Is there a completely free offline way?

Yes: install the free HEIF Image Extensions plus the roughly one dollar HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, then Photos can open and re-save HEIC. Fully free offline paths need third-party editors like IrfanView with plugins.

Why do some HEIC files still fail after installing codecs?

Multi-image HEIC containers (bursts, live photos) and 10-bit captures trip up some Windows apps even with codecs installed. Converting to JPG flattens all of that into a file anything can read.

Does Windows 11 handle HEIC better than Windows 10?

Slightly: newer Windows 11 builds bundle HEIF support more often, but the paid HEVC codec gap remains. The upload-form problem is identical on both.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on Windows

The problem

You copied photos from an iPhone to a Windows PC and File Explorer shows blank thumbnails, or Photos says it cannot open the file. That is HEIC, Apple's default photo format since 2017. Windows does not fully support it out of the box, because the underlying HEVC codec requires a paid license.

You have three realistic options, and only one of them takes under a minute with no installs.

Option 1: convert online (fastest)

Use our free HEIC to JPG converter: drop the file, press convert, download the JPG. It works in any browser on any Windows version, converts at quality 90, adds no watermark, and auto-deletes your upload within 30 minutes.

This is the right choice when you have a handful of photos, you are on a work machine where you cannot install software, or you just want the photo to open right now.

The 25MB per-file cap covers every iPhone photo ever taken (they run 1MB to 8MB).

Option 2: install the Windows codecs

Microsoft ships a free HEIF Image Extensions package in the Microsoft Store, but HEIC photos also need HEVC Video Extensions, which costs about a dollar and is oddly hidden. After installing both, Windows Photos and File Explorer thumbnails work natively.

Worth doing if you receive HEIC files constantly. Note that this only makes Windows display HEIC: upload forms and other applications that reject HEIC will still reject it, so you will still convert files for those.

Option 3: free image editors

Some free editors handle HEIC directly. paint.net opens HEIC on recent Windows versions (it uses the same Store codecs when present), and IrfanView can with a plugin pack. Open the photo, then use Save As to export a JPG.

This makes sense when you are already editing the image anyway. For plain conversion it is the slowest path.

Converting many photos at once

For a one-time bulk job, the pragmatic Windows-only route is: select the photos on your iPhone, share via Mail or OneDrive (both auto-convert to JPG in transit), then download on the PC. For ongoing work, switch the iPhone camera to Most Compatible in Settings, Camera, Formats, so future photos are JPG from the start.