HEIC is Apple's format, so most HEIC files land on Android after someone AirDropped, messaged, or emailed them from an iPhone. Modern Android can often open HEIC, but plenty of apps still choke on it. Here's how to convert HEIC to JPG on Android without installing a sketchy converter app.
1. Google Photos
If the HEIC file is in Google Photos, the simplest trick is to make a small edit and save a copy:
- Open the image in Google Photos.
- Tap Edit, make any tiny adjustment (or just crop and undo), then Save copy.
- The saved copy is a JPG you can share anywhere.
It's a workaround rather than a real converter, but it works in a pinch.
2. Files by Google / your gallery app
Some gallery and file-manager apps (including Files by Google on newer devices) offer a Share → Save asor export option that writes a JPG copy. Support varies by phone and Android version, so check whether your gallery's share sheet has a "save as JPG" or "convert" option before relying on it.
3. Browser converter — the reliable, private option
The method that works the same on every Android phone, regardless of manufacturer skin or Android version, is a browser converter. Open heictojpg.click in Chrome, tap to pick your HEIC files, and download the JPGs — or get them all in one ZIP for a batch.
Two reasons this beats installing a converter app: it runs entirely in the browser, so your photos are never uploaded to a server, and there's no app collecting permissions or showing ads. It also does HEIC to PNG and HEIC to PDF if you need a different format.
Why do I even have a HEIC file on Android?
Almost always because it came from an iPhone. iPhones save photos as HEIC by default to halve storage use — see why iPhones save photos as HEIC. When those photos reach a non-Apple device, HEIC's patchy support outside Apple is exactly why a quick conversion to JPG makes them just work.
Which method should you use?
- One image already in Google Photos: the edit-and-save-copy trick.
- Your gallery supports export: save as JPG from the share sheet.
- Any phone, any batch, no app: the browser converter.