HEIC vs JPG: Which Photo Format Should You Use?
HEIC stores photos at roughly half the size of JPG with similar quality and supports extras like 10 bit colour, but many websites, Windows apps and forms cannot open it. Keep HEIC on your iPhone to save space and convert to JPG when you share outside Apple devices.
The short version
HEIC is the modern, efficient format iPhones use by default. JPG is the universal format that every device and website understands.
Both are lossy, which means some detail is discarded to keep files small. At normal viewing sizes, a well saved JPG and a HEIC look the same.
Where HEIC wins
File size: about half the size of an equivalent JPG, which means more photos fit on your phone and in your cloud storage.
Features: support for 10 bit colour, transparency and extra data like depth maps used by portrait mode.
Where JPG wins
Compatibility: JPG opens on every phone, computer, browser, printer kiosk and upload form. HEIC still causes problems on many Windows PCs, older Android phones and websites.
Editing and sharing: most apps, online forms and marketplaces accept JPG without any extra steps.
When to convert HEIC to JPG
Convert when a website rejects your photo, when someone cannot open a file you sent, before printing at a shop or kiosk, and before uploading to forms, job portals and government sites.
Open the SleekCut HEIC to JPG converter, drop one photo or a whole batch, and download the JPGs or a ZIP. Conversion runs in your browser, so private photos are not uploaded.
Change what your iPhone saves
Go to Settings, then Camera, then Formats. High Efficiency saves HEIC. Most Compatible saves JPG.
A good middle ground is to keep High Efficiency and let the iPhone convert automatically when sharing: in Settings, Photos, under Transfer to Mac or PC, choose Automatic.
Will converting lose quality?
A tiny amount, because JPG is saved again. At high quality settings the difference is not visible for normal use. Keep the original HEIC files if you may want the extra quality later.