How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows

No extension needed
Convert the photos in your browser instead — free, and nothing is uploaded
Works the same on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Windows does not ship with a HEIC decoder. Double-clicking an iPhone photo usually gets you the Photos app offering to install an extension from the Microsoft Store — and while HEIF Image Extensions is free, the HEVC Video Extensions package it depends on to actually decode the picture is normally a paid item. That is the wall most people hit, and it is why this question gets asked so often.

You do not have to buy anything. Our HEIC to JPG converter brings its own decoder, runs it inside your browser, and hands you ordinary JPG files that Explorer, Paint, Word and every website will accept. Your photos are not uploaded to convert them.

Why Windows treats HEIC this way

A HEIC file is a HEIF container holding a picture compressed with HEVC, and HEVC carries patent licensing that Microsoft passes on rather than absorbs. Apple pays for it on its own devices, which is why the same photo opens instantly on an iPhone and not at all on a PC. It is a licensing decision, not a technical limitation — the format itself is well documented and open-source decoders exist.

Three ways to get a JPG on Windows

  • Convert the photos you already have. Drop them on the converter, pick JPG, download. Up to thirty at a time.
  • Stop the iPhone making them. On the phone, Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible shoots JPEG from then on. It does not change the photos already in your library.
  • Change how they transfer. Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic converts on the way out when you plug the phone in by cable.

What you lose by converting

A JPG of the same photo is typically about twice the size of the HEIC, because HEIC is simply the more efficient format. The picture is re-encoded once, so at a high quality setting the difference is very hard to see. The original HEIC is never modified — a new file is written alongside it.

The conversion also strips the EXIF block, including the GPS coordinates your phone records with every shot. For a photo you are about to email or upload, that is usually welcome.