Open HEIC Files on Windows

Windows does not open HEIC files out of the box. You double-click the photo, get an error, search for a codec, find out Microsoft charges for it, and end up on a sketchy converter site that uploads your personal photos to who-knows-where.

Skip all of that. Drop the HEIC file below and get a JPG back in seconds. The conversion runs in your browser. Nothing gets uploaded.

HEIC photos from iPhones and iPads embed GPS coordinates, camera details, and timestamps. DropFormat strips all metadata during conversion. Your output file contains only pixel data.

Why Windows can’t open HEIC

HEIC uses the HEVC video codec to compress still images. Microsoft licenses HEVC from patent holders and passes the cost to users: the “HEVC Video Extensions” package in the Microsoft Store costs $0.99. Without it, Photos, Paint, and most Windows apps refuse to open HEIC files.

Some Windows 11 machines get the codec bundled by the device manufacturer. Others don’t. There’s no consistent way to know until you try to open a file and it fails.

Other options (and why they’re worse)

Install the codec. The $0.99 Microsoft Store extension works but only fixes the Windows Photos app and a few others. Many third-party tools still can’t read HEIC even with the codec installed. And the free “HEIF Image Extensions” package that shows up in search results only handles HEIF, not the HEVC-encoded variant that iPhones actually produce.

Use an online converter. Most free online converters upload your photo to a remote server. If the photo contains GPS coordinates, timestamps, or faces, you just handed that to a company you’ve never heard of. Their privacy policies range from vague to nonexistent.

Install desktop software. IrfanView, GIMP, and other desktop apps can open HEIC with plugins, but they are overkill if all you need is a JPG to attach to an email.

How this tool is different

The converter on this page runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly (a compiled library called libheif). When you drop a file, the browser decodes the HEIC image and re-encodes it as JPG. The file bytes never leave your computer. There is nothing to install, no account to create, and no upload that could leak your data.

Prefer PNG?

JPG is best for photos you plan to share, email, or post. If you need a lossless format for editing or printing, convert to PNG instead. The file will be larger, but no quality is lost.