How to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows

By Pixel Dock Dev · 11 August 2026 · about a 5-minute read

Someone sends you photos from their iPhone, you go to open them on your Windows PC, and… nothing. The files end in .heic, and Windows either shows a blank thumbnail, throws an error, or simply refuses. It's one of the most common cross-device photo headaches there is. Here's why it happens, and three ways to turn those HEIC files into JPGs that open anywhere — starting with the quickest.

Why HEIC won't open on Windows

HEIC is the modern format iPhones use to save photos, chosen because it packs great quality into a smaller file. The problem is purely one of support: Windows doesn't include the ability to read HEIC out of the box. Apple devices handle it natively, but a typical Windows PC needs an extra piece of software — a codec — before it can even display one. Without that, the file is perfectly fine; Windows just doesn't know how to open it. Converting it to JPG sidesteps the whole issue, because every version of Windows reads JPG effortlessly.

Method 1: Convert in your browser (fastest, no install)

The quickest route needs nothing installed at all. A browser-based converter lets you drop in your HEIC files and get JPGs straight back, and it works the same on any Windows version.

One thing worth caring about here is privacy. Many online HEIC converters work by uploading your photos to their servers to do the conversion — which means handing your personal pictures to a stranger's computer, and iPhone photos frequently carry the GPS location where they were taken. A converter that runs in your browser avoids all of that: the photos are converted on your own PC and never uploaded anywhere.

1. Open the converter page in any browser (Edge, Chrome, Firefox — all fine).
2. Drag your HEIC files in, or click to select them.
3. Download the JPGs. Done — and if you did several at once, you can grab them together.

Method 2: Use the Windows Photos app

If your PC already has HEIC support installed — some do, particularly newer machines — you can convert without any third-party tool:

1. Double-click the HEIC file to open it in the Windows Photos app.
2. If it opens, click the menu (often shown as three dots) and choose Save as.
3. In the save dialog, change the file type to JPG and save.

The catch is right there in step one: if it opens. On many Windows PCs the Photos app can't display HEIC until you add Microsoft's HEIF and HEVC extensions from the Microsoft Store, one of which isn't free. If the file won't open at all, this method isn't available to you — which is exactly why so many people reach for a browser converter instead.

Method 3: Change your iPhone so it stops making HEIC

This one prevents the problem rather than fixing it after the fact, and it's worth knowing if the photos are coming from your own iPhone. You can set the phone to capture in JPG from the start:

• On the iPhone, go to Settings → Camera → Formats.
• Choose Most Compatible instead of High Efficiency.

From then on the phone saves new photos as JPG, which open on Windows without any conversion. It won't help with HEIC photos you already have, and you lose a little of the storage saving, but it stops the headache going forward. There's also a handy quirk: if you AirDrop or transfer HEIC photos to a Windows PC via some routes, or email them, they're sometimes auto-converted to JPG in transit — though this is inconsistent, so don't rely on it.

Will converting lose quality?

There's a small, normally invisible quality change when converting HEIC to JPG, because JPG re-compresses the image. For everyday viewing and sharing you won't notice it. The more visible difference is size: the JPG will be larger than the HEIC was, since you're trading HEIC's efficiency for JPG's universal compatibility. For a file you actually need to open and use, that's a trade worth making.

The bottom line

HEIC files won't open on Windows because Windows doesn't support the format by default — nothing is wrong with the files themselves. The fastest fix is a browser-based converter that turns them into JPGs on your own PC with nothing uploaded; the Windows Photos app works too if HEIC support is installed; and setting your iPhone to "Most Compatible" stops the problem at the source. Any of them gets you a JPG that opens anywhere.