You plugged your iPhone into your Windows PC, copied the photos over — and now a chunk of them won't open. They're HEIC files, and Windows doesn't understand them out of the box. Here's how to convert iPhone HEIC to JPG on Windows, free, with three methods ranked by convenience.
Why Windows can't open HEIC files
HEIC is Apple's efficient photo format (default on iPhone since iOS 11), and it leans on the HEVC codec for compression. Microsoft doesn't bundle the HEVC/HEIF codecs with Windows because of licensing costs — so Photos, File Explorer previews, and most desktop apps just show a broken icon. It's not your files; it's a missing codec.
Method 1: In-browser converter (fastest, no install)
Open our HEIC to JPG Converter in Edge or Chrome on your Windows PC, drag in the HEIC files from File Explorer, and download the JPGs. The conversion runs entirely on your machine with the heic2any engine — nothing is uploaded, which matters when the photos are personal. There's a quality slider (default 92% is the sweet spot), files up to 100MB are fine, and there's no sign-up or watermark.
This is the method to reach for on a work computer where you can't install software, or when you just have a handful of photos. Need PNG instead of JPG? The HEIC to PNG Converter works identically.
Method 2: HEIF Image Extensions + Windows Photos
If you convert HEIC files regularly, install Microsoft's HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store (free). After installing, Windows Photos opens HEIC files natively — you can view them, and export or save-as JPG from there. File Explorer even starts showing thumbnails.
Two caveats: this adds image support, not HEVC videosupport (that's a separate, paid extension), and it requires admin rights to install from the Store — a non-starter on locked- down office PCs, where Method 1 is the answer.
Method 3: Copy as JPG from the iPhone itself
You can sidestep conversion at transfer time. When copying via USB, iPhones can auto-convert: on the iPhone go to Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic. With Automatic enabled, HEIC photos transfer as JPG. This doesn't help photos already on your PC, and it slightly reduces quality versus converting the originals yourself — but for casual snapshots it's zero effort.
For the long term, Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible makes the iPhone shoot JPG natively. You lose HEIC's storage savings, but you gain universal compatibility.
Batch-converting a whole folder
A phone backup can mean hundreds of HEIC files, and converting them one by one is miserable. The practical workflow: sort File Explorer by type so all .heic files group together, then work through them in chunks of 20–30 in the browser converter — drag, download, move to a “converted” folder, repeat. It sounds tedious, but a batch of 25 takes about two minutes, and the rhythm is fast once you're going.
If you chose Method 2 (HEIF extensions installed), you get a nicer option: select multiple HEIC files in Photos and export them together. And whatever method you use, keep the original HEIC files archived in a separate folder. Storage is cheap; re-converting from the original at higher quality later beats regretting a deleted original.
Edge cases: Live Photos, bursts, and videos
A few iPhone quirks to know about. Live Photos are actually a HEIC still plus a short .mov video — converters handle the still image; the video half needs separate handling (it usually transfers as .mov already). Burst shots save as a stack where only the picked “best” shot may transfer as HEIC. And .hevc videos (.mov files with HEVC compression) are a different problem entirely — that's video conversion, not photo conversion, and needs a video tool rather than a HEIC converter.
After converting: tidy up
Converted JPGs from a modern iPhone are 3–5MB each — fine individually, painful in bulk. Before emailing or uploading, run them through our Image Compressor to shrink them with no visible quality loss. Converting other odd formats along the way? The Image Converter handles those, and Image to PDF bundles a set of photos into one clean PDF for sharing or printing.