How to Convert HEIC to JPG on Mac (5 Free Ways)

Macs open HEIC files natively, so converting them to JPG is easy — you just need to know where Apple hid the options. Here are five free ways, from a two-click Finder shortcut to a Terminal one-liner for whole folders.

Prefer not to fiddle with menus? Drop the files on our HEIC to JPG converter in Safari or Chrome. It converts on your Mac without uploading anything and gives you a single ZIP of all the JPGs.

Method 1: Finder Quick Action (fastest)

Available on macOS Monterey (12) and later.

1. In Finder, select one or more HEIC files.
2. Right-click (or Control-click) the selection.
3. Choose Quick Actions → Convert Image.
4. Set Format to JPEG and pick an Image Size (Actual Size keeps full resolution).
5. Leave Preserve Metadata checked to keep the date and camera details, or untick it to strip them (including location).
6. Click Convert to JPEG.

The JPGs appear next to the originals. This is also the easiest way to batch convert — see How to batch convert HEIC to JPG for more bulk options.

Method 2: Preview

Preview gives you a quality slider, which is handy when you need a specific file size.

1. Double-click the HEIC to open it in Preview.
2. Choose File → Export.
3. Set Format to JPEG.
4. Drag the Quality slider — “Best” for printing, around the middle for email.
5. Click Save.

Converting multiple files in Preview

1. Select all the HEIC files in Finder and open them together in Preview.
2. In the sidebar, press Command-A to select all thumbnails.
3. Choose File → Export Selected Images.
4. Click Options, choose JPEG, pick a folder, and click Choose.

Method 3: The Photos app

If the photos are in your Photos library (for example synced from iCloud):

1. Select the photos.
2. Choose File → Export → Export [number] Photos.
3. Set Photo Kind to JPEG and choose quality and size.
4. Click Export and pick a destination.

Avoid Export Unmodified Original — that gives you the original HEIC again.

Method 4: Terminal with sips (command line)

Every Mac includes sips, Apple’s scriptable image tool. To convert one file:

sips -s format jpeg IMG_1234.HEIC --out IMG_1234.jpg

To convert every HEIC in the current folder into a jpg subfolder at quality 90:

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

formatOptions accepts a percentage or best, high, normal or low. This is the go-to method for thousands of files or for automation.

Method 5: In your browser

ConvertHEICto works in Safari, Chrome and Firefox on any Mac:

1. Open convertheicto.com/jpg.
2. Drag your HEIC files in.
3. Click Download all as ZIP.

It keeps the date taken, removes GPS by default, and preserves the iPhone’s color profile — useful when you’re on a Mac you can’t install software on, or when you want PNG, PDF or WebP instead of JPG.

Which method should you use?

Need	Best method
A few photos, quickly	Finder Quick Action
Control over file size	Preview
Photos already in your library	Photos app
Hundreds of files or scripting	sips
Other formats, ZIP download, GPS removal	Browser converter

Converting to other formats on Mac

The same tools handle PNG: choose PNG in Finder’s Convert Image or Preview’s Format menu, or see How to convert HEIC to PNG. For documents, Preview can also save as PDF — covered in How to convert HEIC to PDF.

Need to do this on other devices too? How to convert HEIC to JPG on any device covers Windows, iPhone and Android, and Convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone shows how to do it before the photos even reach your Mac.