iPhone Photos (HEIC) Won't Open on Windows? Here Is How to Fix It

By Thiago · Updated September 25, 2026 · 2 min read

You copy photos from your iPhone to a Windows PC and get files ending in .HEIC that show a blank icon, an error, or a message asking you to buy an extension. The photos are fine. They are just saved in a format that much of the Windows world still does not read.

What HEIC is and why the iPhone uses it

Since 2017, iPhones save photos in HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) by default. It stores a photo at roughly half the size of a JPG with the same quality, which saves a lot of space on the phone. The downside is compatibility: HEIC images are compressed with HEVC, a codec that Windows does not support out of the box, and many websites, upload forms, print services and older apps reject them.

Option 1: convert the photos (fastest)

For a handful of photos, converting is the quickest fix and works on any computer:

1. Open HEIC to JPG.
2. Add up to 20 HEIC files at once.
3. Download the JPGs. They open everywhere and are saved at high quality (90 out of 100), turned the right way up.

Choose HEIC to PNG instead if you plan to edit the photo further and want a copy without any compression loss. PNG files of photos are much larger, though.

Option 2: let the iPhone convert when you copy

The iPhone can hand over compatible files automatically when you connect it with a cable:

1. On the iPhone, open Settings → Photos.
2. At the bottom, under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic.

With this setting, photos copied over a cable are converted to JPG on the way. Photos you already copied as HEIC are not changed, so convert those with option 1.

Option 3: stop the iPhone from creating HEIC

If you often send photos to Windows users or upload them to websites, you can make the camera save JPG from now on:

1. Open Settings → Camera → Formats.
2. Choose Most Compatible.

New photos will be JPG (and new videos H.264, which also plays everywhere). The trade-off is that they take about twice as much space on the phone.

What about the Windows extensions?

Windows can show HEIC files if you install Microsoft's HEIF and HEVC extensions from the Microsoft Store. That fixes viewing on that one computer, but it does not help when you need to upload the photo to a website, send it to someone else or print it. Converting to JPG solves all of those at once.

Common questions

Will converting to JPG lower the quality?

Very slightly, and not in a way you will notice. JPG at quality 90 keeps photos sharp, even when you zoom in.

What happens to Live Photos?

The converter keeps the main still photo. The short video part of a Live Photo is a separate file and is not included.

The JPG is bigger than the HEIC. Is that normal?

Yes. HEIC is more efficient, so the same photo takes more space as a JPG. If you need smaller files for email or a form, run them through the image compressor.

I need to send several photos as one document

Convert them to JPG first, then combine them into a single file with JPG to PDF.