How to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows, one photo or a whole folder

An iPhone saves its photos as HEIC, and a Windows PC wants JPG. For one or two photos Windows can do the conversion itself, once it can read HEIC at all. For a holiday’s worth it cannot, because nothing built into Windows converts a folder of photos at once. This guide covers both cases: the one-photo routes in Paint and Photos, the ways to get JPGs straight from the iPhone or iCloud so there is nothing to convert, and how to convert a whole folder without sending your photos to someone else’s server.

If the HEIC files will not open on your PC at all, start with what is a HEIC file, which walks through the two Microsoft Store extensions Windows needs. Everything below assumes they are installed, except the iCloud, iPhone and browser routes, which do not need them.

Which route fits

One photo: Paint

Paint has been able to save JPGs for as long as it has existed, and it opens HEIC with whatever codecs Windows has.

1. Check Windows can read the photo. Double-click the .heic file. If Photos shows the picture, carry on. If it asks for an extension, install HEIF Image Extension and HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store first.
2. Open it in Paint. In File Explorer, right-click the file, choose Open with, then Paint.
3. Save it as JPEG. Choose File, Save as, JPEG picture. Pick the folder, keep or change the name, and select Save.

The original HEIC stays where it was. Paint saves at a fixed quality you cannot change, which is fine for sharing and printing.

One photo: the Photos app

In recent versions of the Windows 11 Photos app, open the photo, select the three dots menu and choose Save as. In the dialog, change Save as type to JPG and save. It is the same idea as Paint with one fewer window. Microsoft moves the menus about between versions of Photos, so if Save as is not where this says, Paint is the dependable fallback.

Both routes do one photo per save. For ten photos that is tolerable. For three hundred it is an afternoon, and that is where the next three routes come in.

Many photos: get JPGs from the iPhone instead

The cleanest conversion is the one you never do. An iPhone can hand over JPGs in the first place.

When you copy by USB cable, the iPhone converts as it goes if you let it. On the iPhone open Settings > Apps > Photos (on iOS 17 and earlier, Settings > Photos), scroll to Transfer to Mac or PC and choose Automatic. Then connect the cable, unlock the phone, and import from the Photos app on Windows or copy from the phone’s folder in File Explorer. Photos arrive as JPG. The other option, Keep Originals, is what produces the HEIC files.

For photos you have not taken yet, open Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible. The camera then saves JPG directly. New photos take roughly twice the storage, which is the reason Apple made HEIC the default; HEIC vs JPG vs PNG weighs that trade.

Many photos: download from iCloud.com as Most Compatible

If the photos are in iCloud Photos, the iCloud website can convert them as you download. Apple’s iCloud guide lists the choices:

• Most Compatible: photos as JPEG and videos as MP4, when possible.
• Unmodified Originals: exactly as captured, which for an iPhone photo means HEIC.
• Highest Resolution: the best your device supports, HEIC where available.

Sign in at icloud.com/photos in any browser, select the photos (Ctrl and click picks several), open the download menu, choose More Download Options and pick Most Compatible. Several photos at once usually arrive as a ZIP file; right-click it and choose Extract All.

This goes through Apple’s servers, but those are where the photos already live, so nothing new is shared. It does need the photos to be in iCloud Photos in the first place.

Many photos: convert a folder in the browser

When the HEIC files are already on the PC, from a USB stick, an email or a shared drive, there is no iPhone setting to change. Windows itself offers nothing for a batch, and the search results for this are mostly online converters that upload each photo to their server, convert it there and send the JPG back. Phone photos often record where they were taken, and they show faces, homes and children. Is it safe to upload photos online looks at what the popular converters’ own policies say about that.

A converter that runs in the browser tab avoids the upload. getPNG’s HEIC to JPG brings its own HEIC decoder, libheif, so it does not need the Windows extensions either:

1. Open getpng.app/heic-to-jpg in Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
2. Drag the folder’s HEIC files onto the page, or select them with the file picker. Ctrl+A in the picker takes the lot.
3. Wait for the first photo. The decoder is fetched once (about 2 MB) and kept; after that the photos convert one after another.
4. Select Save all to get every JPG in one ZIP file, then right-click the ZIP and choose Extract All.

Each JPG is the full size of the original. The location, date and camera details in the HEIC are not copied into the JPG. Only the still photo is converted, so the moving part of a Live Photo is not included.

If you already use command-line tools, ImageMagick and similar can convert a folder in one line. For most people that is a bigger download and more setup than the job is worth.

On a work PC that blocks the Microsoft Store

Company laptops are often set up so that nothing can be installed, the Microsoft Store included. That rules out the HEIF and HEVC extensions, and with them Paint and Photos, and it is the most common reason someone ends up searching for a converter at all. Three routes still work, because none of them installs anything on the PC:

• Send the photos from the iPhone as JPG. When you share by AirDrop, Messages or email to something that may not read HEIF, iOS can convert the photo on the way. Mailing a few photos to your work address is often the quickest fix.
• Download from iCloud.com as Most Compatible, as above, if your company allows you to sign in to iCloud in the browser.
• Use a browser converter that does not upload. It runs inside the browser you already have, so there is nothing to install and nothing for IT to approve. Your company’s policy on personal photos on work machines still applies, of course.

What changes in the conversion

• The file often gets bigger. JPG is the older, less efficient format, so the same photo usually takes more space than the HEIC did. People expect the opposite.
• A little quality goes. JPG compresses the picture again. At high quality you will not see it, but converting the same photo back and forth repeatedly would show.
• HDR is flattened. A recent iPhone photo can carry extra brightness information for HDR screens. A JPG holds the ordinary version, which is what most screens show anyway.
• Live Photos lose their movement. The JPG is the still frame.

Keep the HEIC originals if you have the space. A JPG can always be made again from them; the reverse adds nothing.

When it does not work

• Paint or Photos says it cannot open the file. The HEVC extension is missing; the free HEIF one alone is not enough for iPhone photos. What is a HEIC file has the details.
• The file is 0 KB. The copy never finished, usually because the photo was only in iCloud. Open it on the iPhone so it downloads, then copy it again.
• The JPG is sideways. The tool ignored the rotation stored in the HEIC. Rotate it in Photos and save, or convert with a tool that applies the rotation as it decodes.
• A website still rejects the JPG. Check the extension really changed: File Explorer hides extensions by default, so a file renamed from photo.heic to photo.jpg is still a HEIC inside. Turn on View, Show, File name extensions, and convert rather than rename.

The steps, in short

1. Make sure Windows can read HEIC. Double-click a .heic file. If Photos shows it, carry on; if not, install HEIF Image Extension and HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store first.
2. Open the photo in Paint. Right-click the .heic file in File Explorer and choose Open with, then Paint.
3. Save it as JPEG. In Paint choose File, Save as, JPEG picture. Pick a folder, keep or change the name, and select Save.
4. For a whole folder, use a batch route. Copy the photos off the iPhone with Transfer to Mac or PC set to Automatic, download them from iCloud.com as Most Compatible, or drop the folder on a browser converter that does not upload.

Questions

Can Windows convert HEIC to JPG without extra software?

Paint and the Photos app can save a HEIC photo as JPG, but only once Windows can read HEIC, which needs the free HEIF Image Extension and the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store (US$0.99 when checked in September 2026). Some PCs have HEVC support preinstalled by the manufacturer.

How do I convert many HEIC files to JPG at once on Windows?

Windows has no built-in batch converter. Either avoid the HEIC files in the first place (set the iPhone's transfer option to Automatic, or download from iCloud.com as Most Compatible), or drop the whole folder on a converter that handles many files, such as getPNG's HEIC to JPG, which runs in the browser and saves the lot as one ZIP.

Does converting HEIC to JPG on Windows lose quality?

A little, because JPG compresses the picture again. Saved at high quality the difference is not visible. The JPG is often larger than the HEIC was, because JPG is the less efficient format, so keep the originals if you have the space.

Why does Paint say it cannot read the HEIC file?

Paint uses the same Windows codecs as Photos. Without the HEIF and HEVC extensions it cannot decode the photo. Install both from the Microsoft Store, close Paint and open the file again.

Do the JPGs keep the photo's location?

It depends on the tool. Some copy the original's metadata, including GPS position, into the JPG. getPNG's converter does not carry metadata across, so the location is left behind. The check in this guide shows how to see which you got.