How to Stop Your iPhone Saving Photos as HEIC

Since iOS 11, iPhones save photos in Apple's HEIC format. It's efficient, about half the size of a JPG, but many Windows PCs, websites and apps can't open it. You have two good options: switch the camera to JPG, or keep HEIC and let the iPhone convert when you transfer.

Option 1: Make the camera shoot JPG

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Camera, then Formats.
3. Choose Most Compatible.

From now on, new photos are saved as JPG (and videos as H.264). Photos you've already taken stay HEIC.

The trade-off: JPG photos use about twice the storage of HEIC, so your iPhone and iCloud fill up faster.

Option 2: Keep HEIC, convert on transfer

If you mainly have problems when copying photos to a computer, this is the better choice:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic.

Your iPhone keeps saving space-efficient HEIC photos, but converts them to JPG when you copy them to a computer with a USB cable.

What about AirDrop, email and messages?

When you share from the Photos app, iOS usually converts to JPG automatically if the receiving app needs it. Emails and many apps get JPGs without you doing anything.

Converting photos you already have

The settings above only affect new photos. For existing HEIC photos, use the HEIC to JPG converter: add up to 30 photos at once and download them as a ZIP. It works in Safari on the iPhone itself, too.

Should you switch at all?

If you rarely share outside Apple devices, keep HEIC: it saves a lot of storage and looks just as good. If you constantly need JPGs, switch to Most Compatible. For a full comparison, read HEIC vs JPG.