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How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Mac (5 Free Ways, No Apps)

By the heicjpg.online editorial team · Updated October 29, 2026 · 5 min read

To convert HEIC to JPG on a Mac, select the photos in Finder, right click, choose Quick Actions > Convert Image, set the format to JPEG and click Convert. This works on macOS Monterey or newer and needs no extra app. On an older Mac, open the photo in Preview and use File > Export.

Finder Quick Action: the fastest way

Select the HEIC photos in Finder. Drag around them, or hold Command and click each one.
Right click (or Control click) the selection and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image.
Set Format to JPEG and leave Image Size on Actual Size. Keep Preserve Metadata checked if the date and location should stay in the photo.
Click Convert. The JPGs appear in the same folder with the same names.

No Convert Image in the menu? Open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, click Finder in the Extensions section and switch Convert Image on. If it is not listed at all, your Mac runs something older than Monterey, so use Preview instead.

Other built-in ways: Preview, Photos and Terminal

Preview: when you want to choose the quality

Open the HEIC file in Preview. For a batch, select all the files in Finder and press Command + O to open them in one window.
Choose File > Export. For a batch, click the thumbnail sidebar, press Command + A, then choose File > Export Selected Images.
Set Format to JPEG and move the Quality slider to 80 or 90 percent, which looks identical to the original. If JPEG is missing, hold Option while you click the Format menu.
Pick a folder and click Save (or Choose for a batch).

Photos app: for pictures in your library

Select the photos. Command + A selects a whole album.
Choose File > Export > Export Photos. Do not pick Export Unmodified Original, which gives you the HEIC files back.
Set Photo Kind to JPEG and the quality to High or Maximum, click Export and choose a folder.

For a few photos there is a shortcut: drag them from the Photos window to the desktop. Finder receives full size JPEG copies, edits included.

Terminal: hundreds or thousands of files

Every Mac includes sips, a command line image tool. Open Terminal, type cd followed by a space, drag the folder with your HEIC files into the window and press Return. Then paste this line and press Return:

for f in *.heic *.HEIC; do [ -e "$f" ] && sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 90 "$f" --out "${f%.*}.jpg"; done

It writes a JPG next to every HEIC file and keeps the originals. The number after formatOptions is the JPEG quality from 1 to 100: 90 looks identical, 75 gives smaller files.

Which method should you use?

Method	Needs	Batch	Best for
Finder Quick Action	macOS Monterey or newer	Yes, any number	Everyday conversions from a folder
Preview	Any macOS	Yes	Setting the JPEG quality or resizing
Photos app	Photos in your library	Yes	Pictures synced from your iPhone
Terminal (sips)	Any macOS	Yes, thousands	Large archives and automated jobs
heicjpg.online	A browser	Up to 60 per batch	Shared or locked Macs, iPads, quick jobs

The four built-in tools run on your Mac, so the photos never leave it. Use an online converter on an office Mac, a friend's laptop or an iPad. Keep the HEIC originals as your archive: they take about half the space of the JPGs (see HEIC vs JPG). Need a lossless file instead? Convert HEIC to PNG.

Not at your own Mac?

Drop up to 60 HEIC photos into our free converter. You get full resolution JPGs with EXIF kept, several files in one ZIP, and no account or watermark.

Convert HEIC to JPG now

Stop getting HEIC files from your iPhone

On the iPhone, open Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos are saved as JPG. Existing photos stay HEIC, and JPG needs about twice the storage.

The Transfer to Mac or PC setting does not help with a Mac: Apple converts only when the computer cannot read HEIC, and every Mac since High Sierra can.

Frequently asked questions

Does macOS have a built-in HEIC to JPG converter?

Yes. On macOS Monterey or later, right click a HEIC file in Finder and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. Preview, Photos and Terminal can convert too.

How do I convert many HEIC files to JPG at once on a Mac?

Select all the photos in Finder and use Quick Actions > Convert Image: every file becomes a JPG in one go. For thousands of photos, the sips command in Terminal is faster.

Does converting HEIC to JPG on Mac reduce quality?

The photo goes through one round of JPEG compression, which is invisible at high quality, and the resolution stays the same. Keep the HEIC originals if you want an untouched copy.

Can I just rename .heic to .jpg?

No. Renaming only changes the label, the data inside is still HEIC, so Windows shows a broken image and upload forms reject it. You need a real conversion.

Why are my iPhone photos HEIC instead of JPG?

Since iOS 11 the iPhone camera saves HEIC by default because it takes about half the space. To shoot JPG, open Settings > Camera > Formats and choose Most Compatible.