Private, in-browser conversion. Your files never leave your device.
Note: All processing happens locally in your browser. No files are uploaded to any server.
Drag & drop .heic files here or
Tip: You can drop multiple files at onceApple switched the iPhone's default photo format to HEIC in iOS 11, released in 2017. Before that, every photo your iPhone took was a standard JPG. Today, unless you have changed the setting manually, every new photo is saved as a .heic file. This is also true for screen captures of HDR content, photos taken in Portrait mode, and Live Photos (which bundle a still image and a short video clip into the same HEIC container).
The reason for the switch is simple: HEIC files are roughly half the size of equivalent-quality JPGs. The format uses HEVC compression (the same compression used for H.265 video), which is significantly more efficient than the JPEG standard from 1992. For the same visible quality, you get smaller files, which means more photos in the same iCloud storage and faster syncing.
The catch is compatibility. HEIC works perfectly inside Apple's ecosystem (iOS, macOS, iCloud, AirDrop) and on a growing number of services that have added support, but plenty of places still cannot read it. That is why you usually only notice HEIC exists when you try to send a photo to someone outside Apple-land or upload it to a service that rejects the file.
The pattern is straightforward. Inside Apple's ecosystem and inside applications that have explicitly added HEIF support, HEIC is fine. Everywhere else, you need JPG.
The tool uses heic2any, a JavaScript library that wraps libheif compiled to WebAssembly. When you drop a HEIC file into the dropzone, the browser decodes the HEVC-compressed image data into raw pixels in memory, then re-encodes those pixels as a JPG using the canvas API and the quality setting from the slider. The original file is never touched, and the new JPG is generated entirely on your device.
Because everything happens client-side, this approach has a few useful properties. There is no upload step, so conversion starts the instant you drop the file. There is no privacy exposure, because Forgelit's servers never see the photo. There is no file size limit beyond what your browser's memory can hold, which for most modern machines means hundreds of photos at once is fine. And there is no usage cap or rate limit, because we are not paying for anything per conversion.
The quality slider controls the JPG compression level. At 0.9 (the default) the visual difference between the source HEIC and the output JPG is essentially invisible while keeping file size reasonable. Drag higher for an even closer match (at the cost of larger files), or lower for smaller files when fidelity is less critical.
| Feature | HEIC | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | HEVC (modern, efficient) | JPEG (1992) |
| File size at same quality | ~50% of JPG | baseline |
| Color depth | Up to 16-bit | 8-bit only |
| Transparency | Yes | No |
| Multiple images per file | Yes (Live Photos, bursts) | No |
| Browser support | Safari only | Universal |
| Native Windows support | Windows 11 + codec | Built-in everywhere |
| Native macOS support | 10.13+ | Built-in everywhere |
| Patent / licensing | HEVC has licensing fees | Patent-free |
| Year introduced | 2015 (HEIF), 2017 (Apple adoption) | 1992 |
The summary is that HEIC is technically better in every dimension except compatibility, and compatibility is the dimension that matters most when you are trying to share a photo with someone who is not on an Apple device.
If you constantly find yourself converting HEIC to JPG, you can switch your iPhone to save JPG by default. This avoids the conversion step entirely for new photos, though existing HEIC files on your phone or in iCloud are unaffected.
The setting is buried but simple to find: open Settings, scroll to Camera, tap Formats, and select Most Compatible. From the next photo onward, your iPhone will save new images as JPG.
The tradeoff is file size. JPGs are roughly twice as large as HEIC at the same visual quality, so 100 photos that took 200 MB as HEIC will take about 400 MB as JPG. If you have plenty of iCloud storage and you regularly share photos to non-Apple recipients, the simpler default is worth it. If you are tight on storage and you only occasionally need a JPG, leaving the default and converting on demand makes more sense.
This tool is not the only option. Depending on your situation, one of these might fit better:
magick input.heic output.jpg works on macOS, Linux, and Windows once ImageMagick is installed with HEIF support compiled in.heif-convert input.heic output.jpg is the lightweight option.This tool's specific niche is the case where you want browser-based conversion with no uploads, no signup, no rate limits, and the ability to batch-convert dozens of files with one drag and drop.
Yes. No signup, no ads, no usage limits, no watermarks. The tool runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly, so there are no server costs to cover.
No. Conversion runs entirely in your browser. Your HEIC files are decoded and re-encoded locally, and the resulting JPGs are generated on your device. Nothing is sent to a Forgelit server, and we never see your photos. You can verify this by opening your browser's developer tools and watching the network tab while you convert files.
Apple switched to HEIC as the default photo format in iOS 11 (released in 2017) because HEIC files are roughly half the size of equivalent-quality JPGs. The format uses HEVC compression, which is more efficient than the older JPEG standard from 1992. The downside is that HEIC is not natively supported outside Apple's ecosystem, which is why you end up needing converters when you share photos with non-Apple users or upload them to certain services.
Open Settings, tap Camera, tap Formats, and choose Most Compatible. From that point on, your iPhone will save new photos as JPG instead of HEIC. The tradeoff is that the resulting files are roughly twice as large for the same visual quality. Photos already on your device stay HEIC and need to be converted separately.
There is no hard limit. Drag and drop as many HEIC files as you want, and use the "Download all as .zip" button to grab all converted JPGs in one archive. Practical limits depend on your browser's memory: hundreds of photos at a time is fine on most modern machines.
Slightly, yes. JPG uses an older, less efficient compression algorithm than HEIC, so converting from one to the other involves a re-encoding step. At the default quality setting (0.9), the visual difference is essentially invisible. You can drag the quality slider higher for an even closer match at the cost of larger file size, or lower for smaller files if you do not need maximum fidelity.
Mostly. Once the page has loaded, the conversion logic itself runs offline because the heic2any decoder is loaded as JavaScript in your browser. If you are completely offline before the page first loads, the CDN-hosted libraries will not download. Once cached, however, the tool keeps working without an internet connection.
On Windows 11, you can install the HEIF Image Extension and HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, which lets the built-in Photos app open HEIC files directly. On Linux, most modern distributions support HEIC through libheif, which is usually pre-installed in image viewers like GNOME Image Viewer. If you only need to view a few HEIC files, native support is the easier path. If you need to send the files to people on older systems or upload them to a service that does not accept HEIC, conversion is the right move.
HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the container format. HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) is a specific HEIF profile that uses HEVC video compression to encode the image data. In practice, when people say "HEIC" they almost always mean Apple's iPhone photos, which are HEIF files containing HEVC-encoded image data and a .heic extension. The terms are used interchangeably in casual conversation.
This tool outputs JPG only. PNG would preserve the image losslessly but produces files much larger than the original HEIC, which defeats the purpose of converting in most cases. If you specifically need PNG output (for transparency or design work), use a desktop tool like GIMP, Affinity Photo, or ImageMagick with a HEIC import plugin.
This tool runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. No uploads. No servers. If you are offline, it still works (minus the initial CDN load).