How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac.

A woman checks her phone while using a Mac to convert HEIC files to JPG.

For the flexibility to share your photos with anyone, you may need to switch file types. Learn how to convert HEIC photos on your Mac to JPG images.

Perhaps you’ve noticed an HEIC file on your computer and you’re not sure what it is — or how to convert it to a different image format. Mac occasionally saves files in the HEIC format, which may be incompatible with certain programs or not ideal for sharing with someone else.

There's nothing you need to do to share HEIC photos with other iPhones and Macs, but not all phones, devices, and computers can work with this file type. You can easily convert HEIC photos to JPGs, though, to share with anyone — no matter which device they use. Read on to learn more about how to change HEIC to JPG in just five steps.

What is a HEIC file?

High-efficiency image container (HEIC) is the default format for storing images on iPhones and Macs. It offers high compression using very little storage space and quality images.

Why convert a HEIC file to JPG?

While HEIC files can store your images in small files that maintain the quality, they aren’t natively supported by any products that aren’t Apple. That means in order to view them on a PC, you’d need to have specialized software installed.

JPGs might lose some image quality when they’re compressed or heavily edited, but they’re universally supported and can be viewed on any device and even web browsers. The main reason you’d want to convert HEIC to JPG would be to share your image and allow anyone to view it.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac

The fastest way to convert a HEIC file to a JPG file on a Mac is with the built-in Preview app. If you think you will always want your photos to be in JPG format, you can change the image default from HEIC to JPG. JPGs take a little more storage room, but they are very high-quality.

Here are the steps for how to convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac:

Use the Preview app to open the HEIC image.
From the top menu, select File and then Export.
You will see a Format drop-down menu. Use it to select JPG as the format.
Give your new JPG photo a name and choose where you want to save it.
Click Save, and you’re done.

How to save HEIC to JPG on your Mac.

If you’re saving or downloading a new image onto your Mac, you might want to save it as a JPG so that you don’t have to convert it later for sharing.

Here’s how you can save an online image as a JPG on your Mac:

Control-click the image.
Select Save Image As.
Select JPG from the format drop down menu.

In case you want to take the default for screenshots on your Mac from HEIC to JPG, use this command in Mac Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG

Now you know how to convert HEIC files to JPG. When you want to turn a PDF into a picture, you can also convert that to JPGs. Using Adobe Acrobat online PDF to JPG tool, it’s as easy as drag-and-drop.

More resources for converting images to PDFs.

Converting images to JPEG makes them more shareable, but so does converting almost anything to PDF. PDF is one of the most shareable file formats, and the format maintains its integrity across all devices.

Looking to convert an image to other file types or work with an existing HEIC? These resources will be helpful:

With Acrobat online services, you can convert files to PDF, manage and edit PDFs, and share and store your files. See what more you can do today.

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