How to Change HEIC to JPG on iPhone Settings

Your iPhone saves every photo as HEIC by default. Two settings control whether your iPhone outputs HEIC or JPG: the Camera Formats setting and the Photos transfer setting. Each serves a different purpose, and combining them correctly eliminates most compatibility problems.

This guide walks through both settings, explains the trade-offs, and helps you choose the right configuration.

Setting 1: Camera Formats (High Efficiency vs Most Compatible)

This setting controls what format your iPhone camera writes to storage. It applies to every photo and video you take after changing it.

How to switch your camera to JPG:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone
2. Tap Camera
3. Tap Formats
4. Select Most Compatible

Your iPhone now saves all new photos as JPG and all new videos as H.264. The change takes effect immediately for the next photo you take.

To switch back, return to the same screen and select High Efficiency. This restores HEIC/HEVC capture.

What each option does:

| Setting | Photo Format | Video Format | Color Depth | Typical Photo Size (12 MP) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | High Efficiency | HEIC | HEVC (H.265) | 10-bit | ~1.8 MB | | Most Compatible | JPG | H.264 | 8-bit | ~3.5 MB |

High Efficiency is the default on every iPhone running iOS 11 or later. Most Compatible existed before HEIC and remains available for users who need universal file compatibility.

Setting 2: Transfer to Mac or PC (Automatic vs Keep Originals)

This setting controls what happens to HEIC photos when you transfer them off your iPhone via USB or certain sharing methods.

How to enable automatic conversion on transfer:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone
2. Tap Photos
3. Scroll to the Transfer to Mac or PC section
4. Select Automatic

With Automatic selected, iOS converts HEIC photos to JPG during USB transfers. The original HEIC file stays on your iPhone untouched. The receiving computer gets a JPG copy.

The alternative, Keep Originals, sends the raw HEIC file without any conversion.

What Automatic conversion covers:

• USB transfers to Windows PCs
• USB transfers to Macs
• AirDrop to non-Apple devices
• Email attachments in some cases

What Automatic conversion does not cover:

• iCloud Photo Library sync (stays HEIC)
• Third-party cloud apps like Google Drive or Dropbox
• Direct file access through Files app
• Some third-party transfer tools

This setting is useful but not comprehensive. Files shared through cloud services typically remain in their original HEIC format regardless of this setting.

Trade-Offs: What You Gain and Lose

Switching to Most Compatible is not a free upgrade to compatibility. There are real costs.

Storage impact

JPG files are roughly twice the size of HEIC files at equivalent visual quality. Here is what that looks like for a typical iPhone user:

| Photos on device | HEIC storage | JPG storage | Extra space needed | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1,000 photos | ~1.8 GB | ~3.5 GB | ~1.7 GB | | 5,000 photos | ~9 GB | ~17.5 GB | ~8.5 GB | | 10,000 photos | ~18 GB | ~35 GB | ~17 GB | | 20,000 photos | ~36 GB | ~70 GB | ~34 GB |

These estimates assume 12 MP standard photos. 48 MP photos on iPhone 15 Pro and later produce proportionally larger files in both formats.

For a 128 GB iPhone, switching 10,000 photos from HEIC to JPG consumes an additional 17 GB. That is roughly 13% of total device storage.

Color depth

HEIC captures 10-bit color, encoding 1.07 billion color values. JPG captures 8-bit color, encoding 16.7 million color values. The difference is most visible in smooth gradients -- sunsets, blue skies, and studio backdrops. In high-contrast or detailed scenes, the difference is negligible to the human eye.

For social media, web uploads, and standard prints, 8-bit JPG color depth is sufficient. For professional editing where you need maximum tonal range, HEIC's 10-bit advantage matters.

Live Photos

Live Photos work in both modes. In High Efficiency mode, the still frame and video clip are stored together in a single HEIC container. In Most Compatible mode, the still frame saves as JPG and the video clip saves as a separate H.264 file. The functionality is identical, but Most Compatible uses more storage for the same Live Photo.

ProRAW and ProRes

ProRAW and ProRes settings are completely independent of the Formats toggle. Switching to Most Compatible does not disable Apple ProRAW, ProRAW Max, or ProRes video. These professional capture modes have their own separate toggles under Settings > Camera > Formats and always produce their respective file types regardless of the standard format setting.

Which Combination Should You Use?

There are four possible configurations. Here is when each one makes sense.

High Efficiency + Automatic (Recommended for most users)

• Camera saves HEIC on device (smaller files, 10-bit color)
• USB transfers automatically convert to JPG
• Best balance of storage savings and compatibility
• Only fails when sharing through cloud services or third-party apps

This is the default iPhone configuration and the right choice for most people. You get the storage benefits of HEIC with automatic JPG conversion for the most common transfer scenarios.

High Efficiency + Keep Originals

• Camera saves HEIC on device
• Transfers send raw HEIC files
• Best for all-Apple workflows where HEIC is natively supported
• Requires manual conversion when sharing with non-Apple devices

Choose this if every device in your workflow supports HEIC natively -- Mac, iPad, and iPhone only.

Most Compatible + Automatic

• Camera saves JPG on device
• Transfers send JPG files (no conversion needed)
• Maximum compatibility, maximum storage cost
• Good for users who frequently share photos with non-Apple devices

Choose this if you constantly run into HEIC compatibility issues and the extra storage cost is acceptable.

Most Compatible + Keep Originals

• Identical to Most Compatible + Automatic in practice
• Camera already saves JPG, so there is nothing to convert on transfer
• The transfer setting becomes irrelevant

There is no reason to specifically choose this combination. If you switch to Most Compatible, the transfer setting does not matter.

How to Convert Existing HEIC Photos

Changing your camera format setting does not convert existing photos. Every HEIC photo already in your library stays as HEIC. The setting only affects photos taken after the change.

To convert existing HEIC photos to JPG, you need a conversion tool. HEICify's HEIC to JPG converter handles this directly in your browser:

1. Open HEICify HEIC to JPG converter
2. Drag and drop your HEIC files onto the page
3. Adjust the quality slider if needed
4. Click Convert
5. Download your JPG files

All conversion happens locally in your browser. Your photos are never uploaded to any server. You can convert multiple files at once with no account required.

For a complete walkthrough of all conversion methods, see How to Convert HEIC to JPG.

How to Export HEIC Photos from Your iPhone for Conversion

If your HEIC photos are on your iPhone and you need to get them to a browser-based converter, there are several ways to access them:

1. AirDrop to a Mac -- open the files in your browser from there
2. USB transfer to any computer -- with Automatic transfer enabled, files arrive as JPG already
3. iCloud Photos on iCloud.com -- download individual photos (iCloud converts to JPG on download)
4. Email to yourself -- iOS often converts to JPG when attaching to email
5. Save to Files app -- access the HEIC files directly and open HEICify in Safari on your iPhone

The most reliable method is USB transfer with the Automatic setting enabled. For photos already in iCloud, downloading from iCloud.com produces JPG files without any additional tools.

Quick Reference

| Goal | Setting to change | Path | | --- | --- | --- | | Shoot JPG going forward | Camera format | Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible | | Auto-convert on USB transfer | Transfer mode | Settings > Photos > Automatic | | Convert existing HEIC photos | Use a converter | HEICify HEIC to JPG | | Understand HEIC format | Read the guide | What is HEIC Format? | | All conversion methods | Read the guide | How to Convert HEIC to JPG |

The default iPhone configuration -- High Efficiency with Automatic transfer -- works well for most people. Change to Most Compatible only if you regularly encounter compatibility problems that the Automatic transfer setting does not solve. For existing HEIC photos that need conversion, HEICify handles the job in seconds without uploading your files anywhere.