How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows — 4 Free Methods
September 20, 2026 · 6 min read
There are plenty of ways to do this and most guides list all of them without saying which one you should actually use. The right answer depends almost entirely on how many files you have, so this is organised that way.
First: do you need to convert at all?
If your only problem is that HEIC files will not open or preview on your PC, converting hundreds of photos is the wrong fix. Install the codec instead and Windows treats them like any other image.
Open the Microsoft Store and install HEIF Image Extensions, which is free. Some setups also need an HEVC decoder — that is the part with the licensing complication, and it is why HEIC support was never included by default. On Windows 11 22H2 and later, much of it ships with the system.
Once that is in place, File Explorer shows thumbnails, Photos and Paint open the files, and the format stops being an obstacle.
Convert when something else demands a JPG: an upload form, a print service, a colleague on older software.
One or two photos: Photos or Paint
With the extensions installed, both built-in apps can export.
Photos: open the file, click the three-dot menu, choose Save as, and pick JPEG from the format list.
Paint: open the file, then File → Save as → JPEG picture. Paint also lets you set a quality level on the way out.
Fine for a handful of files. Painful past about five, because there is no way to do them together.
A folder of photos: PowerToys
This is the method most guides leave out, and it is the best free option on Windows for batches.
PowerToys is a free utility suite from Microsoft. Its Image Resizer module handles batch format conversion, despite the name.
- Install PowerToys from the Microsoft Store or GitHub
- Open PowerToys Settings and enable Image Resizer
- In File Explorer, select all the HEIC files you want
- Right-click and choose Resize pictures
- Click Advanced options and set the output format to JPEG
- Run it — converted files appear alongside the originals
You can convert several hundred files in one go, without uploading anything and without paying for software. It needs the HEIF extensions from the first section to be installed, since it uses the same system codec.
The interface is a resizer, so if you only want a format change, leave the dimensions alone and just set the output format.
No installation allowed: convert in the browser
On a work machine where you cannot install anything, or when you just want it done without setup, a browser-based converter is the practical route.
Our HEIC to JPG converter does this. The important detail is where the work happens: the decoder runs on your own machine using WebAssembly, so your photos are never sent to a server. There is no queue, no daily limit and no cap on how many files you convert at once.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. Most online converters upload your files, process them on their servers, and return the result — and several of the well-known ones limit free users to around ten files a day with a size cap per file, which is exactly when you notice you are the product rather than the customer.
If the converted files also need to be smaller for an upload, run them through the compressor afterwards.
Already using iCloud: download as JPEG
If your photos sync to iCloud, you can sidestep the whole problem. Sign in at iCloud.com on your PC, select the photos, and download them. There is an option to download in a compatible format, which delivers JPEGs rather than HEICs.
Convenient if you are already in that ecosystem, useless if you are not.
One method to avoid
Several guides suggest opening the HEIC in Photos, taking a screenshot with the Snipping Tool, and saving that as a JPEG.
Do not do this. A screenshot is not a conversion. You get whatever resolution your screen displayed, which is usually far less than the original photo, plus the compression of the screenshot itself. A 12-megapixel photo becomes a 1-megapixel copy of a scaled-down preview.
For a throwaway image it will not matter. For anything you might print, upload to a form with a quality check, or keep, you have quietly destroyed most of the picture and it cannot be undone. Use one of the actual methods above.
Stopping the problem at the source
If you keep hitting this, change the setting on the phone.
Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible makes your iPhone save JPEG from now on. Existing photos stay HEIC. Storage use roughly doubles for new photos, which is a real cost worth deciding on rather than stumbling into.
Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic is the better option if your problem is specifically copying photos to a Windows PC over a cable. iOS converts to JPEG during the transfer, so you keep the storage benefit on the phone and get JPGs on the computer.
A note on personal documents
A lot of HEIC conversion is people photographing an ID, a certificate, a medical form or a bank letter to upload somewhere.
If that is what you are converting, think about the route. Uploading a photo of your passport to an unknown converter site, so that you can then submit it to the organisation that actually asked for it, adds a party who has no reason to see it and no obligation you can check.
Either use the offline methods above — Photos, Paint or PowerToys, which never touch a network — or a browser-based tool that processes locally. You can verify the second claim: open developer tools, switch to the Network tab, and convert a file. If nothing uploads, nothing uploaded.
Which one should you pick?
- A couple of photos: Photos or Paint, with the extensions installed
- A folder: PowerToys
- Cannot install anything: browser-based conversion
- Already on iCloud: download as JPEG from iCloud.com
- Happens constantly: change the camera or transfer setting on the phone
Most people need two of these — a batch method for the backlog, and a phone setting so it stops recurring.