How to View HEIC Files on Any Device

HEIC photos open instantly on Apple devices and cause headaches almost everywhere else. Here's how to view them on every major platform.

Any device: your browser

Our HEIC viewer works in Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox on any operating system. Drop a file onto the page to see it at full resolution along with its camera details and whether it contains a location. The image is decoded on your device — nothing is uploaded.

iPhone and iPad

HEIC is native: Photos, Files and most apps open it directly. Files received in other apps can be saved to Photos or opened from the Files app.

Mac

macOS High Sierra and later open HEIC in Preview and Photos, show Quick Look previews (press the space bar in Finder) and generate thumbnails in Finder.

Windows 10 and 11

Windows needs the HEIF Image Extensions and an HEVC decoder (HEVC Video Extensions) from the Microsoft Store. Once installed, HEIC files open in the Photos app and show thumbnails in File Explorer. Full details: How to open HEIC files on Windows.

Android

Many recent phones display HEIC in Google Photos and manufacturer gallery apps. Support varies by device and app. See How to open HEIC files on Android.

Linux

Many image viewers can open HEIC when the system has libheif installed (on Debian and Ubuntu, packages such as libheif1 and the gdk-pixbuf HEIF loader). GIMP can also open HEIC via libheif. Package names vary by distribution.

Chromebooks

ChromeOS's Gallery app can open HEIC on recent versions. If it can't, use the browser viewer or convert the file.

When viewing isn't enough

If you need to email, upload or edit the photo in an app that doesn't support HEIC, convert it:

• HEIC to JPG for maximum compatibility;
• HEIC to PNG for lossless editing;
• HEIC to WebP for websites.