Convert HEIC to JPEG
Free online converter for HEIC files. Universally supported lossy photo format. Nothing to install, no watermark, and every file is deleted automatically.
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Upload a HEIC file to convert it to JPEG. Up to 3 files at once, 100 MB each.
Free · up to 3 files · 100 MB each · files deleted automatically after 1 hour.
About HEIC and JPG
HEIC .heic
Apple's default photo format since iOS 11, storing HEVC-compressed images in a HEIF container. It is roughly half the size of an equivalent JPEG.
Good for
- About half the size of JPEG at similar quality
- Keeps transparency, depth maps and image sequences
- 10-bit colour, so smoother gradients than JPEG
Trade-offs
- Poor support outside Apple platforms — this is the usual reason to convert
- Patent-encumbered, which is why support is uneven
- Lossy, so quality does not come back
image/heic
JPEG .jpg
The photographic standard since 1992. JPEG throws away detail your eye is least likely to miss, which is why a photograph saved as JPEG is a fraction of the size of the same image saved losslessly.
Good for
- Opens everywhere — no format is more widely supported
- Very small files for photographs and other continuous-tone images
- A quality dial, so you choose the trade against file size
Trade-offs
- Lossy: detail is discarded permanently, and re-saving repeatedly compounds it
- No transparency at all
- Sharp edges, flat colour and text pick up visible halos
image/jpeg
HEIC and JPG side by side
| HEIC | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy (HEVC) | Lossy |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Animation | Yes — Live Photos and bursts | No |
| Typically used for | iPhone and iPad camera output | Photographs, camera output, web images |
What changes when you convert HEIC to JPG
Only the first frame survives
Most HEIC files are still images and convert straightforwardly. HEIC can also hold an animation, though, and JPG cannot: if yours is animated, what you get back is its first frame and nothing else. Convert to a video format, or to another animating image format, if the motion matters.
Why this conversion exists
HEIC is what an iPhone saves by default, and almost nothing outside Apple's ecosystem opens it — which is why most people arrive here. JPG trades HEIC's efficiency for the ability to open the file anywhere. Depth maps, Live Photo motion and any other auxiliary data in the HEIC are not carried across; what you get is the photograph itself.
Camera data is removed by default
A HEIC straight from a phone or camera carries EXIF metadata — model, settings, timestamp and, quite often, the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken. The converted JPG is written without it, so a file you are about to share does not quietly carry your location. The orientation flag is read and applied to the pixels first, so the image will not come out sideways once the tag holding it is gone. If you need the metadata kept, there is a setting for it.
How the JPG is written
Our default is quality 82 through mozjpeg, written progressively so it renders in passes over a slow connection. The quality control on the converter moves this if you need to — the default aims to be indistinguishable from the source at a sensible file size, rather than to win a compression benchmark.
Colour detail is stored at half resolution
JPG keeps full brightness detail but records colour at half resolution in each direction, because the eye is far more sensitive to the first than the second. On photographs it is invisible. On saturated edges it is not: red text on white, thin coloured lines and flat graphic shapes can pick up fringing. If the HEIC is a screenshot, a logo or anything with text in it, a lossless format will treat it far better.
Re-encoding costs a little quality
Both formats are lossy, so this decodes HEIC and compresses again as JPG. That second pass loses a small amount on top of what was already gone. It is barely visible once, and it accumulates if a file is converted repeatedly — so convert from the original rather than from a previous conversion.
Other HEIC conversions
Other ways to get JPEG
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