Convert iPhone Photos to JPG on Windows
Windows cannot open a HEIC photo until an extension is installed, and the extension on the Microsoft Store costs money. Converting in the browser avoids both the purchase and the install: drop a whole album in, leave Quality at 0.9, and download JPGs that every application opens. What you give up is the capture data — the timestamp and any location are not written into the new files.
Files are never uploadedConvert your HEIC photos
Drop in one photo or a whole album. Decoding happens in your browser, so personal pictures stay on your machine.
Open HEIC to JPGWhy the file will not open, and what conversion costs you
iPhones have saved photographs as HEIC for years, because the format compresses far better than JPG at the same visible quality. The catch is support: Windows ships no HEIC decoder by default, and the one on the Microsoft Store is a paid extension. Plenty of websites reject the format outright as well, so a photo that looks perfect on the phone can be unusable everywhere else.
That compression advantage has a counter-intuitive consequence. Because HEIC stores the same picture in fewer bytes, a JPG re-encoded at comparable quality often comes out noticeably larger than the file it replaced. If size matters — an upload form with a cap, a mailbox with a limit — lower the quality setting or set a maximum dimension, both of which shrink the result.
Conversion is a re-encode, not a rename, so it is lossy. At the default quality of 0.9 the difference is invisible in normal viewing, and going lower trades visible fidelity for bytes. That is the whole trade, and there is no way to make a JPG without making it.
Metadata is a separate matter from image quality. EXIF fields carry the capture time, the camera settings and, if the phone was recording it, the GPS position of the shot. Nothing here copies those across, so the JPGs you get are free of the location data — convenient when posting publicly, inconvenient when you rely on the date a photo was taken.
Step by step
Add the photos
Drop one file or the whole album onto the box, or use the file picker. Multiple selection is supported, so a batch of a hundred photos is one action rather than a hundred.
Review the list before converting
Each file is listed with its name and size. Remove anything added by mistake now, because the conversion runs over everything in the list.
Leave Quality at 0.9 unless you need smaller files
The default of 0.9 is visually indistinguishable from the original in ordinary viewing. Lower it only when the files have to be smaller — and expect the JPG to be larger than the HEIC you started from even so.
Optionally cap the pixel size
The maximum dimension field in Advanced options shrinks large photos as well as re-encoding them. It is the effective lever when the target is a file-size limit rather than a format change.
Convert and wait for the first one
The decoder is a sizeable piece of JavaScript that loads on first use, so the very first photo can pause briefly. The rest of the batch follows quickly.
Download individually or together
Every JPG is listed with its new size and can be saved on its own or all at once. The HEIC originals are left exactly where they were, so nothing is lost if you keep them.
Re-attach the date if you need it
Since capture data is not carried over, a JPG that has to be filed by date needs the date added by hand or the original kept alongside. This is the one thing conversion genuinely costs you.
What changes when HEIC becomes JPG
Format and compatibility are the gains. Metadata and file size are the costs.
| Property | HEIC original | JPG after conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Opens on Windows without an extension | No | Yes |
| Accepted by ordinary websites and apps | Often not | Yes |
| File size at comparable quality | Smaller | Usually larger, sometimes substantially |
| Visible quality at the default setting | Reference | Effectively the same at 0.9 |
| Capture date and camera settings | Present | Not copied |
| GPS location | Present if recorded | Not copied |
| Live Photo motion | A separate video file | Not part of the JPG |
| Original file on disk | Unchanged | Unchanged |
Mistakes to avoid
Expecting the JPG to be smaller
HEIC is the more efficient format, so a JPG of the same picture is usually bigger. If the point was a smaller file, lower the quality setting or set a maximum dimension rather than converting and hoping.
Assuming the date travels with the photo
It does not. EXIF fields are not copied, which is good for location privacy and inconvenient for photographers who sort by capture date. Keep the originals if that date matters.
Being surprised by the first slow photo
The decoder loads on first use, so picture number one can pause. That is a one-off per session, not a sign the batch has stalled.
A photo appearing sideways
HEIC may store orientation as metadata rather than rotating the pixels. If one comes out rotated, save a fresh copy from the phone editor and convert that.
Files from unusual apps failing to decode
The decoder handles standard Apple HEIC and HEIF encoding. An export from an atypical application may not decode, in which case re-export from the Photos app and try again.
Frequently asked questions
Why will Windows not open my iPhone photos?
Are the photos uploaded?
What quality setting should I use?
Will I lose quality?
Does the JPG keep the date and location?
Is the HEIC file changed or deleted?
Why is the JPG bigger than the HEIC?
Does a Live Photo convert?
Can I convert a whole album at once?
Tools used in this guide
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