Open HEIC File

Open HEIC File on Windows, Mac OS, Android

HEIC is a file extension of an image file which stores information in High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. Typically, HEIC file extension is used by Apple devices while other software vendors use HEIF file extension.

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 is a new video compression standard. It was developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) as a successor of H.264 video compression standard. Among features of H.265 are support for 8K video and substantially improved video quality at the similar bit rate. It also supports twice better compression.

To open HEIC file you need a software which can read and display High Efficiency Image File Format or use an operating system which has built-in support for it. Below is a list of operating systems which can natively open HEIC files.

• iOS starting from iOS 11 can store and read HEIC files.
• Microsoft Windows 10 starting from version 1803, build 17123 can open files in High Efficiency Image File Format in Photos app.
• Android starting with Android P has native support for encoding and decoding in High Efficiency Image File Format.

If your operating system does not support HEIC files natively as specified in the list above, you can read how to open images in HEIF format on older operating systems. Or instead you can convert HEIC file to an image format of your preference. For more information about that read our HEIC conversion guide.

Open HEIC File on Windows OS

• Try double clicking on a HEIC file in Windows File Explorer.
• If the HEIC reading software is associated correctly then the file will open
• If the file did not open you should install CopyTrans HEIC for Windows software
• To open HEIC file in Copytrans plugin you need to install it and then double click on HEIC file in Windows File Explorer.
• Copytrans HEIC plugin will seamlessly integrate with Windows Explorer and Microsoft Office and will allow you to open HEIC files with one click.

Below you can find more information about image files related to HEIC. If required HEIC files could be converted to all file formats listed below except SVG. As some HEIC or HEIF files may include image sequences consisting of multiple images it is possible that only one image will be converted to a destination image format.

• PNG File - Portable Network Graphics File
• JPEG File - Joint Photographic Experts Group File
• GIF File - Graphics Interchange Format File
• SVG File - Scalable Vector Graphics File

HEIC and HEIF files are transfered over e-mail or internet using following file multipurpose internet mail extensions (MIME) types: image/heif, image/heic, image/heif-sequence and image/heic-sequence.

Quick helpful links (for full list of links go to our links page):

• Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices
• How to Stop iPhone from Taking Photos in HEIC in iOS 12
• HEVC, HEIC, and HEIF files on iOS devices