How to convert HEIC to JPG

Updated

HEIC is the picture format many iPhones use because it stores a photo in less space than JPEG. It is a good format on the phone and a poor format the moment the photo has to open somewhere else. Mail apps, older Windows programs, some content systems, and a lot of print shops still expect JPG. Converting is the way to hand them a file they can open, not a way to improve the photo.

When JPG is the right target

Choose JPG when the destination says JPEG or JPG, when you are attaching the photo to email, or when an editor will not import HEIC. HEIC to JPG reads the HEIC and writes a JPEG. Use HEIC to PNG only when you need a PNG specifically, for example a workflow that refuses JPEG. PNG will be larger and will not look sharper than the HEIC you started with.

If the photo is already a JPEG, you do not need this guide. JPG to PNG is a different conversion, and it does not undo JPEG compression. If you are choosing between WebP and PNG for a graphic rather than a phone photo, read WebP or PNG.

Live Photos are a still image plus a short video. This conversion keeps the still image. It does not export the motion clip. A burst or a portrait-mode photo comes across as the picture the file stores. Depth data and some camera edits that live only in Apple's metadata are not a second image you can download.

Quality and what you give up

Balanced is the default and is the right starting point for a photo you will look at on a screen. High keeps more detail when you will crop or print. Smallest is for a photo that only has to be recognizable and must fit a tight limit. JPEG is lossy. A second save at Smallest, after this one, throws away more. Convert once, from the original HEIC, at the quality you actually need.

Orientation stored in the photo is applied by the converter when the file says which way is up. If a picture still arrives sideways, rotate it after you can see the JPEG, rather than converting the same file three times.

Color can shift a little. Phone photos are often in a wide color space. A JPEG opened on a display that expects sRGB may look slightly flatter. That is a property of the destination, not a reason to convert to PNG "to keep the color." Check the JPEG on the screen where it will be used.

How to run it

  1. Open HEIC to JPG.
  2. Add the HEIC or HEIF file from the phone or from Files.
  3. Leave quality on Balanced unless you have a reason to change it, then start the conversion.
  4. Download the JPG from the status line when it is ready.

There is nothing to install. The upload is tied to the browser session. Guest files are deleted 30 minutes after the job finishes. If you sign in, the result stays for 24 hours and you can run it again from history while the original upload is still stored. If it has expired, the page asks you to upload the HEIC again.

Do not upload a photo you are not allowed to send. Other image routes are listed on the image hub. A failed job shows a reference you can send from support.

Open the converter