Why will my iPhone photos not open on Windows?

You copied photos across from your iPhone, and Windows shows you a list of files with blank thumbnails. Double click one and Photos either throws an error or offers to sell you something. The files are not corrupt, and nothing went wrong during the transfer. Windows simply cannot read the format they are in.

What a HEIC file actually is

Since iOS 11, iPhones have saved photos as HEIC rather than JPG. The picture inside is compressed using HEVC, the same technology used for 4K video, and that is a much smarter compression scheme than the one JPG has used since 1992. The result is a photo about half the size, often with slightly better quality, especially in skies and shadows where JPG tends to show banding.

For Apple that trade was obvious. Phones with better cameras were filling up storage, and halving the size of every photo bought years of breathing room.

Why Windows will not open it

HEVC is patented, and those patents are held by several different groups. Anyone shipping software that decodes HEVC is expected to pay for a licence. Apple pays, and builds decoding into the hardware of every device it sells.

Microsoft made a different decision. Rather than raise the price of Windows for everyone to cover a format most people had never heard of, it left the codec out and offered it separately in the Microsoft Store. That is why the HEVC Video Extensions listing costs a small amount rather than being free, and why a fresh Windows install shows you a blank square where your photo should be.

So the file is fine. Your computer is missing the one piece of software that knows how to turn it back into an image.

Just need to convert a file right now?Convert HEIC to JPG in your browser. Free, nothing uploaded, no account.

Three ways out

Convert the photos to JPG. This is the option that solves the problem everywhere at once, not just on the machine in front of you. A JPG opens on any device, uploads to any website, and attaches to any email without a second thought. It is also the only option that helps when you need to send the photo to someone else.

Install the codec on Windows. Buying the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store teaches that one computer to read HEIC files. Useful if the photos live on your own machine and you never need to share them. It does nothing for anyone you send them to.

Stop your iPhone making them. Open Settings, tap Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be saved as JPG. Existing photos stay as they are, so you will still need to convert those, and every photo from that point on takes about twice the space.

Which one is right for you

If you are moving a batch of photos to a Windows machine to keep, edit or share, convert them. If you are the only person who will ever see them and you would rather keep the smaller files, install the codec. If HEIC has caused you trouble more than once, change the camera setting so it stops happening.

Most people want the first one, and it takes about ten seconds.