How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows Without Uploading

What is a HEIC file and why won't it open?

If you copy photos from an iPhone to a Windows PC, many of them end with .heic instead of .jpg. HEIC is the file type iPhones use by default for photos. It keeps good quality at a smaller file size, which is why Apple uses it, but a lot of Windows software, websites and older apps still expect JPG or PNG.

The result is familiar: a form that will not accept your photo, an email attachment the other person cannot open, or a folder of images that show blank thumbnails. The fix is to convert the files to JPG (best for photos) or PNG (best when you need lossless images or plan to edit them).

The quick answer most people find is an online converter. That works, but it means uploading your personal photos to someone else's server. Family pictures, ID card scans and screenshots of documents are exactly the kind of files you may not want to hand over. The good news is that you do not need to upload anything. Every method below runs on your own PC.

Option 1: Stop the problem on the iPhone

If you control the phone, you can avoid HEIC files in the first place. On the iPhone, open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPG. The trade-off is that they take more space on the phone.

There is also a setting for transfers. In Settings, open Photos and look for Transfer to Mac or PC at the bottom. With Automatic selected, the iPhone converts photos to a compatible format when you copy them to a computer over a cable. This only helps for new transfers. Photos that are already on your PC as HEIC stay as they are.

Option 2: Open HEIC in the Windows Photos app

Windows 10 and 11 can open HEIC photos once the right codec is installed. Microsoft offers the HEIF Image Extensions in the Microsoft Store, and some HEIC files also need the HEVC Video Extensions. After installing them, HEIC files show thumbnails in File Explorer and open in the Photos app. Microsoft explains the setup on support.microsoft.com.

Once a photo opens, you can save a copy in another format. Open the image in Paint, choose File, then Save as, and pick JPEG picture or PNG picture. This is a fine method for one or two photos and it never leaves your PC.

The downside is speed. If you just imported 200 photos from a holiday, opening and saving each one by hand will take a long time.

How to convert many HEIC files to JPG at once

For a whole folder of photos, you want a converter that runs locally and handles many files in one go. This is the job we built Shiftwheel for. It is a free Windows app that converts files in the middle of a drag, and HEIC is one of the image formats it reads.

Here is how converting HEIC to JPG works with it:

• Open the folder with your HEIC photos in File Explorer and select the files you want, or press Ctrl+A to select all of them.
• Start dragging the selection with the mouse.
• While you are still holding the mouse button, tap Shift (press and let go). A format wheel opens under your cursor.
• Drop the files on the JPG slice, or on PNG if you need lossless images.
• The converted copies appear next to the originals, or in one folder you choose in settings. A small notification tells you when they are ready.

Is it safe to convert HEIC photos this way?

Shiftwheel converts on your PC with components that ship inside the app, so it does not need an internet connection. Your photos are never uploaded, and there is no account, analytics or tracking.

It also never overwrites anything. Each conversion writes a new file, so photo.heic stays exactly as it was and you get photo.jpg beside it. If a file with that name already exists, the new one gets a number, such as photo (1).jpg.

One honest note: converting between formats can lose some quality or metadata. If the original photos matter to you, keep the HEIC files as well as the JPG copies. In Shiftwheel's settings you can set the image quality for JPG output between 40 and 100, so you can choose between smaller files and higher quality.

Can I convert HEIC to PNG, WEBP or PDF?

Yes. For an image, Shiftwheel's wheel offers PNG, JPG, WEBP, AVIF, GIF, BMP, TIFF, ICO and PDF. A few common uses:

• JPG: the safe choice for sharing photos by email, WhatsApp Web or upload forms.
• PNG: lossless, useful if you will edit the image further or need sharp text in a screenshot.
• PDF: handy when a website asks for a document upload and you have a photo of a form or receipt.
• WEBP or AVIF: smaller files for websites, if the place you are uploading to accepts them.

Troubleshooting HEIC on Windows

If HEIC thumbnails are blank in File Explorer, the HEIF codec is probably not installed. That only affects previews. A dedicated converter like Shiftwheel can still read the files.

If the wheel does not appear, check that you tapped Shift while the mouse button was still held down. Holding Shift down for the whole drag keeps its normal Windows meaning, which is to move the file, so Shiftwheel stays out of the way. You can switch the trigger to Right Shift, Ctrl or Alt in settings if that suits you better.

If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" when you run the installer, that is SmartScreen warning about an app it has not seen many people download yet. Click More info, then Run anyway.

Once your photos are converted, you may also want a tidier way to keep the screenshots you take on the same PC. We wrote a separate guide on how to organize screenshots on Windows.

Convert HEIC to JPG with Shiftwheel

If you only have one HEIC photo, the Photos app and Paint will do. If you regularly get photos from an iPhone, or you just want to convert a whole folder without uploading it anywhere, Shiftwheel turns it into one drag and a tap of Shift.

It is free to download, works on Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11 on 64-bit PCs, and also converts video, audio and documents the same way. Download it from the Shiftwheel page and try it on your next batch of iPhone photos.