To convert HEIC to JPG, drop your photo into a browser-based converter like HEIC to JPG — it decodes the Apple HEIC/HEIF format on your device and exports a universal JPG, with nothing uploaded. JPG opens on every device, app, and website.
What is HEIC, and why convert it?
HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the format iPhones use by default — it stores great-looking photos at about half the file size of JPG. The catch is compatibility: many Windows apps, websites, and older devices can't open HEIC, so you often need a JPG to share or upload.
Why convert in your browser
Your photos are personal. Most online HEIC converters upload them to a server to do the conversion. A browser-based tool decodes the HEIC locally (using a WebAssembly image engine), so the photo never leaves your device — important for anything private.
How to convert HEIC to JPG
- Open HEIC to JPG (or HEIC to PNG if you need lossless/transparency).
- Drop one or more .heic / .heif photos — they're processed on your device.
- Download the JPGs instantly.
Tip: stop your iPhone making HEIC
If you'd rather capture JPG directly, on iPhone go to Settings → Camera → Formats → "Most Compatible." New photos will be JPG. For everything already in HEIC, convert them privately above.
Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?
Technically yes, in practice rarely enough to see. Both formats are lossy, so going from one to the other decodes the HEIC and re-encodes it as JPG — a second generation of compression. At a high JPG quality setting the difference is invisible at normal viewing sizes; where it can show is in smooth gradients such as skies, which are exactly what JPG handles least gracefully.
Expect the file to get bigger, not smaller. HEIC's whole purpose is storing a comparable image in roughly half the space, so a JPG of the same photo commonly lands at one and a half to two times the size. You are trading storage for compatibility, which is usually the right trade for a photo you need to send — and it is a good reason to keep the HEIC originals rather than replacing them.
Live Photos, depth data and EXIF
A Live Photo is not one file but two: a HEIC still and a short MOV alongside it. Converting the HEIC gives you the still frame, which is what you almost always want when someone asks for "the photo" — but the motion is in the MOV, and it is not carried into a JPG. If you need the moving version, convert the MOV instead with MOV to MP4.
Portrait-mode depth maps and Apple's editing history are HEIC container features with no equivalent in JPG, so they are dropped — the converted image keeps the edit as it looks, but you can no longer adjust the background blur. Ordinary EXIF metadata such as the capture date and camera settings travels across normally. If you are converting photos specifically to strip location data before sharing, check the result rather than assuming: EXIF is preserved by design, not removed.