HEIC Converter

Convert Apple HEIC/HEIF photos to JPG or PNG in your browser. Adjustable quality slider for JPG. Batch conversion supported. No files uploaded to any server.

Key features

Convert HEIC/HEIF to JPG or PNG
Adjustable quality slider for JPG output
Batch conversion - multiple files at once
Preview converted images before download
All conversion happens locally in your browser

Guide

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the default photo format on iPhones and iPads running iOS 11 and later. Apple adopted HEIC because it produces smaller files than JPEG at comparable image quality, which saves storage space on devices. The format uses the HEVC (H.265) video codec for image compression, achieving roughly 50 percent smaller files than JPEG for the same visual quality. However, HEIC is not universally supported outside the Apple ecosystem. The HEIC converter tool transforms these files into JPG or PNG format directly in your browser. The compatibility problem is straightforward. You take photos on your iPhone, transfer them to a Windows PC, and many applications cannot open them. Windows 10 and 11 can display HEIC files if you install the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store, but many third-party applications, web platforms, and older systems do not recognize the format. Email recipients on non-Apple devices may not be able to view HEIC attachments. Web upload forms often reject HEIC files. The converter solves all of these problems by converting to JPG or PNG, which are supported everywhere. To use the tool, drag and drop your HEIC files onto the converter or click to browse and select them. The tool accepts single files or multiple files for batch conversion. Choose your output format (JPG or PNG) and, for JPG, adjust the quality slider. Click convert, and the tool processes each file and provides download links for the converted images. JPG is the right output choice for photographs. JPG uses lossy compression that is well suited to the continuous tones and gradients in photos. The quality slider lets you balance file size against visual quality. A quality setting of 85 to 90 produces files that are visually indistinguishable from the original for most purposes while keeping file sizes reasonable. Lower quality settings (60 to 75) produce smaller files with some visible compression artifacts, which may be acceptable for web thumbnails or social media. PNG is the right output choice when you need lossless quality or when the image contains text, sharp edges, or transparent areas. PNG files are larger than JPG for photographs but preserve every pixel exactly. If you are converting screenshots taken on an iPhone (which may also be in HEIC format), PNG maintains the crisp text and UI elements better than JPG. The batch conversion feature handles multiple files at once. Select a folder of HEIC photos from your last vacation, drop them all onto the converter, and get JPG versions of every image. This saves significant time compared to converting files one at a time with a desktop application. The tool processes files in sequence and provides a download link for each one as it finishes. All conversion happens in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your photos are not uploaded to any server. The HEIC decoding library runs locally, reads the image data, and writes it to a JPG or PNG file that exists only in your browser's memory until you download it. This is important for privacy. Photos contain EXIF metadata including GPS coordinates, camera settings, and timestamps. Uploading photos to a server-based converter shares this data with the service operator. The browser-based approach keeps your photos and their metadata on your device. The EXIF metadata from the original HEIC file is preserved in the converted output where the output format supports it. JPG files carry EXIF data, so your converted JPG retains the date, time, location, camera model, and other metadata from the original. This means the converted files sort and organize correctly in photo management software that reads EXIF data. File size after conversion depends on the format and quality settings. A typical iPhone photo stored as a 2MB HEIC file might convert to a 4 to 6MB JPG at quality 90, or a 1.5 to 3MB JPG at quality 75. PNG output will be larger, often 8 to 15MB for a full-resolution iPhone photo. The size increase from HEIC to JPG reflects the fact that HEIC is a more efficient format. You trade some file size for universal compatibility. For social media uploading, JPG at quality 85 is a practical choice. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms compress uploaded images anyway, so starting with a very high quality JPG provides no benefit. Quality 85 gives the platform enough data to work with while keeping your upload size manageable. For printing, use JPG at quality 95 or PNG. Print services need high-resolution images with minimal compression artifacts. The extra file size is not a concern because you are uploading to a print service rather than displaying the image on the web. The full resolution of the original HEIC file is preserved in the conversion, so your prints will be as sharp as if you had shot in JPG originally. For web developers building sites that accept user image uploads, understanding HEIC is important. A growing percentage of users shoot on iPhones, and some of them upload HEIC files even when the upload form specifies JPG or PNG. Your upload handler should either accept HEIC and convert server-side, or your front-end should use a client-side converter (like the library this tool is built on) to convert before uploading. The tool demonstrates what client-side HEIC conversion looks like in practice. The quality slider for JPG output works on a scale from 0 to 100. The relationship between the slider value and visual quality is not linear. The difference between quality 90 and 100 is barely perceptible to the human eye but represents a significant increase in file size. The difference between quality 50 and 70 is clearly visible. The sweet spot for most uses is 80 to 90, where files are reasonably small and visual quality is high. When converting photos for email attachments, aim for a balance between quality and file size. Many email providers limit attachment sizes to 25MB. A batch of ten iPhone photos in HEIC format might total 20MB, but converted to JPG at quality 90, they might total 50MB. Reducing quality to 75 might bring them down to 25MB. The tool's quality slider lets you find this balance before you attach the files. Live Photos taken on iPhone save a HEIC still image and a short video clip. The converter processes the still image portion. The video clip is a separate file (typically .mov) that is not affected by the conversion. If you need just the photo from a Live Photo, the converter extracts the still image cleanly. Some HEIC files contain multiple images. The iPhone's burst mode and certain HDR processing pipelines store multiple frames in a single HEIC container. The converter extracts the primary image from these containers. If you need access to all frames in a multi-image HEIC file, you would need a specialized tool, but for the standard use case of getting a usable JPG from an iPhone photo, the primary image extraction is correct. For photographers who shoot in HEIC to save storage space on their iPhone but need JPG for delivery to clients, the converter provides a straightforward workflow. Import photos from iPhone to computer, batch-convert the HEIC files to JPG at high quality, and deliver the JPGs. No additional software installation required. The tool works on any computer with a modern web browser. Chromebook users benefit from the browser-based approach because ChromeOS has limited native application support. Installing a desktop HEIC converter on a Chromebook is not straightforward, but opening a browser-based tool works immediately. The same applies to computers with restricted software installation policies, such as corporate or school machines. The conversion speed depends on your device's processing power and the image resolution. A modern laptop converts a 12-megapixel iPhone photo in one to three seconds. Older or lower-powered devices take longer. Batch conversion of many files can take a few minutes on slower hardware. The tool shows progress for each file so you know how the conversion is proceeding. Image dimensions are preserved exactly during conversion. A 4032 x 3024 pixel iPhone photo produces a 4032 x 3024 pixel JPG or PNG. No resizing, cropping, or rotation is applied unless the EXIF orientation flag indicates the image should be rotated for correct display, in which case the tool applies that rotation to match what you see on your phone. For archival purposes, converting from HEIC to PNG preserves the full quality of the image in a lossless format that has universal long-term support. HEIC is a relatively new format, and while it is backed by a major standard body, PNG and JPG have decades of universal support. If you want to ensure your photos are readable 20 years from now on any device, converting to PNG provides that assurance. The tool works with HEIF files as well. HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the broader standard that HEIC is part of. Some Android phones and cameras also produce HEIF files. The converter handles these identically to iPhone HEIC files. If you have images with .heif or .heic extensions, both work with the tool. No software installation is required. No account creation. No watermarks on the output. No limits on the number of conversions. The tool is available whenever you need it, from any device with a browser. Bookmark it for the next time you transfer photos from your iPhone and need them in a format that works everywhere. The HEIC format supports both 8-bit and 10-bit color depth. iPhone photos in HEIC often use 10-bit color, which provides smoother gradients and more accurate color representation than 8-bit. When converting to JPG, the output is 8-bit because JPG does not support 10-bit color. For most photos, this reduction is not visible. For images with subtle sky gradients or skin tones, you might notice very slight banding in the JPG output that was not present in the HEIC original. Choosing PNG preserves the higher bit depth in cases where your workflow supports it. Apple's ProRAW format is a different file type (.dng) and is not the same as HEIC. ProRAW files are not handled by this converter because they use a different file structure designed for raw image editing. If you shoot in ProRAW on an iPhone Pro, you will need a raw image processor like Adobe Lightroom or Capture One to work with those files. Standard HEIC photos from normal shooting mode are what this converter is designed for. For users who want to change their iPhone settings to avoid HEIC entirely, go to Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and select Most Compatible. This tells the iPhone to shoot in JPG and H.264 video instead of HEIC and HEVC. The trade-off is larger files on your phone. If you have ample storage, this eliminates the need for conversion. If storage is tight, shooting in HEIC and converting later with this tool is the more space-efficient approach. Windows users who install the HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store gain the ability to preview HEIC files in File Explorer and open them in the Photos app. However, many other Windows applications still cannot open HEIC files. Photoshop, for example, requires a separate HEIF plugin. GIMP added experimental HEIC support but it is not always reliable. Converting to JPG or PNG avoids all of these compatibility issues because every image application on every platform supports these formats. Mac users generally do not need this converter because macOS has native HEIC support in Preview, Photos, and most Mac applications. The need arises when sharing files with non-Mac users. If you are sending photos to someone on Windows or Linux, convert them to JPG first. This ensures the recipient can open the files without installing anything. Linux support for HEIC is available through the libheif library, which is included in recent versions of GIMP and ImageMagick. However, not all Linux distributions include libheif by default. Users on older distributions or minimal installations may not have HEIC support. The browser-based converter works on any Linux system with a modern web browser, bypassing the need for library installation. The tool preserves the color profile embedded in the HEIC file during conversion. iPhone photos use the Display P3 color space, which is wider than the traditional sRGB space. When the HEIC file is converted to JPG, the Display P3 profile is embedded in the JPG. Applications that support color management will render the colors accurately. Applications that do not support color management may show slightly different colors, but this is a limitation of the receiving application, not of the conversion process. For real estate agents, the converter is a practical daily tool. Agents shoot property photos on their iPhones and need to upload them to MLS (Multiple Listing Service) platforms, which typically require JPG. Batch-converting a set of property photos takes less than a minute with this tool and produces ready-to-upload files without any quality loss that would affect listing presentation. For teachers and school administrators who receive photos from parents via email or messaging apps, HEIC files from iPhones are a common source of confusion. A parent sends a photo of a permission slip, a school project, or a document, and the school's Windows computer cannot open it. The converter solves this instantly. Open the tool, drop the file, download the JPG, and move on. Travel bloggers and content creators accumulate thousands of HEIC photos from trips. When editing and uploading to WordPress, Squarespace, or other content management systems, JPG is the expected format. Batch-converting an entire trip's photos from HEIC to JPG prepares them for the CMS without any per-photo processing in an image editor. For insurance claims and documentation, adjusters often receive HEIC photos from claimants who use iPhones. Claims management systems typically require JPG. The converter enables adjusters to process these photos quickly without calling the claimant back to resend in a different format. The tool handles HEIC files with depth data (portrait mode photos) correctly. The depth map is stored separately from the main image in the HEIC container. The converter extracts and processes the main image, producing a flat JPG or PNG without the depth information. The depth data is specific to Apple's portrait mode effects and is not needed for standard image viewing or printing. For users concerned about image quality during conversion, a practical test is to convert the same HEIC photo at quality 100, 90, 80, and 70, then compare the results side by side. At quality 100, the JPG is virtually identical to the HEIC. At quality 90, any differences require zooming in to 200 percent or more to spot. At quality 80, you might notice slight softening in fine details like hair or grass. At quality 70, compression artifacts become visible in areas of smooth color transition. This test helps you find your personal threshold for acceptable quality. The tool does not add any metadata to the converted files beyond what was in the original. No watermarks and no tool identification tags. The output is a clean JPG or PNG that looks like it was shot in that format originally. This is important for professional use where tool artifacts in metadata could be questioned. For medical and healthcare professionals who receive patient photos in HEIC format, the converter provides a HIPAA-friendly solution because no data leaves the browser. A server-based converter would require a Business Associate Agreement and data handling procedures. The client-side approach eliminates that concern entirely. The WebAssembly-based HEIC decoder used by the tool has improved significantly in recent years. Early browser-based HEIC converters were slow and sometimes produced color-shifted output. Modern implementations decode HEIC files accurately and quickly, producing output that matches what you see on your iPhone screen. If you tried a browser-based HEIC converter years ago and were disappointed, the current technology is substantially better. For users who need to convert HEIC files regularly, bookmarking the tool and adding it to your workflow saves time. Every time you transfer photos from iPhone to computer, open the tool, batch-convert the files, and work with the JPGs. This three-step process (transfer, convert, use) becomes second nature after a few sessions and eliminates the frustration of encountering incompatible files mid-workflow. For graphic designers who receive HEIC photos from clients, the converter is a standard intake step. Clients shoot on iPhones and send files without thinking about format. The designer converts them to JPG or PNG before importing into Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or Figma. This takes less time than asking the client to resend in a different format and avoids the awkward conversation about file formats. Scrapbook and photo book services (Shutterfly, Mixbook, Snapfish) typically require JPG uploads. Users who store their iPhone photos in HEIC format need to convert before uploading. The batch conversion feature handles an entire photo book's worth of images in one session, which is faster than converting them individually. For social media managers handling user-submitted photos, HEIC files arrive regularly from iPhone users. Converting them to JPG before posting ensures compatibility with scheduling tools (Buffer, Hootsuite, Later) that may not accept HEIC input. The converter fits into the content preparation workflow between receiving photos and scheduling posts. The tool's quality comparison feature helps you make informed decisions. Convert the same photo at three or four quality levels and compare the file sizes. This takes about 30 seconds and gives you the data to choose the right quality for your specific need. A photo destined for a banner ad needs high quality. A photo destined for an email thumbnail can tolerate lower quality. The tool lets you make this decision based on actual data rather than guesswork.

Frequently asked questions

What is HEIC format?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is Apple's default photo format since iOS 11. It offers better compression than JPG but is not universally supported.

Will conversion affect image quality?

PNG conversion is lossless. JPG conversion quality depends on the quality slider setting (higher = better quality, larger file).