iPhones and newer Android phones often store their camera images as HEIC (also sometimes called HEIF or H265 encoding) - a newer, more efficient, but less compatible alternative to JPEG.
Devices using HEIC will typically convert the image back to JPEG on the fly when sending it to the internet or other devices that may not understand them, but if the conversion doesn't happen, you may be stuck with an image you can't view. Microsoft offers HEIC support in Windows via the HEIF Image Extension.
If you can reach the sender of the image:
- Ask them to reupload the images as JPEG from the device.
- Uploading through a browser or app directly from the iPhone or iPad will trigger an automatic JPEG conversion.
- Alternately, ask them to convert the images using iCloud or Google Photos and reupload.
- Photos taken on an iPhone will commonly be stored in iCloud, or in Google Photos for an Android device. Both also have web interfaces.
- If the iCloud Photo web interface is accessed from a Windows computer, download photos are automatically converted to JPEGs.
- The Google Photos web interface will download JPEGs only if the image has been altered (including trivial changes such as rotating or cropping), otherwise a HEIC will be downloaded. You can still view the uploaded images in the browser, however.
If you have access to a Mac (including lab Macs):
- Right click the image in Finder, select Quick Actions>Convert Image
If you are using a university issued Windows computer:
- Install the HEIF Images Extension in Software Center
- This will let Photos, Adobe applications, and other Windows applications display HEICs. .
If your are using a personally owned Windows 10 or later computer:
Additional Notes:
- Photoshop and related Adobe applications will not open HEICs on Windows unless the HEIF Image Extensions are already installed.
- As of this writing, web browsers do not display HEICs on their own.
- There are online services that will convert HEIC, but there are substantial concerns regarding privacy and the risk of them offering malware in the process, so DoTS generally does not recommend their use.