You try to upload a photo from your iPhone and the website rejects it, or a Windows PC will not open it. The culprit is usually the HEIC format. This guide explains what HEIC is, how to stop new photos being saved that way, and the best way to convert the ones you already have.
What HEIC is and why iPhones use it
Since iOS 11 in 2017, iPhones have saved photos in HEIC, a High Efficiency Image Container based on the same compression used in modern video. A HEIC photo is roughly half the size of a JPEG of the same quality, which lets you keep about twice as many photos in the same storage. The problem is compatibility. Many websites and upload forms, older Windows versions, some Android apps and photo printing services still expect JPEG.
Stop new photos being saved as HEIC
On the iPhone, open Settings, Camera, Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos are then saved as JPEG. They take more space, so if storage is tight you may prefer one of the next options and keep HEIC.
If the problem is copying photos to a computer, open Settings, Photos and under Transfer to Mac or PC choose Automatic. The iPhone then converts photos to JPEG as they are transferred over a cable, while keeping HEIC on the phone. Sharing a photo from the Photos app to many apps and email also sends a compatible version automatically.
Convert on a Mac
Open the photo in Preview, choose File, Export, set the format to JPEG and pick a quality. To convert several at once, open them together in Preview, select all the thumbnails in the sidebar, and use Export Selected Images. Exporting from the Photos app as JPEG works too. Both methods keep the date taken and other photo details.
Convert on Windows
Some recent versions of Windows 11 open HEIC photos in the Photos app directly. If yours does not, install HEIF Image Extensions, which is free, and HEVC Video Extensions, which costs about a dollar, from the Microsoft Store. The second one is needed even though its name mentions video. Once a photo opens, use Save as in Photos or Paint and choose JPEG.
Convert in your browser
The image converter on this site converts HEIC to JPG, PNG or WebP on any computer or phone with a modern browser, including Windows, Chromebooks and Android, without installing anything. Drop in up to 20 photos, choose JPG and download them one by one or as a zip. The first HEIC file loads a decoder of about 1 MB into the page, but your photos are processed on your own device and are not uploaded.
What each method keeps
A detail most guides skip: photos carry metadata, including the date and time they were taken, the camera settings and often the GPS location. Preview, the Photos apps and the iPhone's own conversion keep it. Converting in a browser, ours included, redraws the image and does not copy that metadata into the JPEG.
- For uploading to a form or posting online, dropping the metadata is an advantage: your location is not shared.
- For moving photos into a photo library, where dates sort your albums, use Preview, Photos or the iPhone transfer setting so the dates survive.
Quality and size
At a quality of 90% or more, a converted JPEG looks the same as the HEIC original. Expect the file to be larger, often one and a half to two times the size, because JPEG compresses less efficiently. If a form has a size limit, run the converted photo through the image compressor or the image resizer with a target file size.
Live Photos
A Live Photo is a still HEIC image plus a short video clip stored separately. Converting gives you the still image only. To keep the motion, export it from the Photos app as a video.