First, the good news for Mac users
Unlike Windows, macOS has handled HEIC out of the box since High Sierra (10.13) in 2017. Quick Look previews HEIC files, Preview opens them, and Photos imports them without complaint. So if you only ever look at your iPhone photos on a Mac, you may never have noticed a problem.
You still need to convert when the photo has to leave the Mac: a Windows user can't open it, a website form may reject it, a print shop may not accept it, and some older apps don't read it. And there's a second reason — the file size. A HEIC is roughly half the size of the same JPEG, but that efficiency is only useful inside Apple's ecosystem. For anything outside it, JPG is the safe, universal format. Here are three free ways to convert, and one command-line bonus.
Method 1 — Convert in your browser (fastest, best for batches)
The converter at the top of this page runs entirely on your Mac. The HEIF decoder is fetched as WebAssembly when the page loads and then executes on your own CPU — nothing is installed, and your photos are never uploaded anywhere.
- Step 1. Open this page in Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
- Step 2. Drag in your .heic files, or click browse. A whole folder's worth at once is fine.
- Step 3. Leave the output on JPG at 92% quality (visually lossless) or raise it to 95% for archival copies.
- Step 4. Click Download all to save every JPG in one go.
This is the method to use when there are dozens or hundreds of files, when you're on a managed work Mac where you'd rather not install anything, or when the photos are private and you don't want them on someone else's server. The dedicated HEIC to JPG converter does exactly this; there's also a Windows guide if you share files with PC users.
Method 2 — Preview (built in, no extra software)
Preview is the fastest option for one or two files, and it's already on your Mac.
- Single file: double-click the .heic file to open it in Preview → File → Export… → set Format to JPEG → choose a quality with the slider → Save.
- Many files at once: select several .heic files in Finder and open them together. In Preview's sidebar, select all, then File → Export Selected Images… → choose JPEG and a destination folder. Preview converts the whole set in one action.
Limitation: Preview holds each image in memory and offers a narrower quality control than a dedicated tool. For a handful of photos it's perfect; for a 500-file folder it gets slow.
Method 3 — Apple Photos (good if the photos are already imported)
- Open Photos and select the HEIC images you want (⌘-click to multi-select).
- Choose File → Export → Export 1 Photo (or Export N Photos).
- Set Photo Kind to JPEG, pick a quality, and export to a folder.
Note the subtlety: Photos offers both "Export" (which converts to your chosen format) and "Export Unmodified Original" (which keeps the HEIC). For converting, use plain Export and set the kind to JPEG.
Bonus — the sips command in Terminal
If you're comfortable with Terminal, macOS ships a tiny image tool called sips that converts HEIC without any install:
- One file:
sips -s format jpeg input.heic --out output.jpg - A whole folder:
for f in *.heic; do sips -s format jpeg "$f" --out "${f%.heic}.jpg"; done
It's fast, scriptable and scriptable forever, but it gives you no preview and only limited quality control — ideal for automating a big archive once and moving on.
Bonus — an Automator Quick Action for one-click conversion
If you convert HEIC often and prefer a right-click menu, build a reusable Quick Action once:
- Open Automator and create a new Quick Action.
- Set it to receive image files in Finder.
- Add the Change Type of Images action, set the type to JPEG, and save it with a clear name such as "Convert to JPEG".
- Now right-click any selection of HEIC files in Finder and run it from Quick Actions.
This is the most native way to batch-convert on a Mac, though it uses the built-in decoder and gives you fewer quality controls than a dedicated converter. Whichever method you choose, work from copies when the photos are irreplaceable — converting overwrites nothing, but keeping the HEIC originals preserves their HDR range and smaller size for the future.
How to avoid HEIC in future captures
If the files haven't been taken yet, you can stop the problem at the source on the iPhone: Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible. New photos are then saved as JPEG. This affects only future captures — everything already in your library still needs one of the methods above, and note that JPEGs are roughly twice the size of HEIC, which eats storage.
One habit worth forming: convert into a separate folder rather than overwriting, so you always keep the HEIC original alongside the JPEG. It costs a moment and saves you if you ever need the HDR version back.
Which method should you use?
- One or two photos, right now → Preview or Photos.
- A large batch, or you can't install anything → the browser converter.
- A whole archive to automate → the sips loop.
- Photos you can't upload anywhere → the browser converter, since nothing leaves your Mac.
And if you're unsure whether converting is even necessary for your case, HEIC vs JPEG lays out the trade-offs in full.