How to convert multiple HEIC photos to JPG
- Add your photos. Drag HEIC files onto the box above, or click it and select them. In the file picker, open the folder and press
Ctrl + A(Windows) orCmd + A(Mac) to select everything at once. You can keep adding files until the batch holds 50. - Check the list. Files that are not HEIC photos, such as PNGs, videos or empty files, are listed with a reason instead of failing silently. Remove anything you do not need with the × button.
- Choose a quality. High (90) is selected by default and suits most people. The hint under the buttons explains each option.
- Press Convert. The progress bar shows which photo is being processed. The first batch also loads the converter itself, which is about 3 MB and only downloads once per visit.
- Download. Save any photo with its JPG button, or press Download as ZIP to get the whole batch in one file. Changed your mind about quality? Pick another setting and press Convert again to re-export the batch.
A practical example
You have 36 photos from a weekend away, downloaded from iCloud to a Windows laptop. They open in Apple devices but a relative’s PC and your photo-printing site reject them. Select all 36 in the file picker, leave quality on High, and press Convert. Each row turns green as it finishes, showing the pixel size and the before-and-after file size, for example IMG_4127.HEIC · 3992×2992 · 2.9 MB → 3.2 MB. Press Download all 36 as ZIP, unzip the file, and upload the JPGs to the print site. The HEIC originals remain untouched in your Downloads or iCloud folder.
What is a HEIC file, and why won’t it open?
HEIC is the photo format iPhones and iPads use by default. The name comes from HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format), a container standard, with the pictures inside compressed using HEVC, the same codec used for H.265 video. Apple switched its cameras to this format with iOS 11 in 2017 because it stores a photo in noticeably less space than JPG at similar visual quality, which matters when a phone holds thousands of pictures.
The trade-off is compatibility. JPG has been readable almost everywhere for three decades; HEIC is not. Common trouble spots include:
- Windows PCs that do not have Microsoft’s HEIF and HEVC extensions installed. The Photos app may show an error or ask you to buy a codec.
- Upload forms on job portals, government sites, printing services and older content management systems that only accept JPG or PNG.
- Older photo editors and office software that cannot insert HEIC images into documents or slides.
- Websites. Most browsers cannot display HEIC in a web page, so a HEIC image uploaded to a site often appears broken.
Converting to JPG solves all of these because JPG is the lowest common denominator of photo formats. The cost is a larger file for the same quality and the loss of some iPhone-specific extras, explained below.
When to convert, and when to keep HEIC
| Situation | Best choice |
|---|---|
| A website, form or print service rejects your photos | Convert to JPG |
| Sending photos to someone on Windows or an older device | Convert to JPG |
| Putting photos into Word, PowerPoint or an older editor | Convert to JPG |
| Archiving photos in Apple Photos or iCloud | Keep HEIC. It uses less storage and keeps HDR and depth data |
| Photos you will edit heavily later | Keep the HEIC original; export JPGs at Maximum when needed |
Already know you need JPGs? Convert your whole folder now.
Go to the converterChoosing a JPG quality: what the settings do to file size
JPG quality is a trade between file size and fine detail. To give you real numbers rather than guesses, we converted three iPhone photos of 7 to 12 megapixels at each setting:
| Setting | Typical JPG size vs. the HEIC | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum (95) | About 1.4–1.7× larger | Photos you will edit, crop heavily or print large |
| High (90) | About the same to 1.3× larger | Everyday use. The recommended default |
| Balanced (80) | About 0.7–0.9× the size | Email, messaging, most websites and online forms |
| Small (70) | About 0.6–0.8× the size | Strict upload limits; fine texture may soften |
Your results will vary with the content of each picture. A detailed landscape or a noisy low-light shot needs more bytes than a plain wall or sky. The converter shows the exact size of every file after conversion, so you can judge quickly.
Avoid converting the same photo repeatedly at low settings. Each JPG save discards some information, so always convert from the HEIC original. If you need a much smaller file for a website, convert at High first and then resize or compress it with the Image Compressor, where you can compare the result side by side.
What happens to your photos
Processing happens on your device
When you press Convert, this page loads a HEIC decoder (the open-source libheif library compiled to WebAssembly) from CachePlex and runs it in a background worker inside your browser. Each photo is decoded there, drawn to an off-screen canvas and saved as a JPG, all on your computer or phone. The photos are not sent to CachePlex or to any other service. The page sends our server one small request per batch containing only the number of photos, so we can apply the daily free limit.
Your originals are not touched
Browsers only let a page read the files you pick. Your HEIC files stay exactly where they were, unchanged. The JPGs are new files, saved to your browser’s download location, with the same base name and a .jpg extension. If two photos would get the same name, the second becomes name (2).jpg rather than overwriting the first.
What is kept and what is not
- Kept: full pixel dimensions and the correct orientation. Rotation stored in the HEIC is applied, so portrait shots stay portrait.
- Not kept: EXIF metadata. The capture date, camera model, lens settings and GPS location are not copied into the JPG. Removing location data is helpful when you share photos publicly, but photo libraries that sort by date taken will use the file date instead.
- Not kept: HDR, depth and Live Photo extras. The JPG is a standard 8-bit image. HDR brightness information, Portrait-mode depth maps and the motion part of a Live Photo are left behind.
- Colour: iPhones record in the wider Display P3 colour range. The JPG is saved as standard sRGB, so very vivid reds, oranges and greens can look slightly less saturated than in Apple Photos. Most photos look the same.
Inside the ZIP, each JPG keeps the original file’s modified date, which helps if you sort files by date after unzipping.
Limitations
- Up to 50 photos per batch, 40 MB per photo, and 10 free batches per day. For a larger library, run several batches.
- Speed depends on your device. A recent laptop typically converts a 12-megapixel photo in one to a few seconds; phones and older computers are slower, and very large photos can run out of memory on phones.
- Only HEIC and HEIF photos are converted. AVIF images, videos, PNGs and JPGs are listed as skipped with the reason.
- Metadata is not preserved, as described above.
- The page must stay open while converting. Closing or reloading the tab stops the batch; your originals are unaffected.
Troubleshooting
“This file is incomplete”
The file ends before its image data does. This almost always comes from an interrupted download, cloud sync or cable transfer. Download or copy the photo again and retry. Converting it anyway would produce a partly grey or garbled image.
“Named .heic but not a readable HEIF file”
The file has a HEIC name but its contents are something else, or it is damaged. Try opening it on the device it came from. If it opens there, export it again.
A file says “already a JPG”
Nothing is wrong. Some transfers convert photos to JPG without renaming them. The file is copied as it is with a .jpg name, without a second round of compression.
Conversion stalls or a phone tab reloads
The device ran short of memory. Convert fewer photos per batch, close other tabs, or use a computer for large high-resolution photos.
Nothing happens when you press Convert
The first batch downloads the converter (about 3 MB). On a slow connection this can take a moment. If it fails, the page says so and keeps your list, so you can press Convert again.
Photos picked on an iPhone arrive as JPG
Depending on the iOS version and how you choose them, Safari may hand the page compatible JPG copies instead of the HEIC originals. In that case there is nothing to convert; the tool will tell you.
How to stop your iPhone creating HEIC files
If you regularly need JPGs, you can change the iPhone’s behaviour instead of converting afterwards:
- Shoot in JPG: open Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPG (and videos as H.264). They take more storage, and some camera features, such as 48-megapixel HEIF Max photos and HDR video recording, need High Efficiency.
- Convert automatically when copying to a computer: in Settings → Photos, under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic. Photos copied over a cable are then converted to a compatible format. Keep Originals copies the HEIC files unchanged.
Neither setting changes photos you have already taken. For those, a batch converter is the quickest route.
For a fuller walkthrough, including how to decide between converting and changing settings, read our guide: How to Convert Multiple iPhone HEIC Photos to JPG at Once.
HEIC to JPG questions
Related guides and tools
Convert your HEIC photos in one batch
Up to 50 photos at a time, converted on your device, downloaded as JPGs or a single ZIP.
Choose HEIC photos