How to Download HEIC as JPG in iCloud on Windows and Mac

While HEIC is the default storage format on iPhone (since iOS 11), you don’t have to stick with it. From converting your HEIC images directly on the iPhone itself to shooting it right off the bat in the old JPEG format, you’ll never run out of options. But there is another way – download your HEIC images in JPG format via iCloud.

If you have iCloud Photos turned on, all your photos are easily accessible through the iCloud.com web app. Visit using any browser on Windows and the selected photos will be automatically downloaded in JPG format. This is great because you won’t have to convert HEIC images to JPG manually.

You can also do this on a Mac, but you’ll need to tweak it to make yourself look like you’re on Windows. Unfortunately iCloud.com does not work properly on mobile devices. This means you cannot download HEIC images in JPG even if desktop mode is enabled on your iPhone or iPad.

Download HEIC as JPG — Windows

On Windows, downloading your photos in JPG format via iCloud.com is ridiculously easy. Just start a download and iCloud.com will convert HEIC files to the most compatible format for Windows (JPEG) before they even reach your PC. This is great for situations like when you’re having trouble transferring your photos to PC via File Explorer.

If you don’t see any automatic conversion to JPG, you can “nudge” the browser to start the download in JPG format.

Stage 1: Sign in to iCloud.com using your Apple ID credentials.

Sstep 2: Click Photos to access your photo library.

Sstep 3 Select the picture you want to download. If you want to select multiple photos, drag the cursor over the images or select them one by one while holding down the Ctrl key. Follow by clicking the download icon.

You should immediately see the HEIC images download in JPG format. Pretty cool, right? In this way, you can download as many photos as you want in JPG format.

In case the selected photo or photos are downloaded in HEIC format, select the items again and then press and hold the Download button for a few seconds. In the drop-down menu that opens, click on the option labeled Most Compatible and then the Download button. This should do the trick in getting the downloads converted to JPG format.

Note that you can also use the iCloud desktop or Windows Store apps to automatically download your entire photo library in JPG format. Make sure you don’t check the ‘Keep High Yield Original if Available’ option when installing the app. Downloading your photos via iCloud.com is the way to go if you only want JPG copies as and when needed.

Download HEIC as JPG – macOS

Since macOS is fully compatible with the HEIC image format, downloading an image via iCloud.com on a Mac will not convert it to JPG format. However, you can perform a small hack by ‘hiding’ yourself as if you were using Windows. This involves changing your browser’s user-agent, and it’s very easy to do with Safari.

Stage 1: Open Safari. Next, click Safari in the Menu bar and then choose Preferences.

Sstep 2: Click the Advanced tab and then check the box next to ‘Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar’. Then exit the Preferences window. You should now see a new option labeled Develop in the Menu bar.

Sstep 3 Visit iCloud.com and then sign in with your Apple ID. Follow this up by clicking Photos.

Sstep 4: Click Develop in the menu bar, point to User Agent, and then select Google Chrome — Windows or Firefox — Windows. You should see iCloud.com start reloading automatically – wait until it’s completely finished doing this.

Sstep 5: Select the photos you want to download and then click the Download icon. To select multiple items, drag the cursor over the images or click the desired photos while holding down the Cmd key.

iCloud.com will download and download the images in JPG format. You can find the converted photos in the Downloads location of the Finder.

Safari will automatically change the user agent to default on newer tabs. However, when you want to download HEIC images in JPG format, you can easily switch to Google Chrome (Windows) or Mozilla Firefox (Windows) user agents via the Develop menu.

You can also hide the development menu. Open the Safari Preferences panel, click on Advanced and then uncheck the box next to ‘Show Develop Menu in Bar’ to do this.

Convert This HEIC Image

While Windows supports the required codecs to open and view HEIC files, macOS natively supports the format. However, this does not mean that you will not encounter examples of third-party applications and services that are not fully compatible with the HEIC format. Therefore, knowing ways to convert them to JPG format can be very important. And among all the manual conversion methods out there, using iCloud.com might be the most convenient to get JPG copies easily.

Next: Running out of storage on iCloud? Here are all possible ways to regain valuable space from the comfort of your iPhone or iPad.