HEIC to JPG: Why Your iPhone Photos Won't Open on Windows

If you've ever transferred photos from an iPhone to a Windows PC and found them showing up as grey boxes, unreadable thumbnails, or files that simply refuse to open — you've run into HEIC.

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the default photo format on iPhones running iOS 11 and later. Apple switched to it because it stores photos at roughly half the file size of an equivalent JPG, without a visible drop in quality. That's great for your phone's storage — less great the moment you need to open that photo somewhere that doesn't natively support HEIC.

Why Windows can't open it

Windows doesn't include a built-in HEIC decoder the way macOS and iOS do. Older versions of Windows 10 and many default photo viewers simply don't know what to do with the file, so you get a broken-image icon instead of your photo. Even when Windows can preview it (after installing Microsoft's HEIF extension), most everyday tools — older editing software, some email clients, plenty of websites — still expect JPG or PNG.

The quickest fix

You don't need to install a codec extension or change any Windows settings. Convert the file to JPG once, and every app, website, and email client will open it without complaint:

1. Upload the .heic file to Ident Convert.
2. It's identified automatically as a HEIC image.
3. Choose JPG as the output format.
4. Download the converted file — no account, no install.

HEIC vs JPG at a glance

Should you just turn HEIC off on your iPhone?

You can — under Settings → Camera → Formats, switching to "Most Compatible" makes your iPhone save new photos as JPG instead of HEIC. That solves it going forward, but it roughly doubles the storage each new photo takes up, and it does nothing for the HEIC photos already sitting in your camera roll. Converting on demand, only for the photos you actually need to share, is usually the more practical option.