How to convert HEIC to JPEG on a Mac without losing the original

You can make a JPEG copy of a HEIC photo in Preview. Open the HEIC, choose File > Export, select JPEG from the Format menu, then give the export a distinct name and location before clicking Save. Keep the HEIC as your original; send or upload the JPEG copy when a service asks for that format. Apple’s Preview guide documents the export steps.

Export one HEIC photo

1. Open the complete HEIC file in Preview. If Preview cannot display the original, changing its filename extension to .jpg will not convert it.
2. Choose File > Export.
3. Choose JPEG in the Format menu, not JPEG 2000. Set the quality control for the copy you need.
4. Choose a new name or location so the HEIC stays easy to find, then click Save.
5. Open the saved JPEG itself before attaching it. Check that it displays and that you selected the JPEG copy, instead of the HEIC, in the upload dialog.

If the copy does not meet a file-size limit, return to the HEIC and export another JPEG at a different quality setting. Starting each attempt from the HEIC avoids making a new JPEG from an already converted JPEG. If an upload has a separate pixel-dimension requirement, check that requirement too; changing JPEG quality alone is not a dimension adjustment.

Preview can also export a group of images. Open them in the same Preview window, select the images in its sidebar, and choose File > Export as described in Apple’s conversion guide. If images keep opening in separate windows, check Preview’s image-group setting. Convert one file first, verify its JPEG, then count and check the outputs from the group. Do not assume how duplicate names will be handled.

See what the conversion changes

These downloads are an actual codec example made from a synthetic 1200 × 800 color, grid, and text card. The HEIC source was encoded from the PNG source. It was then decoded and saved as two JPEGs:

Download	Bytes	Pixel dimensions
HEIC source	73,628 bytes	1200 × 800
Higher-quality JPEG	137,632 bytes	1200 × 800
Smaller JPEG	51,892 bytes	1200 × 800
PNG source	24,214 bytes	1200 × 800

The higher-quality JPEG is 64,004 bytes larger than this HEIC. The smaller JPEG is 85,740 bytes smaller than the higher-quality JPEG. JPEG conversion can increase the file size.

For example, with a hypothetical 100,000-byte upload cap, the higher-quality JPEG would exceed it by 37,632 bytes. The smaller JPEG would fit, with 48,108 bytes to spare. Both JPEGs retain the card’s 1200 × 800 dimensions. You can compare the text, grid lines, and borders in the PNG source and the two JPEG downloads yourself. Look at the letters and border against the full source, because a small thumbnail can hide the differences. The codec quality values used for these files are not equivalents of positions on Preview’s quality slider.

Choose the attachment for the requirement

If the recipient asks only for JPEG and sets no size limit, conversion has already addressed that format request. There is no reason to crop the picture solely because its extension changed. Where a separate minimum pixel size applies, both sample JPEGs have the same 1200 × 800 grid, so their different byte sizes do not distinguish them on that requirement.

If the JPEG still does not work

JPEG is missing from the Format menu

Apple says holding Option while opening that menu reveals additional, including older or specialized, formats. Confirm that the selected format says JPEG before saving. Preview format instructions

The original will not open

Check that the HEIC finished transferring and can be opened before trying to export it. Renaming an incomplete or damaged file cannot repair its image data. Apple documents native HEIF support beginning with macOS High Sierra 10.13. Apple’s HEIF and HEVC guide

The recipient still rejects the file

Check the actual saved copy’s format, byte size, and dimensions, and make sure you attached that copy. The recipient may require a different format or have a limit that JPEG conversion alone does not meet. A .jpg filename by itself does not prove that the file contains JPEG data.

You need to remove location information

Do not treat conversion as a privacy guarantee. The sample files contain no EXIF or XMP metadata, and this example does not test Preview’s handling of GPS data. Inspect the particular file you plan to share.

For future iPhone photos

On an iPhone, Settings > Camera > Formats > Most Compatible makes new photos use JPEG and new videos use H.264, according to Apple. It does not convert HEIC photos already in your library. Apple also notes that sharing through AirDrop, Messages, or email might convert a file depending on the receiving device, so use an exported JPEG when the recipient specifically requires one.

HEIF refers to the photo format; HEVC refers to video. A JPEG export gives you a still-image copy, not an archive of motion or other capture data.

Preview instructions follow Apple’s linked documentation. The downloadable files are a synthetic, single-frame, 8-bit RGB codec example created with Pillow and pillow-heif. Their formats, pixel dimensions, bytes, and absence of EXIF/XMP were checked from the saved files. They are not Preview exports and do not establish how camera orientation, HDR, depth, motion, or GPS metadata will be handled on a Mac.