How to open a .heic file (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Q: Why can't I open my .heic file?

Usually your computer lacks an app that understands HEIC. Install one of the apps listed here, or convert the file to a more common format.

A .heic file is a High Efficiency Image Container. If double-clicking does nothing, your computer simply does not have an app that reads HEIC yet. Here is how to fix that on each operating system, using free software wherever possible.

Open a .heic file step by step

Confirm the file really is a .heic. Drop it into the WhatFileType file identifier, which reads its signature without uploading anything.
On Windows, open it with Photos (with the free HEIF extension) or Windows 11 Photos.
On Mac, use Preview or Photos.
On Linux, try GIMP (with libheif) or gThumb.
Still stuck? Convert the .heic to JPG, which opens more widely.

Best apps to open .heic files

Windows

Photos (with the free HEIF extension)
Windows 11 Photos
IrfanView + plugin

macOS

Preview
Photos
Quick Look

Linux

GIMP (with libheif)
gThumb
ImageMagick

Web

Convert to JPG or PNG first for guaranteed browser support

Before you open it: Safe. HEIC is a plain image container and cannot run code. The only real risk is a malformed file crashing an old viewer, which is rare.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I open my .heic file?

Almost always because no installed app understands HEIC. Install one of the apps above, or convert the file to a format your existing software already reads.

Why can't I open a HEIC file on Windows?

Windows does not ship the HEVC decoder by default. Install the free HEIF Image Extensions from the Microsoft Store, or convert the file to JPG.

Does converting HEIC to JPG lose quality?

There is a small quality loss because JPEG re-compresses the image, but at high quality settings the difference is hard to see. The file will usually be larger than the HEIC.