What is HEIC?
HEIC is the photo format used by default on recent iPhones and iPads. It stores a picture in roughly half the space of a JPG at similar quality. The drawback is compatibility: many websites, forms and Windows programs cannot open it. Converting to JPG solves that, and the same step can reduce the size.
How to convert and compress a HEIC photo
- Add the HEIC files. Safari opens them directly. Other browsers first load a small decoder, which takes a moment.
- Keep the output on JPG (this page sets it for you) and quality at 85, or choose a target size.
- Download the JPG files, or all of them as a ZIP.
Good to know
- A converted JPG is often larger than the HEIC original, because JPG is less efficient. Lower the quality or set a Max width to bring it down.
- Depth maps, Live Photo video and HDR data are not kept. You get one still image.
- To make the iPhone take JPG in the first place, open Settings, Camera, Formats, and choose Most Compatible.
- For web use after converting, WebP gives smaller files. Choose it as the output.
Common limits for converted photos: 500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 5 MB. Other formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF.