PaperKit › HEIC to JPG

HEIC to JPG

Convert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG or PNG in your browser. Drop one or hundreds, pick the quality, download. Nothing is uploaded, so your photos stay on your device.

How to use HEIC to JPG

  1. Drop one or more HEIC photos.
  2. Pick JPG or PNG and a quality.
  3. Download the converted images.

How to convert HEIC to JPG without uploading your photos

Drop HEIC or HEIF photos from an iPhone, iPad, or recent Android phone, choose JPG or PNG, and download the converted files. PaperKit decodes the HEIC in your browser with the open-source libheif library compiled to WebAssembly, so the photos never leave your device and there is no file limit beyond your own memory.

What HEIC is and why files refuse to open

Apple switched the iPhone camera to HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) with iOS 11. It stores a photo with the HEVC video codec at roughly half the size of a JPG, which is why phones default to it. Windows needs a paid codec extension to open it, many web forms, CMSs, and older apps reject it outright, and email previews often show a blank box. Converting to JPG gives you a file every program understands.

Convert one photo or a whole batch

Select as many HEIC files as you like; each is decoded and saved separately with the same name and a .jpg or .png extension. A typical 12-megapixel iPhone photo converts in about a second on a laptop. If a file is not actually HEIC (a PNG with the wrong extension, say) it is still converted, so mixed folders are fine.

JPG or PNG, and which quality to pick

JPG is the right choice for photos: small and universally supported. PNG is lossless and keeps transparency, but a photo saved as PNG is several times larger. The JPG quality presets map to the encoder's quality setting.

Best (0.92)
Visually identical to the HEIC; roughly 1.5 to 2 times the HEIC size
Balanced (0.8)
Hard to tell apart on screen; about half the size of Best
Small (0.65)
For email and web pages where size matters more than pixel-peeping

What is kept and what is not

The picture is rotated the right way up according to the EXIF orientation tag before saving, so portrait shots stay portrait. The JPG does not carry over EXIF metadata, which means the capture date, camera model, and GPS location are not in the converted file; that is a privacy plus, but keep the original if you need the date. Live Photo video, depth maps, and HDR gain maps are not part of a JPG and are dropped.

Your photos never leave your device

Most online HEIC converters upload every photo to a server, where it may be kept for hours. PaperKit downloads a small decoder once (about a megabyte) and does the work in the browser tab. Nothing is transmitted; you can convert with the network switched off after the page has loaded.

Stop your iPhone creating HEIC in the first place

If you regularly need JPG, open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. Alternatively keep HEIC for storage and set Settings, Photos, Transfer to Mac or PC to Automatic, which converts on the way out. Either way, PaperKit handles the HEIC files you already have.

Next steps

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Frequently asked questions

How do I convert HEIC to JPG for free?

Drop the HEIC files on PaperKit HEIC to JPG, keep JPG selected, and click Convert to JPG. Each photo is decoded in your browser and the JPGs download immediately, with no upload or signup.

Does converting HEIC to JPG reduce quality?

At the Best preset the difference is invisible on screen or in print. JPG is lossy, so very heavy editing later can show artefacts; keep the HEIC original if you plan to edit extensively.

Can I convert many HEIC files at once?

Yes. Select or drop as many as you need and every one is converted in a single run and downloaded separately.

Does the JPG keep the date, camera, and location?

No. The converted file contains the picture only; EXIF metadata including GPS is not copied. The photo is still rotated correctly.

Why will Windows not open my HEIC photos?

Windows needs the HEVC codec, sold separately in the Microsoft Store. Converting to JPG avoids the codec entirely and works in every program.

Are my photos uploaded?

No. Decoding happens in your browser with a WebAssembly build of libheif. The files never leave your device.