Do you have a lot of HEIC files, and you want to convert them to JPG? Because Google doesn’t support it yet. For example, I have a lot of photos taken by my iPhone 8. But iPhone automatically saves the photos in HEIC format, so I can’t view the files on my PC.
If you need to convert heic to jpg so that you can view them anywhere. In this article, I will teach you how to convert HEIC to JPGs on Windows and Mac computers.
Convert HEIC to JPG with native macOS tools
If you don’t have Setapp membership, which includes Permute and Gemini, consider native apps like Preview or Photos for converting HEIC to JPG. It’s slower and not as efficient, especially if you want to convert multiple files, but still works. Here are three common ways to change image file format on Mac.
How to convert HEIC file to JPG with Photos
As the most popular photo viewing and editing app among Mac users, Photos, which is a continuation of both iPhoto and Aperture, could be the place where you interact with HEIC files the most. Luckily, Photos gives you two ways to change HEIC to JPG.
First, if you’ve transferred some HEIC images from your iPhone to your Photos library, you could simply drag and drop them to your Desktop or any other Mac folder, and they will automatically convert to JPGs.
Second, Photos gives you quite a bit of control over exporting images, so you can simply convert HEIC to JPG files while exporting them and set your exact preferences for quality, color profile, etc:
- Select a few HEIC images from your Photos library
- Click File ➙ Export ➙ Export Photos in the menu bar
- Select all appropriate options for the new JPG images
- Click Export
How to convert HEIC to JPG with Preview
If you don’t use Photos and only need to occasionally convert HEIC file to JPG (to upload online as your avatar, for example), you can simply use the default image viewing app on Mac — Preview, which not only can display photos and documents but also edit them, mark them up, sign or watermark them, and much more.
Here’s how to convert HEIC to JPG on Mac using Preview:
- Open any HEIC image in Preview
- Click File ➙ Export in the menu bar
- Select JPG in the format dropdown and adjust other settings as needed
- Choose Save
How to change HEIC to JPG on Mac with Automator
Hands down, the most under-appreciated default app on macOS is Automator. In case you haven’t used it before, Automator makes lots of menial tasks a breeze, such as renaming files in batches, moving folders, filtering mail, etc. For our purposes, not only Automator can export HEIC images as JPGs, it can also add it to Quick Actions in your right-click menu, so you can easily repeat the action any time in the future without even launching Automator.
To make converting HEIC to JPG a one-click action with Automator:
- Launch Automator and click New Document
- Select Quick Action ➙ Choose
- Look for the Copy Finder Items action and double-click to include it. Choose the folder where you want the converted JPG images to be saved.
- Search for Change Type of Images action and double-click to include that too. Select JPG in the dropdown.
- Click File ➙ Save and name your Quick Action (e.g. change HEIC to JPG)
Now, anytime you need to convert HEIC to JPG on Mac, simply right-click on the file and select your saved workflow from Quick Actions. You can even do so with multiple images at once.
On newer versions of macOS, the quick action of image conversion is included in Finder by default. This means, if you just need to change one HEIC image to JPG or vice versa, you can just right-click the image > Quick Actions > Convert Image > pick the format and click Save. However, if you need to set up a more advanced workflow, refer to Automator.
How to edit image metadata quickly
Many photographers and creators love the JPG format because it’s easy to add lots of metadata to it, such as copyright, artist’s name, GPS coordinates, camera settings, and more. If that’s the only reason for you to convert a HEIC file to JPG, you should know that HEIC supports all the same metadata fields, you just need a good app to edit them.
MetaImage is the most efficient way to fix image metadata on Mac. Unlike Photos, it doesn’t rely on one-by-one edits, but builds automatic workflows instead to process any number of images at the same time, regardless of whether you’re adding EXIF, IPTC, or XMP tags. Overall, the app supports over 5,000 tags and 90 file formats, and even has an extension that works within Photos as well.
Here’s how to change image metadata with MetaImage:
- Drag and drop or upload a bunch of images
- Navigate through blocks and edit metadata, from image description to date and camera — pick the tags you need
- Click Use Preset Action if you have any presets (or create one by clicking the preset icon on the top of the window)
- Click the suitcase icon to export tags or just save the changes and quit.
How to set your iPhone to stop taking HEIC photos
Thankfully, if dealing with HEIC photos becomes too much of a hassle, you can have your iPhone camera stop taking HEIC pics by following these steps:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Camera > Formats.
- Select Most Compatible.
How to send photos from your iPhone as JPG, not HEIC
Another option you have is to keep shooting pictures as HEIC but to share them as JPGs. Here’s how to convert a HEIC to JPG when you share it from your iPhone:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Photos.
- Scroll down to the Transfer to Mac or PC section.
- Choose Automatic.
How to convert HEIC to JPG or PNG on a Mac
If you’ve transferred some pictures from your iPhone and now have a handful of HEIC photos on your Mac, don’t worry. Before you delete those pics and transfer them from your phone again, check out a few of the apps that can open HEIC files. And if the app you want to use doesn’t support HEIC, there are a couple of easy ways to convert those files to JPG format.
What apps can open an HEIC file?
Naturally, any app created and supported by Apple will open HEIC files. This includes apps like Preview, Photos, and iMovie, etc. Other apps like Adobe Photoshop will open HEIC files on Mac only, while Adobe Lightroom will let you import a HEIC, although it will automatically convert the file to a JPG.
How to convert HEIC to JPG or PNG using Preview
One of the easiest ways to convert an HEIC to a JPG on Mac is to use the Preview app:
- Open the HEIC file in Preview.
- Click File > Export.
- From the Format drop-down menu, select either JPG or PNG.
- Click Save.
How to change HEIC to JPG or PNG using Photos
Another straightforward way to convert your picture from HEIC to JPEG or PNG is with your Mac’s Photos app. Just follow these steps to convert your picture:
- Open the Photos app and find the file you want to convert.
- Select the file.
- Click File > Export > Export Photo.
- Choose JPG or PNG from the Photo Kind drop-down menu.
- Click Export.
- Select the location where you want to save your picture and click Export.
How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Windows computer
Opening and viewing a HEIC file on a Windows computer is a bit trickier. For now, the options are limited. (As time goes on, more apps will allow you to open those pictures or, at the very least, help you convert them to JPG files.)
What software can open HEIC on Windows?
Microsoft has released a codec called HEIF Image Extensions, which will allow you to view and open HEIC files. Once you have it installed, your computer will see HEIC photos just like any other image file. But the codec is only available for Windows 10, so if you’re running an older operating system, then you’ll need to use one of the apps below to convert your pictures.
How to convert iPhone HEIC to JPG using CopyTrans HEIC for Windows
When you install CopyTrans HEIC for Windows on your computer, it also installs an extension that will allow you to not only open HEIC files but convert them to JPG as well. After you have it installed, just follow these steps:
- Find the HEIC photo you want to convert on your computer.
- Right-click and select Convert to JPEG with CopyTrans.
The JPG copy of your picture will appear in the same folder. That’s all there is to it!
How to change the HEIC format to JPG using iMazing HEIC Converter
Another easy-to-use app is iMazing HEIC Converter. There’s a bit more of an interface to this one, and you gain additional control over your conversion settings. When you have iMazing HEIC Converter downloaded and installed, this is how you convert your HEIC files:
- Open iMazing HEIC Converter.
- Drag and drop your pictures into the app.
- Choose whether you want to convert to JPG or PNG.
- Drag to set the Quality slider.
- Click Convert.
- Select where you want to save the JPG on your computer.
- Click Ok.
How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows (Easy Method)
The High Efficiency Image File Format, or HEIF for short, is steadily being adopted across multiple platforms. As a result, more files using this container format will have the associated HEIC extension on them. The HEIC format provides many benefits, such as smaller file sizes with better image quality. However, in many cases, users will still need to convert HEIC to the more popular image formats such as JPG. Let’s take a look at how to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows.
How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows
To convert HEIC to JPG on Windows, all we will need is the built-in Windows Photo App. The default windows photo viewer got an update in Build 17123, allowing it to view HEIC extensions. So before we continue, please make sure your Windows is up to date.
- Open your File in the Windows Photo ViewerThis should be your default photo viewer, which opens up when you double-click your image.
- Click Edit & Create
- Click Edit
- Click Save a CopyWe won’t actually be making any edits here. We are just using this screen to make the conversion. Of course, if there are some edits you would like to make, such as cropping, rotations, or filters, this would be the time to do it.
- Choose your Save Location
Your new file will be saved as a JPG file. The original HEIC is left intact as well and won’t be overwritten. Since both files will have different extensions, you can keep them in the same folder if you wish.
Using the Windows Photo viewer to convert HEIC to JPG is the most straightforward process. It requires no extra third-party software, and anyone can do it. However, suppose you want more control of the conversion or need the ability to perform bulk conversions. In that case, you may want to look into doing batch processes in a program like Adobe Photoshop.
Conclusion
Heic images are the latest images that are being saved by iPhone device users. Although these images are an improvement over the previous jpeg format, to Microsoft word or even PowerPoint users, these images save very large files sizes. The Microsoft office suite specially the older version is not capable of saving heic image to compatible format like png or jpeg. Even if you try to manually convert heic image into jpg then also you might get unsatisfactory results. The reason behind this is that even though you can open heic files in Microsoft office but it will not be able to save any modification done in heic file to jpg format. So in order to retain the best quality of photos you need to convert heic images into jpg