How to open HEIC on Windows 10 and 11
If you are trying to open HEIC on Windows and see an error, a blank thumbnail or a prompt to buy something, you are not doing anything wrong. Windows can show these iPhone photos, but only after you add two small pieces of software, and one of them is not free. This guide walks through every option, from the official extensions to converting the files or having your iPhone send JPG in the first place.
Why Windows can’t open HEIC out of the box
A HEIC file is really two technologies stacked together. HEIF is the container, the box that holds the image, its thumbnail and its photo details. Inside the box, the picture itself is compressed with HEVC, the same codec used for 4K video. HEVC is covered by patents, and anyone who ships a decoder has to pay licensing fees.
Microsoft handles this by splitting support into two Microsoft Store extensions. “HEIF Image Extensions” understands the container and is free. “HEVC Video Extensions” decodes the picture inside and is sold for a small fee. Many Windows 11 computers already have the HEIF extension, and some manufacturers preinstall HEVC support as well, which is why a HEIC file opens on one laptop and fails on the next.
Option 1: install the extensions for the Photos app
This is the right choice if you regularly receive HEIC files and want to double-click them like any other picture. It works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
- Open the Microsoft Store from the Start menu.
- Search for “HEIF Image Extensions” and install it. It is free and published by Microsoft Corporation.
- Search for “HEVC Video Extensions”, check that the publisher is Microsoft Corporation, and buy and install it. You need to be signed in with a Microsoft account.
- Close the Photos app if it is open, then double-click a HEIC file. It should now open in Photos.
- If File Explorer still shows blank icons, sign out of Windows and back in, or restart the computer, so the thumbnails are rebuilt.
Once both extensions are installed, other programs that rely on Windows’ built-in image support, such as Paint, can usually open HEIC files as well.
The paid HEVC extension: what to know before you buy
The price of the HEVC extension is small and varies by country, but it is still a purchase, and on a work computer you may not be allowed to make it. A few things are worth knowing.
- Only buy the extension published by Microsoft Corporation. Several third-party apps use similar names and icons.
- Older articles link to a free “HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer” listing. At the time of writing, it is not offered to most people and the links often lead nowhere.
- Check whether your PC already has it: search for “HEVC” in Settings › Apps › Installed apps before paying.
- The extension also lets Windows play HEVC videos recorded on iPhones, so it fixes two problems at once.
Option 2: convert the photos to JPG
If you only need to look at a handful of photos, send them on, print them or upload them to a website, converting them is often simpler than installing anything. A JPG opens on every version of Windows and in every program, and nobody you pass it to will hit the same problem.
Our converter on the home page does this in the browser: drop up to 20 HEIC files into the box, keep JPG selected and download the results one by one or as a ZIP file. The files are decoded on your own computer, so nothing is uploaded, and the iPhone’s color profile and photo date are kept.
Option 3: let the iPhone convert during transfer
If the photos come from your own iPhone over a USB cable, the phone can convert them for you as they are copied. On the iPhone, open Settings › Photos, scroll to “Transfer to Mac or PC” and choose “Automatic”. When you import with the Windows Photos app or copy from File Explorer, the iPhone then hands over JPG files instead of HEIC.
The photos on the phone stay in HEIC and keep using less storage. If you would rather stop taking HEIC photos altogether, see our guide on saving iPhone photos as JPG.
Opening HEIC in browsers and other apps
At the time of writing, Chrome and Firefox on Windows do not display HEIC images, and dragging one into a tab usually just downloads it again. Browser-based converters get around this by shipping their own decoder rather than relying on the browser.
Some free image viewers and editors, such as XnView MP and recent versions of GIMP, include their own HEIF support and can open HEIC files without the Microsoft extensions. Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom on Windows, on the other hand, rely on the HEVC extension, so installing it helps there too.
Online storage services often show a preview in the browser even when Windows can’t. If the photos are in iCloud Photos, signing in at icloud.com and downloading them gives you a choice, at the time of writing, between the unmodified original and a “Most Compatible” JPG.
Which option should you choose?
- You receive HEIC photos every week: install both extensions once.
- You have a one-off batch to view, print or upload: convert them to JPG.
- The photos come from your own iPhone over a cable: set “Transfer to Mac or PC” to “Automatic”.
- You can’t install software on the computer: use a browser-based converter or a viewer with built-in HEIF support.