What Is HEIC and How to Open iPhone Photos Anywhere
Images · October 17, 2026 · 1 min read
If you've sent an iPhone photo to someone and it wouldn't open, you've run into HEIC. It's a newer image format, and plenty of programs still can't read it.
What HEIC is
HEIC is Apple's name for photos saved in the High Efficiency Image Format, which uses the same compression as HEVC video. It keeps similar quality to JPG in a file that is often around half the size, and supports extras such as Live Photos and depth information. iPhones have saved photos this way by default for years.
Why it won't open
- Older versions of Windows, many web upload forms, and some email and design programs can't read HEIC.
- Some Android phones and older software show nothing or an error.
- Websites that only accept JPG or PNG will reject the file.
Two ways to avoid the problem
- On the iPhone, open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPG. Existing photos stay as they are.
- Convert the photos you already have, when you need to share them.
Converting safely
The HEIC to JPG Converter turns photos into JPG files that open anywhere, with a quality setting, and can convert many at once and download them as a ZIP. If you plan to edit the picture, the HEIC to PNG Converter keeps everything lossless, though files are much bigger. The conversion happens on your own device, so your photos aren't uploaded.
What changes in the new file
- Location and camera details stored in the photo aren't copied, which helps before you share it.
- A Live Photo becomes a single still image.
- JPG is lossy, so keep a high quality setting if the photo matters, and keep your originals.
- For other formats and sizes, the Image Converter handles PNG, JPG and WebP.