HEIC vs JPG: why your iPhone photo won’t upload
You take a photo on your iPhone, try to upload it to a form or open it on a Windows computer — and it doesn’t work. The reason is usually the file type: HEIC.
What is HEIC?
HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is the photo format iPhones use by default. It keeps good quality at about half the file size of a JPG, which saves space on your phone. The problem is that many websites, upload forms and older computers only accept JPG or PNG.
HEIC vs JPG at a glance
| HEIC | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| File size | Smaller | Larger |
| Works on every website | No | Yes |
| Opens on Windows without extras | Not always | Yes |
| Accepted by job, exam and government forms | Rarely | Almost always |
Convert HEIC to JPG in seconds
- Open our iPhone photo to JPG tool.
- Choose one or many HEIC photos.
- Save the JPG photos — all at once, or one by one.
Your photos are converted on your own device and never uploaded. All our photo tools — Resize photo to KB, Photos to PDF and Passport photo — also accept HEIC directly, so you can often skip this step.
Make your iPhone take JPG photos instead
If you often need JPGs, change the camera setting:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Camera, then Formats.
- Choose Most Compatible.
This only affects new photos. Photos you already took stay HEIC — convert them with the tool above. The downside of “Most Compatible” is that photos take up more space on your phone.
Sending photos to a Windows PC?
On your iPhone, go to Settings → Photos and look for “Transfer to Mac or PC”. Setting it to Automatic lets the iPhone convert photos to a compatible format when you copy them to a computer with a cable. (On some iOS versions the Photos settings are under Settings → Apps → Photos.)