Open HEIC on Windows 10 and 11: what works

Why Windows says it can't open your HEIC

A HEIC file is two things at once. The outside is a HEIF container, defined by ISO/IEC 23008-12. The photo inside is compressed with HEVC, also called H.265. Windows needs a piece that understands each layer, and those pieces are delivered as separate Store packages rather than being assumed to exist.

Microsoft's HEIF Image Extension listing is explicit about the dependency. It says the extension enables Windows to read and write files in the HEIF format, that a video extension package must also be installed to view the images, and that the HEVC Video Extensions package must be installed to view images in HEIF files that use the .heic, .hif or .heif extensions. For .avif files it names the AV1 Video Extension instead.

The extensions, what they cost and what they do

Windows 10 versus Windows 11

The Store listings above apply to Windows desktop devices, so the fix is the same on both versions. Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025, and Microsoft says consumer Extended Security Updates can protect a device until 12 October 2027. That is a security matter rather than a HEIC one, but it is a reason to plan a move to Windows 11 on an older PC.

What neither version includes today is harder to state. We found no Microsoft page that says Windows 10 or 11 ships with the HEIF or HEVC extensions, and Microsoft's own advice in a Q&A thread (from a moderator labelled Microsoft External Staff) is to install both from the Store. In the same thread a user reports that a clean reinstall of Windows 11 removed codecs they had before. Treat any PC as lacking them until a HEIC actually opens. An archived Microsoft page does describe a native HEIF decoder in the Windows Imaging Component, which covers the container, not the HEVC codec inside.

Install them, step by step

1. 01

   Open the Microsoft Store and install HEIF Image Extensions

   Check that the publisher is Microsoft. It is free.

2. 02

   Install HEVC Video Extensions

   This is the US$0.99 package. If your PC maker preinstalled the Device Manufacturer version, you may already have a working HEVC codec, so try a HEIC before buying.

3. 03

   Restart the app, or the PC

   A Microsoft support specialist's reply in a Q&A thread suggests restarting the computer after installing the HEIF extension.

4. 04

   Double-click a HEIC

   It should open in Photos. If it does not, see HEIF extension installed but not working, or jump to the section on when it is not the codec.

On a work or school PC the Store may be blocked by policy, and you may not be allowed to install anything. In that case skip to the browser route below rather than looking for workarounds.

What Photos and File Explorer do

Photos is the app that forum answers point people to once the extensions are installed, including the staff-labelled advice in Microsoft's Q&A thread. Other apps that use Windows' image decoders, such as Paint, can then open the file too, according to community posts. Adobe's own help says Photoshop on Windows needs the same two extensions; see HEIC in Photoshop, Lightroom and GIMP for Adobe, GIMP and other editors.

File Explorer thumbnails are less predictable. A reply signed as a Microsoft Community Support Specialist says HEIC thumbnails take longer to decode and suggests setting the folder type to Pictures and installing the HEIF extension. Community threads report thumbnails that stay blank even with both extensions installed. Neither Store listing mentions thumbnails, so treat them as a bonus rather than a promise. A generic icon does not mean the file is bad; the thumbnail extractor shows whether the file carries its own preview image. For the settings, cache and cloud-placeholder fixes, see HEIC thumbnails not showing in Windows.

Get a JPG without installing more software

Windows has two built-in apps that can write a JPG, with a catch: both rely on the same extensions, so they only help once the HEIC already opens. Microsoft's support pages we found do not document either route for HEIC, so the steps below come from a Microsoft Tech Community thread (May 2026) and may differ by app version. We have not run them on Windows.

• Photos: open the HEIC, click the three-dot menu in the top right (Ctrl + S is also mentioned), choose Save as, then set Save as type to JPG and pick a folder.
• Paint: right-click the HEIC, choose Open with > Paint, then File > Save as > JPEG picture.

Both handle one file at a time. We could not verify a Photos Resize command in Microsoft documentation, so we do not describe one. None of this needs PowerShell or the command line.

The browser route needs no extensions at all

Our converter decodes HEIC inside the browser with WebAssembly, so it works whether or not the extensions are installed, with no Store access or admin rights. 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 take longer than a native app would. Nothing is uploaded. The JPG keeps the capture date and camera details by default, so Windows shows the right Date taken, while the GPS location is left out unless you switch on Include location (GPS).

Which fix is right for you

Our recommendation

If the goal is a JPG, use the browser. It is free, it works on any PC including one you cannot install software on, and the extension price buys you nothing you need for that job. If you own the PC and want HEIC to behave like any other photo in Photos and Paint, install both extensions; for most people the US$0.99 HEVC package is the only cost.

If the HEICs keep coming from an iPhone you control, the cleaner fix is at the source. Apple says photos imported to a PC might be converted to JPEG, and that a camera set to Most Compatible shoots JPEG, at the cost of the space-saving format. Our iPhone guide covers the settings. If you are on a Mac instead, see HEIC to JPG on Mac.

When it is not a codec problem

If both extensions are installed and one particular file still fails, look at the file. A file that exists in a cloud-synced folder but has not been downloaded to the PC can show up with a size and no usable data. A transfer that was cut off, or a file renamed from another format, also fails. The health check below tries a real decode locally and says which case you have.

Converting is always a copy. Keep the HEIC as your full-quality original: JPEG is lossy, and a JPG of the same photo is usually larger because Apple describes HEIF as the more efficient format. See HEIC vs JPG for the trade-offs.