✦Guide · Windows 10 & 11How to batch convert HEIC to JPG on Windows (hundreds of iPhone photos at once)

Why a camera roll is hard to convert on Windows

You copied a year of photos off the phone, one folder per month, and every file is HEIC. Photos may show them; the web form, the older editor and the print shop refuse them. The image inside is compressed with the HEVC video codec, which Windows does not decode on its own; Microsoft's free HEIF Image Extension says plainly that the HEVC Video Extensions package ($0.99 on the Store) must be installed before .heic images will open.

Even with the codecs installed, the built-in tools convert one photo at a time, and the copies often lose the date taken, so every gallery sorts them to the wrong year. A batch converter fixes the first problem; a careful one fixes both. Facts about other tools were checked on their own sites on 23 October 2026.

Every method, ranked by effort

1. Photos or Paint, one photo at a time

Install the free HEIF Image Extension and the $0.99 HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store. Then open a photo in Photos, use the three-dot menu, Save as, and pick JPG; or open it in Paint and use File, Save as, JPEG picture. One file per round trip, and Paint writes a bare JPG with no camera data.

2. CopyTrans HEIC: select, right-click, convert

CopyTrans HEIC (Windows 7 to 11, free and premium plans) adds Convert to JPEG with CopyTrans to the Explorer right-click menu. Select the photos, right-click, and the JPGs appear next to the originals with the date taken and location kept, converted locally. The free plan handles up to 100 images in one go and writes JPEG only; PNG, PDF and unlimited batches belong to CopyTrans HEIC Pro, priced by quote. It also does not make the Photos app open HEIC, only Windows Photo Viewer.

3. iMazing Converter: drag a folder

iMazing Converter from DigiDNA is 100% free on Windows and Mac. Drag HEIC files or folders onto its window, pick JPEG or PNG, set the quality, tick the option to keep EXIF (offered for JPEG), and hit Convert. Processing happens on your device. It does not list an Explorer right-click, and it does not say whether file dates are copied.

4. A batch converter from the Microsoft Store

The Store has many free HEIC converters. Two that list batch processing are Unlimited HEIC Converter (no fees, no registration, JPG or PNG) and HEIC to JPG batch converter (JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP, with a JPG quality slider). HEIC to JPG Real Converter converts locally by drag and drop and offers an optional Premium purchase. None of the three listings says whether EXIF is kept or whether Microsoft's codecs are needed, so convert one photo and check its Properties before converting a thousand.

5. XnConvert or IrfanView, if you already use them

Both are free for private use (companies pay: XnConvert from 15 euro a licence, IrfanView US$18). XnConvert for Windows 10 and 11 is a batch converter that lists HEIC, HEIF, AVIF and WebP among its input formats and can watch a folder. IrfanView has batch conversion too, but its own FAQ says HEIC needs the two Microsoft Store extensions or a third-party codec first.

6. ImageMagick from the command line

ImageMagick is free and open source, runs on Windows 10 and 11 (x86, x64 and ARM64), and its Windows build includes the libheif and libde265 libraries that read HEIC. Install it, open a terminal in the folder, and run:

magick mogrify -format jpg -quality 92 -auto-orient *.heic

Every HEIC in the folder gets a JPG next to it, upright, with the EXIF profile carried over. Subfolders need a loop, file dates are not copied, and a typo in a mogrify command can overwrite files, so test on a copy. PowerShell alone cannot decode HEIC; it is only the shell you run ImageMagick from.

7. PlainJPG: drop the folder tree

Drop the top folder and walk away: every HEIC in it and its subfolders becomes a JPG with the same name, in the same place, with the date taken, GPS, orientation and the file's own dates intact. PlainJPG is a $15 Windows app that converts whole folders of HEIC, WebP and AVIF to JPG or PNG on the PC, keeps EXIF and file dates, nothing uploaded. No file count or size limit, every CPU core at once, a thousand photos in minutes. The HEIC decoder is built in, so it works on a fresh Windows install. The first 25 images are free, so you can check the dates survived before paying; after that it is $15 once for 2 PCs.

1. Install PlainJPG (free download, Windows 10 version 2004 or later and Windows 11, x64 and ARM64).
2. Drop the folder on the window, or select any number of .heic files in Explorer, right-click, and choose Convert to JPG with PlainJPG.
3. Pick JPG (quality 92 by default), PNG, or Auto, and choose where the copies go: next to the originals, into one folder, or replacing the originals, which then go to the Recycle Bin.
4. Click Convert. Each row shows the new name and size; the History panel remembers where every batch was saved.

The methods side by side

What a careful batch keeps

• Date taken, camera, GPS: the EXIF block, so Lightroom, Google Photos and Windows Photos still sort and map the photos.
• Orientation: iPhones store many photos sideways with a rotation tag. PlainJPG writes the pixels upright and resets the tag; ImageMagick does the same with -auto-orient. Copy the tag without the pixels and the JPGs show sideways in older viewers and web forms.
• XMP: ratings, keywords and edit history.
• File dates: created and modified, so the converted folder still sorts the way the original did. This is the one most converters skip.
• The originals: never deleted outright. PlainJPG's Replace option moves them to the Recycle Bin after the copy is written and checked.

Sharing publicly? Switch Keep camera info off and the JPGs carry no metadata at all. Details of every field on the HEIC to JPG page; PNG output on the HEIC to PNG page; a licence is $15 once.

Batch conversion questions