How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac

Since macOS High Sierra, Macs open and edit HEIC photos everywhere: Finder, Preview, Photos and Quick Look. Converting is mostly about sharing with people and websites that cannot read HEIC.

• Preview: best for a handful of files, with a quality slider.
• Finder quick action: right-click, convert, done. Good for a selection of files in a folder.
• Photos: for pictures that live in your Photos library, with control over size and metadata.
• sips in Terminal: for whole folders, scripted and fast.

Our browser converter is a fifth option when you are on a Mac that is not yours, or want a ZIP with GPS removed in one go.

1. Open the HEIC file in Preview (double-click usually does it).
2. Choose File › Export.
3. Open the Format pop-up menu and choose JPEG.
4. Move the Quality slider. Around three quarters of the way to Best is a good balance; the file size is shown below it.
5. Choose a name and folder and click Save.

To convert several images at once, open them together in one Preview window, select them all in the sidebar (Command-A while the sidebar is active), then choose File › Export Selected Images and pick JPEG in the options. Preview can also export PNG, TIFF, PDF and HEIC; holding Option while clicking the Format menu shows extra formats.

This is the method people search for as “preview heic to jpg”, and it keeps the picture exactly as you see it, including any edits you made in Preview.

On macOS Monterey and later, Finder can convert images without opening any app.

1. In Finder, select one or more HEIC files.
2. Control-click (or right-click) the selection and choose Quick Actions › Convert Image. On some versions it sits under Quick Actions › More.
3. Choose the format (JPEG, PNG or HEIF), an image size (Small, Medium, Large or Actual Size), and whether to preserve metadata.
4. Click Convert to JPEG.

The converted copies appear next to the originals, which stay untouched. Pick Actual Size to keep the full resolution. This is the quickest method for a folder of AirDropped photos.

If the pictures are in your Photos library, export from there rather than digging out the files.

1. Select the photos in Photos.
2. Choose File › Export › Export [number] Photos.
3. Set Photo Kind to JPEG. Depending on your macOS version, you can also choose the JPEG quality and the size.
4. Decide whether to include location information and other metadata, then click Export and choose a folder.

Note the other entry, File › Export › Export Unmodified Original: it saves the files in the format they were imported in, which for iPhone photos means HEIC. Use the first entry when you want JPG.

Photos applies your edits (crops, filters) to the exported JPGs, which Preview and Finder cannot do for pictures inside the library.

Every Mac includes sips, Apple’s command-line image tool. It converts hundreds of files in seconds.

To convert one file:

• sips -s format jpeg IMG_1234.HEIC --out IMG_1234.jpg

To convert every HEIC in the current folder into a subfolder called jpg:

• mkdir jpg
• for f in *.HEIC; do sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 90 "$f" --out "jpg/${f%.*}.jpg"; done

formatOptions sets the JPEG quality from 0 to 100; leave it out to use the default. File names are case-sensitive in this loop, so use *.heic if your files are lowercase. sips copies most photo metadata across, including the date taken and, if present, the location.

Safari on the Mac decodes HEIC natively, so our HEIC to JPG converter needs no extra engine there. Drag the photos onto the page, keep or change the quality (90 by default), and download everything as one ZIP.

Two details make it useful even on a Mac: GPS location is removed by default, which the built-in methods only do if you remember the setting, and you can resize to a maximum width in the same pass. The files are converted on your Mac; KiteConvert never uploads them.

All four methods use Apple’s own encoder and look the same at high quality. Differences come from the settings:

• Preview and sips let you set an exact quality. 85–90 is visually identical to the HEIC at a sensible size.
• Finder’s Convert Image picks the quality for you; choose Actual Size so it does not also shrink the picture.
• Photos may reduce the size if you choose a size other than Full Size.

Expect JPG files to be about 1.5–2 times larger than the HEIC originals. That is the price of compatibility, not a sign of a problem.

When you import photos with a cable, the iPhone setting Transfer to Mac or PC decides the format. Set to Automatic, it converts to compatible formats when needed; set to Keep Originals, the Mac receives HEIC. Macs handle HEIC well, so for a Mac-only workflow Keep Originals saves space; convert only what you share.