HEIC to JPG

Why iPhones use HEIC

Since 2017, iPhones save photos as HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) instead of JPG. The format uses a newer kind of compression, so a photo takes about half the space of a JPG that looks the same. That saves room on your phone and in iCloud.

The catch is support. Apple devices open HEIC without trouble, but Windows needs an extra download, many Android phones and older apps can’t read it, and plenty of websites reject it when you try to upload. JPG has been around for more than thirty years, and almost every device, app and website accepts it.

What the converter does

When you add a photo, your browser decodes the HEIC file on your own device, turns the photo upright if it was taken in portrait, and writes a new JPG at high quality and full size. Nothing is sent anywhere: the conversion uses your device’s own processor, and it keeps working even if your connection drops once the page has loaded.

The new JPG keeps the picture and leaves out the hidden details a HEIC carries, such as the GPS location where it was taken and the phone model. Only the rotation is kept, so the photo shows the right way up wherever you open it.

Converting many photos at once

Add up to 20 photos in one go. They are converted one after another so your device stays responsive, and each one can be downloaded as soon as it is ready. When they are all done, Download all saves them together in a single ZIP file.

HEIC and JPG compared

HEIC and JPG both store photographs, but they were built in different eras with different goals. JPG was designed to be simple and to work everywhere, so it uses an older compression method that needs more space for the same picture. HEIC was designed to save space, and it can also keep extras such as depth information, burst sequences and live motion in a single file.

For everyday use, those extras rarely matter. What matters is whether the person you send the photo to can open it. A JPG will open in an email, a chat app, a document, a website form and a print shop kiosk without any extra step. That is why converting is usually the quickest way to make a photo easy to share, even though the file gets larger.

Getting the best result

Convert the original photo from your phone rather than a screenshot or a copy that has already been resized, because the converter can only keep the detail that is in the file. If you plan to post the photos online, convert first and then shrink them with our image compressor, so you control both steps and the picture stays sharp.

If you have a lot of photos, add them in batches that suit your device. A recent computer handles a full batch without trouble, while an older phone does better with a few at a time. Each photo is finished before the next one starts, so you can download the early ones while the rest are still working.

Keeping your photos private

Photos hold more than people notice. A single picture can show where you live, where your children go to school and which phone you use. Many online converters ask you to upload the file to their server, which means a stranger’s computer briefly holds your family pictures. This page avoids that completely: the code that reads and writes the image runs inside your browser tab, and closing the tab clears it all away.

Because the JPG is written without the location and camera details, you can also share it more safely afterwards. If you ever want to keep the original details, simply keep the HEIC file as well. Converting never changes or deletes the file you started with.

If a photo won’t convert

A few files only look like photos: a Live Photo video, a screenshot saved in another format, or a file that was cut short while copying. If a file can’t be read, you’ll see a message next to it and the rest of the batch carries on. Very large photos above 50 megapixels are skipped to keep your browser from running out of memory.