people.
How to convert HEIC to JPG in your browser
- Choose a HEIC or HEIF file using the picker above.
- Pick an output format — JPEG, PNG or WebP.
- Set the quality if you are outputting JPEG or WebP. Higher keeps more detail and produces a larger file.
- Convert, then download the result.
The decoding happens in your browser using JavaScript. Your photo is never uploaded, which is the part that matters most here: HEIC files straight off a phone usually carry EXIF metadata including GPS coordinates, the exact capture time and the device serial. Handing that to a conversion site is handing over a map of where you were.
Which output format should you choose?
| Format | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | Photographs, sharing, printing, uploads | Lossy; no transparency |
| PNG | Screenshots, graphics, anything needing exact pixels | Much larger files for photographs |
| WebP | Web use where file size matters | Not accepted by some older software |
For a photo you intend to send, print or upload, JPEG is almost always the right answer. Choose PNG only when you genuinely need lossless output, because a photograph saved as PNG can easily be four or five times the size of the JPEG.
Choosing a quality setting
JPEG quality is a trade between file size and detail. Around 80 to 90 is the sweet spot for most photographs — the loss is invisible at normal viewing sizes and the file shrinks considerably. Below about 60 you start to see blocking in smooth gradients like skies and skin.
One thing worth understanding: JPEG compression is not reversible. Converting at low quality and later deciding you needed detail back is not recoverable, so keep the HEIC original until you are certain the JPEG is good enough.
Stop your iPhone producing HEIC in the first place
If you convert constantly, change the setting at source. On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos are then captured as JPEG. Existing HEIC files are unaffected.
There is also a middle path. Under Settings → Photos, the option to transfer to Mac or PC as Automatic converts HEIC to JPEG during transfer, so the phone keeps the smaller files while your computer receives compatible ones.
Keeping HEIC is genuinely worthwhile if storage is tight — you get about twice as many photos in the same space. Switching to Most Compatible costs you that, so the right choice depends on whether you hit storage limits more often than compatibility problems.
Frequently asked questions
Does converting HEIC to JPG reduce quality?
Slightly, yes. Both formats are lossy, so re-encoding always discards a little detail. At quality 85 or above the difference is not visible in normal use, but it is real and it accumulates if you convert the same image repeatedly.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. Decoding and re-encoding both happen in your browser. Nothing is transmitted, stored or logged. You can confirm this by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads — the converter still works.
What is the difference between HEIC and HEIF?
HEIF is the container format; HEIC is the name for HEIF files whose images are compressed using HEVC. In practice the terms are used interchangeably, and Apple uses the .heic extension. This converter accepts both.
Can I convert HEIC to JPG on Windows?
Yes. This page works in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android or iOS. Windows can also install the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store to view HEIC files natively, though that lets you open them rather than convert them.
Is EXIF data kept in the converted file?
Conversion goes through the browser's canvas, which decodes the image to raw pixels and re-encodes them. Metadata such as GPS coordinates and camera details is not carried across. For sharing photos publicly that is usually what you want — but if you rely on capture dates for organising your library, keep the originals.
Can I convert several HEIC files at once?
This tool converts one file at a time. Batch conversion of a large photo library is better handled by your operating system: on a Mac, Preview can export multiple selected images at once, and on Windows the Photos app can do the same.