How to Open HEIC Photos on Windows, Android and the Web

· 2 min read

You copied photos from an iPhone to a computer — and instead of pictures you got files ending in .heic that Windows, older Android phones or a website upload form refuse to open. Here is what HEIC is and the fastest ways to deal with it.

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the photo format iPhones have used by default since iOS 11. It keeps the same quality as JPG in about half the file size, and can also store Live Photos, depth and several frames.

The downside: it is still not supported everywhere. Windows needs an extra codec, many photo printers, online shops and government portals only accept JPG or PNG.

The quickest fix: convert HEIC to JPG in your browser

  1. Open HEIC to JPG on tulzoo.
  2. Drag your .heic files onto the page (you can add many at once).
  3. Download the JPGs one by one or all together in a ZIP.

The conversion runs right in your browser — the photos are never uploaded to a server, so it is safe even for private pictures. It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iPhone.

Other ways to open HEIC

  • Windows 10 and 11: install "HEIF Image Extensions" from the Microsoft Store (and "HEVC Video Extensions" for some files). After that, the Photos app opens HEIC.
  • macOS: Preview and Photos open HEIC out of the box. To save a JPG, choose File → Export and pick JPEG.
  • Android: most phones from 2019 onwards open HEIC in Google Photos. If not, convert the files first.

How to make the iPhone shoot JPG

Go to Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPG. The downside is larger files, so many people keep HEIC and convert only when needed.

Need a smaller file?

Some forms accept only photos up to 100–500 KB. After converting, use Compress Image to shrink a photo to an exact size, or Image Converter to switch between JPG, PNG and WebP.

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