How to open HEIC and HEIF files | Tips and Tricks

HEIC files are an image file format that owners of Apple devices have been familiar with for some time..
As we will see later, the format is also common on other operating systems with the name HEIF.
In this in-depth study we will see what the HEIC format is, the main features and how to open HEIC files on Windows PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices.

What is the HEIC format?

HEIC is a new high-efficiency image format, the name THEN stands for High Efficiency Image File Coding. In fact it is the Apple version of the HEIF format whose name stands for High Efficiency Image File Format.

I two formats are identical, only the name changes, therefore, if an operating system manages to open one format, it will also be able to open the other without problems.

The HEIF format was developed by the consortium Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), to replace the JPEG one.

HEIF (and therefore HEIC) have many interesting features:

• They allow, a equal quality, to get files that they take up half the space compared to the JPEG format, for example the same photo with the same 64 MPixel quality, with JPEG it occupies 100 MB, with HEIC only 50 MB.
• They offer the possibility of store multiple images in the same file, useful for developing HDR at a later time, for example.
• They allow you to change the orientation and cut the image without having to recode it.

You can learn more by consulting our in-depth study on HEIC and HEIF formats.

How to open HEIC and HEIF files on Windows

Microsoft Windows 10 operating system, starting from version 1607, supports a convenient plugin that can open and edit HEIC and HEIF files.

By now, if your operating system is up to date, you should find the plugin already installed and open the HEIC files on Windows.

You can check the installation by going to the Microsoft HEIF Image Extension web page and then clicking on “Get“.

A dialog box will open in which you will need to click on “Open Microsoft Store“The local version of the Store and it will surely appear”Start“. If this does not happen, just click on the “Get”To install.

If there should be any hitches, just update your version of Windows 10, updating Windows is definitely recommended also for security reasons since versions prior to 1607 are no longer supported.

For Windows versions 7 and 8 there is a handy free tool for personal use that adds format support to the system.

Is called CopyTrans HEREIN for Windows and you can download it directly from the official page of the program. Once installed it will be possible to operate comfortably with HEIF and HEIC files even in old versions of Windows.

Open HEIC and HEIF images on macOS

The two formats are fully supported by macOS 10.13 High Sierra (released in 2017) and later. So practically on all Macs just click on HEIC and HEIF files to view them.

If you have difficulty opening it, just update your operating system to solve the problem.

View HEIC and HEIF photos on Android

Google’s mobile operating system supports HEIC and HEIF format files from Android 9 (Pie). So now the vast majority of Android devices in circulation natively support HEIC and HEIF files which can then be opened and edited without any difficulty.

If you are having difficulty opening these files, you should check if an operating system version update is available and perform the update.

In any case, the file type HEIC (and HEIF) can be opened without difficulty too on earlier versions of Android via the convenient Luma app, which also allows you to convert HEIF and HEIC files to JPEG while maintaining the quality.

The app can be downloaded for free via the Google Play Store.

How to open HEIC and HEIF format on iPhone and iPad

These devices have a full HEIC format support and HEIF since 2017.

Apple devices with iOS (from version 11) allow the creation and modification of HEIC photos (and therefore in HEIF).
In case of difficulty, the invitation is renewed to proceed with the update of the device’s operating system.