You took photos on your iPhone, tried to share them, and discovered nobody can open HEIC files. Welcome to the club. HEIC is Apple's default photo format since iOS 11, and the rest of the world still pretends it doesn't exist.

Converting HEIC to JPG fixes that instantly. Here's how to do it for free, without uploading your personal photos to random servers.

TL;DR

  • Use TinyUtils Image Compressor to convert HEIC to JPG.
  • If privacy matters: use a converter that runs locally in your browser (and verify in DevTools → Network).
  • JPEG is universally compatible with everything.
  • For smaller files, try HEIC → WebP instead.

What is HEIC?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is Apple's photo format. It produces smaller files than JPEG with better quality. The catch: Windows, Android, and most websites don't natively support it.

Why convert HEIC to JPEG?

  • Share anywhere — Email, social media, messaging apps
  • Windows compatibility — Open photos on any PC
  • Web uploads — Most sites accept JPEG, not HEIC
  • Printing — Photo printing services prefer JPEG
  • Editing — Most editors handle JPEG better than HEIC

How to convert HEIC to JPG (free, private)

  1. Open TinyUtils Image Compressor.
  2. Drag and drop your HEIC files (AirDrop from iPhone, or access iCloud photos).
  3. Select JPEG as output format.
  4. Set quality (85-90% keeps photos looking great).
  5. Download the converted JPEGs.

Privacy note: Browser‑based converters can process images locally (client‑side). If you want to be sure, open DevTools → Network, convert one photo, and confirm there’s no big upload request leaving your browser.

Quality settings

HEIC files are often high quality from your iPhone camera. To preserve that:

  • 90-95% — Near-original quality, larger files
  • 85% — Sweet spot for most uses
  • 80% — Good for sharing where file size matters

HDR and “why do my colors look different?”

iPhone photos can be wide‑gamut (Display P3) and sometimes HDR. That’s great on Apple screens. On older Windows apps (and some web flows), it can make colors look a little muted or weird after conversion.

If that happens, it’s usually not “bad JPEG” — it’s color management. Two easy fixes:

  • Open the converted photo in a modern editor/viewer and export again as sRGB.
  • If you’re uploading for the web, consider converting to WebP instead.

Batch conversion

Got 200 vacation photos in HEIC? Don't convert them one by one. TinyUtils handles batch conversions — drop your entire folder and download a ZIP of JPEGs.

HEIC to WebP instead?

If you're converting for web use, WebP gives you even smaller files than JPEG. Check out our HEIC to WebP guide for that workflow.

Stop iPhone from using HEIC

If you prefer JPEG from the start, you can change iPhone settings:

  1. Open Settings → Camera → Formats
  2. Select Most Compatible

This makes iPhone capture in JPEG directly. Trade-off: larger files, more storage used.

Sharing tip: iPhone can convert on transfer

If the only reason you’re converting is “I need to get these onto a Windows PC,” you might not need a converter every time. iOS has a transfer setting:

  1. Settings → Photos
  2. Scroll down to Transfer to Mac or PC
  3. Choose Automatic

With that enabled, iOS will often send JPEGs when transferring to a computer that doesn’t play nicely with HEIC. It’s not a perfect fix for every workflow, but it saves a lot of “why won’t this open?” moments.

If you need something predictable (client upload portals, printing services, random CMS forms), converting to JPG first is still the safest move.

FAQ

Will I lose quality converting HEIC to JPEG?

A tiny bit. Both are compressed formats, so there's slight generation loss. At 90% quality, most people won’t notice unless you’re zooming in and comparing pixel-by-pixel.

What about Live Photos?

HEIC from Live Photos includes a video component. Converting to JPEG gives you just the still image.

Can I convert HEIC on Windows?

Yes! TinyUtils works in any browser. Chrome, Firefox, Edge — all work fine on Windows.

Is HEIC the same as HEIF?

Technically, HEIC is a subset of HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format). For practical purposes, they're the same thing. Apple uses .HEIC extension.

Next steps

Ready to convert your iPhone photos? Open TinyUtils Image Compressor, drop in your HEIC files, and get JPEGs everyone can open.