What is a HEIC file?
HEIC is the format iPhones and iPads use for photos when the camera is set to High Efficiency, which is the default. It's a type of HEIF, a modern standard that stores photos in noticeably less space than JPG at similar quality.
The catch is compatibility. Apple devices handle HEIC seamlessly, but elsewhere support is patchy:
- Windows may show an error or blank thumbnails unless extra extensions from the Microsoft Store are installed.
- Websites and application forms (job portals, university and exam sites, visa and government services) often accept only JPG or PNG.
- Older Android phones, photo editors and printing kiosks may not recognise the file at all.
Converting to JPG gives you a file that opens everywhere.
How HEIC files end up on your computer
iOS often converts photos to JPG automatically when you share them, but not always. HEIC files typically appear when you:
- copy photos from an iPhone to a Windows PC with a cable or through cloud storage;
- download original-quality backups from a cloud photo service;
- receive photos as files from family, friends or colleagues who use iPhones.
Stop your iPhone saving photos as HEIC
If you regularly need JPGs, you can switch the iPhone camera so new photos are saved as JPG from the start:
- Open Settings and tap Camera (on recent versions of iOS, Camera is listed under Settings > Apps).
- Tap Formats.
- Choose Most Compatible.
This only affects new photos: existing HEIC photos stay as they are, so convert those here. Photos taken in Most Compatible mode take up more storage, and some high-resolution or high-frame-rate video modes are only available with High Efficiency.
Prefer to keep High Efficiency? Go to Settings > Photos (also under Apps on recent iOS) and set Transfer to Mac or PC to Automatic. Your iPhone will then convert photos to a compatible format when you copy them to a computer with a cable.
Quality, file size and Live Photos
At a high quality setting, the converted JPG looks the same as the HEIC on screen. Expect the JPG to be larger, because JPG is a less efficient format. If you need a small file for a form, shrink it afterwards with Compress Image to 100KB or another target size.
A Live Photo is a still image plus a short video clip. Only the still picture is converted to JPG; the motion part is a separate video file and isn't affected.
Conversion also removes EXIF metadata such as the date, camera details and GPS location. That's ideal for uploads, but keep your original HEIC files if you want your photo library to remember where and when each shot was taken.
Large batches can take a little while on older phones and laptops, because all the work happens on your own device rather than on a server.
Using iPhone photos for forms and documents
Making a passport or visa photo? The Passport Photo Maker accepts HEIC directly and exports a correctly sized JPG. Need a specific pixel size for an application form? Use the Image Resizer. To send several converted photos as one document, combine them with JPG to PDF.