Convert HEIC photos to JPG in your browser

Content last reviewed:2026-09-30

Add HEIC photos from an iPhone, iPad or Samsung and download JPG files that open in every browser and in Windows without add-ons. In our measurement, a photo from an iPhone 12 Pro went from 1.87 MB as HEIC to 1.59 MB as JPG.

Files in queue

Add HEIC files on the left to start converting to JPG.

What is HEIC, and what is JPG?

HEIC is a photo encoded with the HEVC codec, also known as H.265, inside a HEIF container that the MPEG group introduced in 2015[1]. Apple has saved photos in it since iOS 11 on the iPhone 7 and later models. According to Apple, the format compresses images better than JPEG, so a photo of the same quality takes up less space[2].

JPG, also written JPEG, is a format defined in the ISO/IEC 10918 standard from 1992[3]. It stores no transparency, uses 8 bits per color channel and opens in every version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari[4], and Windows has a built-in codec for it[5].

Among browsers, only Safari 17 and later displays HEIC files[6], and Windows opens them only when two extensions from the Microsoft Store are installed[7]. After conversion to JPG, an iPhone photo opens in every browser and in Windows without add-ons.

Back of a graphite iPhone with three camera lenses on a black background — Since iOS 11, the iPhone saves photos in HEIC by default. Photo: Paolo Giubilato, Unsplash.

How do you convert HEIC to JPG?

Drag your photos onto the Add files field, or click it and pick files. The converter accepts .heic and .heif files, several at once.
Move the Set JPG quality slider to a value between 60 and 95 percent (default 85); the current value appears next to its name.
Click Convert. Each finished photo shows Done.
Save one file with Download or all of them with Download all, which packs several files into a ZIP archive. Only the extension changes, to .jpg.

The queue shows the Before and After weight of each file with the difference in percent and, below the buttons, the totals for the batch.

Moving the slider sets finished files back to Pending, so clicking Convert again saves them with the new setting.

Everything happens in your browser: its HEVC decoder reads the HEIC photo, and the browser itself saves the JPG.

How much does a file weigh before and after HEIC to JPG conversion?

We ran eight original HEIC photos through this converter at the default quality of 85 percent: three from an iPhone 12 Pro, two from an iPad Air (5th generation) and three from a Samsung Galaxy A32 5G. We read the device model from the EXIF data of each file. Weights are given exactly as the tool prints them in the queue: in kilobytes and megabytes of 1,024 bytes, with the same rounding. We took the measurement ourselves on 16 September 2026 in Chrome 153 on a Windows 11 computer; the result depends on the photo content, so your file may come out differently.

Test photo	Device	Dimensions in pixels	HEIC	JPG	Change
Theater stage in colored light	iPad Air (5th generation)	4032 × 3024	1.54 MB	1.34 MB	13 percent smaller
Scene from a children’s show	iPad Air (5th generation)	4032 × 3024	1.27 MB	1.18 MB	7 percent smaller
Car against the sun	iPhone 12 Pro	3024 × 4032	1.87 MB	1.59 MB	15 percent smaller
Café interior with two dogs	iPhone 12 Pro	3024 × 4032	1.64 MB	1.95 MB	19 percent larger
Brick pillar with a wall safe	iPhone 12 Pro	3024 × 4032	2.70 MB	2.40 MB	11 percent smaller
Spools of colored thread	Samsung Galaxy A32 5G	4000 × 3000	1.52 MB	1.66 MB	9 percent larger
Shelf with Christmas decorations	Samsung Galaxy A32 5G	4000 × 3000	1.38 MB	1.25 MB	9 percent smaller
Close-up of a mixing console	Samsung Galaxy A32 5G	3000 × 4000	1.16 MB	1.23 MB	5 percent larger

You can see the weight of your own file before and after conversion in the queue, in the Before and After fields next to each photo.

Is a JPG larger than a HEIC photo from an iPhone?

At the default slider setting, the weight changes only slightly and in both directions. 5 of 8 photos came out smaller as JPG, and 3 came out larger. The car photo from the iPhone 12 Pro went from 1.87 MB to 1.59 MB, while the café interior from the same phone grew from 1.64 MB to 1.95 MB. The whole batch weighed 13.1 MB as HEIC and 12.6 MB as JPG.

The converter reads the image from the HEIC file and encodes it as a new JPG at the quality set on the slider. That setting changes the weight more than the photo content does: at 60 percent the car photo weighs 818.4 KB, which is 2.3 times smaller than the HEIC file, and at 95 percent it weighs 3.16 MB.

The pixel dimensions stay the same as on the phone at every setting. A smaller image, for example for a message or a web page, is easy to prepare afterwards in the Helios editor, where you change the size of the JPG file. A JPG you already have becomes a lighter WebP file in the JPG to WebP converter.

How much does a JPG weigh at different slider settings?

The Set JPG quality slider takes values from 60 to 95 percent. The table gives the weight of the same two photos from the measurement, saved as JPG at each setting, and the difference from the HEIC file. We measured in the same way on the same day.

Slider setting	Car, iPhone 12 Pro, HEIC 1.87 MB	Change	Thread spools, Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, HEIC 1.52 MB	Change
60%	818.4 KB	2.3 times smaller	993.8 KB	36 percent smaller
65%	908.8 KB	2.1 times smaller	1.05 MB	31 percent smaller
70%	1018.1 KB	47 percent smaller	1.15 MB	25 percent smaller
75%	1.12 MB	40 percent smaller	1.26 MB	17 percent smaller
80%	1.31 MB	30 percent smaller	1.43 MB	6 percent smaller
85% (default)	1.59 MB	15 percent smaller	1.66 MB	9 percent larger
90%	2.10 MB	12 percent larger	2.04 MB	34 percent larger
95%	3.16 MB	69 percent larger	2.84 MB	87 percent larger

A lower value gives a lighter file, and a higher one keeps more fine detail. The image always has the original dimensions, so the difference in weight comes only from the strength of the compression.

HEIC vs JPG: how do these formats differ?

The table lists the features that show what each format stores and where you can open it without extra software.

Feature	HEIC	JPG
Standard	ISO/IEC 23008-12, specification finished in 2015	ISO/IEC 10918 from 1992
Image codec	HEVC, also known as H.265	JPEG compression
Transparency	yes, as a separate auxiliary image	no
Several images in one file	yes, for example burst photos	no
Bits per color channel	8 or more	8
Display in browsers	Safari 17 and later only	all versions of all browsers
Windows without add-ons	no, two extensions are needed	yes

HEIC according to the article on the HEIF format[1], JPG according to the JPEG committee and MDN[3][4], browsers according to Can I use (data from 24 August 2026)[6], Windows according to Microsoft[5][7].

Which HEIC files does the converter accept?

We checked every row on 16 September 2026 on files run through the converter in Chrome, and the last one in Firefox. The right-hand column tells you what you get.

File you add	What the converter saves as JPG
Photo from an iPhone, iPad or Samsung phone	a JPG with the same pixel dimensions, in portrait or landscape just as on the phone
File with the .heif extension instead of .heic	the same as with a .heic file
HEIC file with several images	a JPG of the primary image, the one the phone shows as the photo
HEIC file with transparent or semi-transparent pixels	a JPG without transparency, because the format does not store it
Photo with EXIF data, such as location	a JPG without EXIF data, so also without location coordinates
File larger than 100 MB	the message File is too large (max 100 MB).
Damaged file or text with a .heic extension	the status Error and the message Failed to load the image.
HEIC photo added in a browser without an HEVC decoder, such as Firefox	a warning above the Add files field saying that this browser cannot read HEIC photos, and the status Error next to the file

The converter skips files in other formats as soon as you add them and shows the message: Add HEIC files. Files in other formats were skipped. According to data from more than a million sessions collected from January to March 2026, Safari almost always has an HEVC decoder, Chrome on Windows has one in 81 percent of sessions and Edge on Windows in 56 percent. Firefox almost never has it[8].

How do you open HEIC photos or get them as JPG straight away?

Four settings and apps that decide which format your iPhone photos arrive in.

iPhone saving JPEG from the start
Open Settings, tap Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. From then on, the iPhone saves new photos as JPEG, while photos taken earlier stay in HEIC[2].
Photos copied to a computer over a cable
When you import over USB into Photos or Image Capture on a Mac, or onto a PC, iPhone photos may be converted to JPEG. If you prefer to get the original HEIC files, go to Settings on the iPhone, tap Apps, then Photos, and tap Keep Originals[2].
HEIC photos in Windows
Windows shows HEIC photos only when two extensions from the Microsoft Store are installed: HEIF Image Extension and HEVC Video Extensions[7]. The first is free, and the second cost $0.99 in the US store and £0.79 in the UK store on 15 September 2026[9][10]. If they are missing, a photo converted to JPG opens without them.
Exporting on a Mac
On a Mac, open the photo in Photos or Preview, choose File > Export and pick JPEG or PNG before saving[2]. On a Windows computer, this converter does the same in the browser.

What happens to EXIF data, colors and photo quality?

EXIF data does not carry over to the JPG file. This is the information the phone adds to a photo: device model, date, camera settings and, with location turned on, the coordinates of the place. We checked this on the eight files from our measurement: each HEIC file had EXIF data with the device model, and none of the output files still had it. You send just the image, without information about the place and the device.

In our measurement in Chrome, every JPG file got an sRGB color profile. Color is stored at 8 bits per channel, which is what JPG supports[4].

JPG stores the image with lossy compression, so some of the finest detail disappears during conversion. Keep the original HEIC files if the photo will be edited or printed later. A lossless image comes from the HEIC to PNG converter, a lighter file for a website from the HEIC to WebP converter or the HEIC to AVIF converter, and several photos in one printable document from the HEIC to PDF converter.

Convert other files to JPG

PNG to JPG WebP to JPG SVG to JPG BMP to JPG GIF to JPG AVIF to JPG TIFF to JPG PDF to JPG Base64 to JPG

Convert HEIC to other formats

HEIC to PNG HEIC to WebP HEIC to AVIF HEIC to TIFF HEIC to PDF

Sources

High Efficiency Image File Format — Wikipedia
Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices — Apple Support
Overview of JPEG 1 — JPEG committee (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 1)
Image file type and format guide — MDN Web Docs
About the Windows Imaging Component — Microsoft Learn
HEIF/HEIC image format — Can I use
HEIF Image Extension — Microsoft Store
AV1, H265 support in 2026: Data from 1M+ devices — WebCodecs Fundamentals
HEVC Video Extensions (US store) — Microsoft Store
HEVC Video Extensions (UK store) — Microsoft Store

The file sizes in the tables were measured by running finished images through this converter in a browser, and we report them the way the tool counts them. What the page says about either format rests on the sources listed above.

Content last reviewed: September 30, 2026 · written and checked by the Arteon team

Common questions about converting HEIC to JPG

How do I convert HEIC to JPG for free?

Drag your HEIC photos onto the Add files field, click Convert and download the result with Download all. The converter is free, needs no account, and the photos stay on your device.

Can I convert many HEIC photos at once?

Yes. You can add any number of files to the queue, and the converter processes them one after another. A single file can weigh up to 100 MB, and Download all packs the finished photos into one ZIP archive.

Will the JPG photo lose quality?

JPG uses lossy compression, so some of the finest detail disappears. A higher value on the Set JPG quality slider keeps more of it, and a lower one gives a lighter file. The photo dimensions stay the same as in the original.

Why is a JPG sometimes larger than the HEIC?

The converter encodes the photo as a new JPG at the quality set on the slider. In our measurement at 85 percent, 3 of 8 photos came out larger and 5 came out smaller. Lower the slider if the file should be smaller.

Why can’t I open a HEIC file in Windows?

Windows shows HEIC files only when two extensions from the Microsoft Store are installed: the free HEIF Image Extension and the paid HEVC Video Extensions. If they are missing, a photo converted to JPG opens without them.

Which browsers can convert HEIC photos?

You can use Safari, as well as Chrome and Edge on devices that have an HEVC decoder. Firefox almost never has one. If your browser cannot read HEIC photos, you will see a warning above the Add files field as soon as the page opens.

How do I set my iPhone to take photos in JPG?

Open Settings, tap Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPEG, and photos taken earlier stay in HEIC.

Does the converter remove location from the photo?

Yes. The JPG file gets no EXIF data, so the location coordinates, date and phone model are removed along with it. The image itself stays the same.

Can I convert a HEIC photo from a Samsung phone?

Yes. Our measurement includes three HEIC photos from a Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, and each one became a JPG with the same dimensions.

What is the difference between HEIC and HEIF?

HEIF is the container, and HEIC is a HEIF file with a photo encoded with the HEVC codec. Apple gives photos the .heic extension, and the converter accepts both extensions.