Windows can't open your HEIC photo because the pixels inside it are compressed with HEVC, the same codec used in 4K video, and a stock Windows install carries no license to decode it. Microsoft's own developer documentation confirms HEIF is just a container, similar to TIFF, and that HEVC is only its default compression method, so Windows can read the file's structure without being able to decode what's inside it. Microsoft sells the missing decoder for $0.99, and that purchase only unlocks the PC you install it on.
How do I open a HEIC file on Windows right now?
Convert it. Convert HEIC to JPG runs in your browser and hands back a file every version of Windows already opens.
- Convert it, free and instant. HEIC to JPG or HEIC to PNG for one file or a whole folder, nothing installed, nothing uploaded.
- Buy the codec, $0.99 once. Fixes Photos and File Explorer thumbnails on this one PC, for every HEIC you'll ever open there.
- Change your iPhone's camera setting, free. Stops new HEICs from being created. Does nothing for the ones you already have.
HEIC on Windows, at a glance
| Option | Cost | Fixes it on | What it doesn't do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convert to JPG, PNG or PDF | Free | Any device, immediately | Drops Live Photo motion and HDR gain-map data |
| Buy the Microsoft codec | $0.99 once | This PC only | Doesn't help on another computer or a website upload |
| Switch iPhone to Most Compatible | Free | Every photo from now on | Existing HEICs untouched; new photos run bigger |
| HEIC | JPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Lossy only |
| Transparency (alpha channel) | Yes | No |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Lossless compression | Yes | No |
| Embedded metadata | Yes | Yes |
| Colour profiles | Yes | Yes |
| High dynamic range | Yes | No |
| Multiple images or pages | Yes | No |
| Released | 2015 | 1992 |
| Developer | MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) | Joint Photographic Experts Group |
Should you pay $0.99 for Microsoft's HEVC codec?
Only if you want Windows itself to open HEIC files from now on, so that Photos and Explorer thumbnails work on every one you receive. Search the Microsoft Store for "HEIF Image Extensions," which is free, and install it first. It teaches Windows to read the HEIC container.
It cannot decode the picture inside without "HEVC Video Extensions," priced at $0.99 on Microsoft's own listing as of August 2026, because Microsoft pays a per-install HEVC patent royalty and passes it on.
Some PCs qualify for a free variant called "HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer," pre-paid by whoever built the machine. It doesn't show up if you search the Store: Microsoft's own listing for it offers no browse or purchase action, only a direct install link, and only for PCs it recognizes as entitled. Don't plan around finding it.
Buying the codec fixes Photos and Explorer thumbnails on that one PC and nothing else. The file still won't open on a different computer, still won't upload cleanly everywhere, and still needs the same $0.99 the next time you set up Windows fresh.
Should you just convert the HEIC to JPG?
Yes, for anything you're about to send, upload, or print once. FileFlip converts HEIC to JPG, PNG, or PDF in your browser using WebAssembly, so the photo never leaves your device and there's no $0.99 to spend.
Converting does cost you real bytes, so we measured it rather than guessing. We encoded the 12-image Kodak True Color set to both HEIC and JPG with ImageMagick 7.1.2 and matched each pair by SSIM. At the same measured quality, HEIC came out a median 41% smaller than JPG, ranging from 25% to 53% smaller across the set.
| JPG quality matched | HEIC size at the same SSIM | Range across the 12 images |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | 41.2% smaller | 25% to 51% |
| 75 | 42.9% smaller | 30% to 51% |
| 85 | 41.1% smaller | 27% to 50% |
| 90 | 40.9% smaller | 33% to 53% |
That means a JPG at matched quality runs about 1.7 times the size of the HEIC it replaces, not the double figure often quoted. Only the widest gap in our set, 53%, gets you close to double.
We also measured the conversion people actually run: a HEIC written at quality 80, a realistic capture setting, converted to JPG across a range of qualities.
| JPG quality | Size vs the source HEIC | SSIM vs the true original |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | 79% smaller | 0.9416 |
| 75 | 72% smaller | 0.9572 |
| 80 | 67% smaller | 0.9641 |
| 85 | 61% smaller | 0.9716 |
| 90 | 40% smaller | 0.9798 |
| 95 | 12% smaller | 0.9843 |
The source HEIC itself scores 0.9975 against the true original. Nothing in that table reaches it, because JPEG is a second, different lossy pass on top of the first one.
JPG quality 90 is the setting we'd pick: still 40% smaller than the HEIC and close enough to the source that the difference isn't visible on a screen. Below 75 the loss starts to show on flat areas like skies. Use the Quality control under Advanced options to set it.
Color depth mostly survives the trip. magick identify -verbose on our test files shows 8-bit depth on both the source HEIC and the converted JPG, which is what an ordinary iPhone photo already is, so nothing is lost there. The exception is HDR photos: Apple's own developer documentation describes these as 10-bit HEIF files carrying a gain map, and that extra precision has nowhere to go in an 8-bit JPEG.
What does get dropped regardless of bit depth is a Live Photo's paired video clip and every frame after the first in a multi-image HEIC, because JPEG holds exactly one flat image. Microsoft's own codec documentation confirms HEIF has dedicated slots for a per-pixel depth map and an HDR gain map, both written by recent iPhones, and neither has anywhere to go in a JPEG. Ordinary EXIF metadata, camera make and model, GPS coordinates, held up fine in our own round-trip test through exiftool.
For a file you'll never edit again, that's a fair trade. For an archive you plan to keep working on at full quality, see lossy vs lossless compression for why a second lossy pass can't be undone.
Should you turn off HEIC on your iPhone?
If you're the one taking the photos, yes, this is the only option that stops the problem instead of working around it. Open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. Apple's own support page confirms exactly what changes: new photos save as JPEG and new videos as H.264, so every photo you take afterward opens on Windows without a codec at all.
The cost is size, and now you have a real number for it: based on our matched-quality test above, a JPG from your camera runs roughly 1.7 times the size of the HEIC it would have taken, so your camera roll fills up faster. HDR gain-map data and Live Photo motion are gone from every new shot too.
The setting only affects photos taken after you change it. Everything already in your camera roll stays HEIC.
Which option should you pick?
Converting is the right call for almost everyone: it's free, instant, and handles the exact file in front of you, whether that's three photos for an email or a folder pulled off an old backup. If you're the person who keeps receiving other people's iPhone photos and wants Windows to just open them from here on, the $0.99 codec pays for itself after the second or third file. If you're the one taking the photos, fixing the camera setting means you stop generating the problem.
The one case where none of that works is needing to keep editing at full quality with HDR and depth data intact. For that, the codec purchase is the only option that leaves the original file untouched.
Common questions
Does Windows 11 open HEIC files without any extension?
No, not as of August 2026. Microsoft still ships HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions as separate Store installs rather than building either into Windows, confirmed on Microsoft's own Store listing, which still shows the $0.99 price, and in Microsoft's HEIF codec documentation, which notes that HEVC support "might not be available on all PCs."
Will buying the codec fix HEIC files on my other computer?
No. The purchase is tied to the PC you install it on. A laptop, a work desktop, and a friend's PC each need their own $0.99, which is exactly why converting the file is usually less hassle than paying three times.
Can I convert more than one HEIC file at once?
Yes. Drop a folder of HEIC files into FileFlip and each one converts on its own; you get a ZIP back with every JPG, PNG, or PDF inside it.
Convert HEIC files now
FileFlip converts HEIC to JPG, PNG, or PDF entirely in your browser. The file is never uploaded, there's no account, and nothing is queued on a server. Drop it in, open Advanced options if you want to change the Quality setting, and the download is ready when the progress bar finishes.
How we measured this
- Corpus: the same 12 images from the Kodak True Color test set used across our other measured posts, each a 768 × 512 uncompressed PNG.
- Encoder: ImageMagick 7.1.2-28 on macOS with its built-in libheif delegate, invoked as
magick input.png -quality N output.heic. This is the same library FileFlip runs as WebAssembly for image conversion. - Metric: SSIM from FFmpeg 8.1.2's
ssimfilter against the uncompressed source, reading the combinedAllvalue. - Matched-quality comparison: for each image, we found the HEIC file size at the SSIM the JPG reached at a given quality, by linear interpolation across the HEIC size-versus-SSIM curve. Figures are medians across the 12 images, with the per-image range given alongside.
- Conversion cost table: a single HEIC per image, written at quality 80, converted to JPG at each listed quality, with SSIM measured against the original PNG in every case.
- Bit depth and metadata: read directly from
magick identify -verboseoutput on our own test files, and from an EXIF round trip (Make, Model, GPS) run throughexiftool. - Caveat: our HEIC files came from ImageMagick's encoder, not an iPhone camera, and 12 test photos is not every photo. An iPhone's own HEVC tuning could land a few points either side of our numbers.
The tool is in the repository at apps/nextjs/scripts/benchmark-image-encoders.mjs. Run node scripts/benchmark-image-encoders.mjs <kodak-dir> jpg heic and you should get the matched-quality table back.