HEIC photos won’t open on Windows or Android: what to do.

Why HEIC photos won’t open

Since iOS 11, iPhones have saved photos in HEIF, the High Efficiency Image File Format, with the file ending .HEIC. A HEIC photo is about half the size of a JPG of the same quality, which is why Apple uses it.

Apple devices open HEIC without any extra step. Many other places don’t: Windows PCs without Microsoft’s extensions, older Android phones, photo kiosks and print shops, and plenty of websites and email programs. Then the photo shows as a blank icon, or a message says the file format isn’t supported.

The quickest fix: convert them to JPG

A JPG opens on every phone and computer. Lumo’s free converter turns HEIC photos into JPGs right in your browser, many at once, and nothing is uploaded: the photos never leave your phone or computer.

It keeps the date each photo was taken, so they stay in order, and removes the location before you share, unless you choose to keep it. Download the JPGs one by one, or all together in a ZIP.

On Windows: add Microsoft’s extensions

To open HEIC photos on Windows 10 or Windows 11 itself:

• Open the Microsoft Store and install HEIF Image Extensions. It’s free.
• Also install HEVC Video Extensions, which HEIC photos need. It costs a small amount, unless your PC came with it.
• Open the photo again in the Photos app.

On Android

Most newer Android phones open HEIC photos in their own gallery app. Older phones, and some apps, don’t. If a family member can’t open a photo you sent, send it again as a JPG, or convert it first.

On the iPhone: send JPGs from now on

Two settings make the iPhone give you files that open everywhere:

• Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible saves new photos as JPG. They take up more space.
• Settings → Apps → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic turns photos into JPGs when you copy them to a computer with a cable. On iOS 17 or earlier, it’s under Settings → Photos.

Sharing with the family, without converting

In a Lumo family album, photos added from an iPhone open for everyone, on Android phones and in a web browser too. Lumo keeps the original, so nobody has to convert anything.