You take a photo on your iPhone and send it to someone — only for them to say they can't open it. The culprit is HEIC, Apple's default photo format since iOS 11. Here's how to convert HEIC files to universally compatible JPG in seconds.
HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is a photo format developed by Apple and introduced as the default on iPhones with iOS 11 in 2017. It produces smaller file sizes than JPG at equivalent quality — an iPhone photo that would be 3 MB as JPG is often under 1.5 MB as HEIC.
The trade-off: HEIC is not natively supported by Windows, most Android devices, or older software. If you share a HEIC photo with someone who doesn't have a Mac or recent iPhone, they may not be able to open it.
HEIC compatibility is limited outside Apple's ecosystem. Windows 10 and 11 require a paid codec from the Microsoft Store to open HEIC files natively. Most online services, social platforms, and older software only accept JPG or PNG.
The practical result: HEIC files can cause problems when attaching to emails, uploading to websites, sharing with Android users, or opening on Windows computers.
The conversion preserves the original image quality. The resulting JPG opens on any device, any software, any operating system.
💡 Finding your HEIC files: On iPhone, go to Files app or connect to a computer via USB. The photos appear with .heic extension.
If you have many HEIC photos to convert, you can process them one by one with the tool above. For bulk conversion of hundreds of photos, a desktop app like iMazing or HandBrake may be more efficient.
To make your iPhone save photos as JPG instead: go to Settings → Camera → Formats and select Most Compatible. Your photos will now be saved as JPG, at the cost of slightly larger file sizes.