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Can't open HEIC files
on Windows?

Someone sends you photos from an iPhone, and Windows just won't open them — they arrive as .heic files and the Photos app draws a blank. It's not a broken photo; Windows is missing one small codec. Here's the two-minute fix, and how to stop it happening again.

Applies to: Windows 10 & 11 Time: ~5 minutes Level: Anyone
Quick answer

Install "HEIF Image Extensions" (free) from the Microsoft Store so the Windows Photos app can open .heic files. Some photos also need "HEVC Video Extensions". Or set the iPhone to shoot in JPEG so the files just open everywhere.

WHY IT HAPPENS

Windows is just missing the codec.

HEIC/HEIF is Apple's default photo format — it saves space without losing quality, which is why iPhones use it. The catch is that Windows doesn't include the codec to read it out of the box, so the Photos app can't display .heic files until you add it. Once the codec is installed, the same files open normally, and you never have to think about it again.

THE FIX

Work through these in order.

  1. Install HEIF Image ExtensionsOpen the Microsoft Store, search for "HEIF Image Extensions" and install it. It's free from Microsoft and takes seconds — this alone fixes the vast majority of .heic files.
  2. Add HEVC Video Extensions if some still won't openA few photos are HEVC-encoded and need the "HEVC Video Extensions" as well — a small paid item in the Store. If a handful of images still refuse to open after step 1, this covers them.
  3. Update WindowsRun Windows Update. Windows 11 has broader built-in support for these formats than Windows 10, so an up-to-date PC needs less fiddling and behaves more consistently.
  4. Open the photo with the Photos appWith the codec installed, double-click the .heic file — it should now open in Photos. If it opens in something else, right-click the file, choose Open with and pick Photos.
  5. Prevent it at the sourceOn the iPhone, go to Settings → Camera → Formats and choose "Most Compatible". The camera then captures JPEG, which every version of Windows opens with no codec at all.
  6. Handle one-offs quicklyFor a single photo you need right now, ask the sender to AirDrop or email it as a JPEG, or convert it — iPhones automatically send JPEG when you email or share to a Windows recipient in many apps.
Getting iPhone photos across the whole office? If staff regularly receive .heic images from clients and keep getting stuck, IT can deploy the codec to every PC and set sensible defaults once — so nobody has to troubleshoot a photo again. It's a small piece of a properly managed device fleet.
DEVICES THAT JUST WORK

Little device niggles add up to real lost time.

A missing codec here, a printer there — none of it is a crisis, but it quietly eats hours across a team. Our free IT Health Check reviews how your Windows devices are set up and managed, and shows you what to standardise so staff spend their time working, not wrestling their PCs.

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