Convert HEIC to JPG on Mac: every built-in way

You can open a HEIC on a Mac without converting it

Apple added HEIF and HEVC support in macOS High Sierra 10.13, so any Mac running that or later views HEIC natively. Apple's own guidance is that opening an HEIF image in Photos or Preview and choosing File > Export is the way to get another format. A JPG is only needed when the photo has to go somewhere that does not understand HEIC: a website upload form, an older app, a Windows PC, a print service.

On a Mac older than High Sierra, or any computer that cannot open the file, use the HEIC viewer or the converter at the end of this guide. For background on the format, see what HEIC is and HEIC vs JPG.

Preview: File > Export

Preview is the quickest method for one photo or a handful. Apple's guide lists HEIC, JPEG, JPEG-2000, OpenEXR, PDF, PNG and TIFF as export formats.

1. 01

   Open the HEIC in Preview

   Double-click it, or Control-click and choose Open With > Preview if another app claims HEIC files.

2. 02

   Choose File > Export

   Apple's guide words it as File > Export.

3. 03

   Set the Format pop-up menu to JPEG

   If the format you want is missing, Apple says to hold the Option key while clicking the Format pop-up menu to reveal more.

4. 04

   Adjust the quality

   Apple: if you choose JPEG or JPEG-2000, you can adjust the image's quality. Higher quality means a larger file.

5. 05

   Name it, pick a folder and click Save

   Preview writes a new file. The original HEIC stays where it was.

Several photos at once in Preview

Apple's instructions for a batch: open the files in one window, select them in that window's sidebar, then follow the same export steps. A MacMost tutorial adds two details Apple's page does not use. If your photos open in separate windows, change Preview > Settings > Images > When opening files so they open together. With the images selected in the sidebar, the menu item reads File > Export Selected Images, and a Show Options button reveals format and quality.

Photos: Export versus Export Unmodified Original

If the pictures are in your Photos library, export from there. The two commands under File > Export do very different things.

1. 01

   Select the photos in Photos

   Select as many as you like; the menu item shows the count, for example Export 12 Photos.

2. 02

   Choose File > Export > Export [number] Photos

   Set Photo Kind to JPEG, then click the arrow beside it to reveal JPEG Quality, Color Profile and Size.

3. 03

   Click Export, choose a folder and click Export again

   Apple's guide has you confirm the location in a second dialog.

Finder Quick Action: Convert Image

For files already sitting in a folder, you do not need to open anything. Apple's Finder guide says to Control-click the file and choose Quick Actions, or use the Quick Actions buttons at the bottom of the Finder Preview pane, where Convert Image sits under More. Apple's description of the action is short: choose a format and a size, with an iPhone HEIC to JPEG or PNG as its example.

Two tutorials written for macOS Monterey fill in the dialog, and we could not confirm these details on Apple's current page. MacMost reports formats of JPEG, PNG and HEIF, sizes of Actual size, Large, Medium and Small, and a Preserve Metadata checkbox. MacRumors reports that the converted image is saved in the same folder and the original is left unchanged.

Apple notes that the actions offered depend on the file type and on which Finder extensions are enabled; its Customize item opens Extensions settings. If Convert Image is missing from the menu, that is the place to look.

Shortcuts and Terminal for repeat jobs

Apple confirms that shortcuts can appear in the Finder's Quick Actions menu. A tutorial on Flavio Copes' site, updated in 2026, builds one from the Get Selected Files in Finder and Convert Image actions, then turns on Use as Quick Action for Finder. It reports a limit: no option to replace the original in place, so the example moves the result to the Desktop. Build one of these only if you convert regularly and want fixed settings or a fixed destination.

The Terminal tool sips (scriptable image processing system) is built into macOS. Apple's manual page documents the options below. It is a 2005-dated mirror whose format list does not mention HEIC, so that part is unverified against Apple documentation.

• Convert one file: sips -s format jpeg photo.heic --out photo.jpg
• Set quality: add -s formatOptions high. The manual lists default, low, normal, high, best, a percent, or lzw and packbits for TIFF.
• Cap the longest side in pixels: add -Z 2000. The manual describes it as resampling so height and width are not greater than the size given.
• Convert a folder: mkdir jpeg_photos then sips -s format jpeg *.HEIC --out jpeg_photos/. The glob is case-sensitive, so use *.heic if your files are lowercase.
• See what your Mac can read and write: sips --formats, which the manual describes as showing the read and write formats.

Image Capture and importing from an iPhone

Image Capture downloads photos from a connected device to a folder or app. Apple's guide describes the Import To menu and the Keep originals and Delete after import settings, and notes that a Live Photo is downloaded as two separate files. It mentions neither HEIC nor conversion, so do not rely on it to make JPGs.

Conversion on import is decided by the iPhone. Apple says that when you import HEIF or HEVC media to a Mac or PC, it might be converted to JPEG or H.264, and that turning on Keep Originals (Settings > Apps > Photos) prevents that. Media shared by AirDrop, Messages or email might likewise be sent in a more compatible format if the receiving device does not support the newer ones. See HEIC on iPhone for the camera-side setting.

Every method compared

When a browser converter is the better answer

The built-in tools win on a Mac you own with a few photos. A browser converter is the better answer in four situations.

• The Mac is not yours. A school, library or work Mac may block installs or hide Quick Actions. A web page needs neither.
• You are not on a Mac. The same steps work on Windows, Linux and Chromebooks, where there is no Preview. See opening HEIC on Windows.
• You want location left out but the date kept. Our converter copies the capture date, camera and exposure settings into the JPG and leaves the GPS location out unless you switch it on, so a shared JPG will not reveal where it was taken but still sorts by date.
• You want consistent results across a mixed batch. One quality setting is applied to every file.

The honest limits: 100 MB per file, 100 megapixels per image, and 50 files or 500 MB per batch. Decoding runs on your processor, so very large batches are slower than a native app. Everything is processed locally and nothing is uploaded.

After you convert

• Keep the HEIC. JPEG is lossy and every method makes a new file. The original is your full-quality archive copy.
• Expect larger files. Apple describes HEIF as offering better compression than JPEG, so a JPG of the same photo is usually bigger. If it is too big to upload, see the HEIC compressor.
• Spot-check one file for size in pixels and for the details you need to keep.