I get a lot of questions about HEIC files. Specifically, clients tell me: “I just received this picture file and can’t open it! I just wanna see this picture of my grandkids…” If someone sends you an unusable photo, this may help you figure out what the HEIC is going on.
What is HEIC?
HEIC is a file-type for picture files. They’re very much like JPEG files, but HEIC uses less storage space. It was created with the best of intentions, but HEIC never really took off. Windows computers don’t recognize HEIC files. Most websites won’t accept them when you upload a photo for printing or proof of ID. The world is still geared towards JPEGs.
So the world really needs to move on from HEIC. The trouble is, many Apple phones (and a few Samsung Android phones) may capture their photos in the HEIC format. There won’t seem to be any trouble, until the phone’s owner goes to send one of those picture files elsewhere. That’s when a typical Windows computer may balk at the file and:
- give an error, refusing to open the file
- open the file but insist on selling you a helper program for a dollar
- show you a preview of the file (in the browser) but refuse to open fully or print
I do not recommend that you throw money at this problem. There are free ways to deal with this, if you encounter an HEIC issue.
Convert the HEIC file to JPEG
If you have one or more HEIC files on your computer, you can convert them to JPEG, for free. Here are some options:
Heictojpg.com is a website that is free for all to use. You may upload HEIC files and then download them as JPEGs. Easy peasy!
Heic.online is another, free, online converter website.
CopyTransStudio is a program that you can install and use on your PC. It may offer to sell you certain services, but you may decline and simply use it to convert your HEIC files, for free. I’ve tested this app and found it to be safe and good at what it does.
Make Your Phone Capture JPEG Photos
If you’ve been taking photos in the HEIC format and want to stop, you could tell your phone to save your pictures as JPEGs, going forward. iPhones users can check out these steps to do that. If your Samsung phone is capturing as HEIC, open the Camera app, go into the cogwheel for Settings and look for any options regarding High Efficiency pictures or HEIC, and turn them off.
But if you do this, then your future photos will have larger file sizes and take up more space. This could affect your phone’s storage or your cloud storage, so choose wisely!
All of the above is concerning photo files, but what if you receive an obstinate video file? I’d recommend trying to convert it using VLC Media Player. That free program can open HEVC, MOV and many other video file types, and should allow you to convert it to MP4 format. For free!