Compress a HEIC photo
Bring an iPhone photo under a size limit, in a format the other side accepts.
- Private by defaultDeleted within an hour
- Super FastProcess in seconds
- No Sign-upStart instantly
How it works
Add your images
Drag and drop, paste, or pick files. They upload over an encrypted connection.
Pick a quality or a target size
Use the quality slider, or tell it exactly how many KB or MB you need.
Download
Save each file, or grab them all at once as a ZIP.
One thing should be said first, because other pages are vague about it: the result of this page is not a HEIC. We read HEIC and do not write it. What you get is the same photo as a JPG, or as WebP or AVIF if you choose, made as small as you need. In practice that is what people looking to compress a HEIC are after, because the place the photo is going nearly always wants a JPG under some limit.
The page opens in Target size mode with a 1 MB limit. Add a photo and the best-looking JPG that fits under the limit is found for you. Change the number to whatever your form or mailbox allows, from 20 KB upward, and the photo is converted again.
Twenty photos at a time are free with no account. Each is opened by your browser, uploaded over an encrypted connection and compressed on our own servers, and the photos and results are deleted within one hour.
Why converting alone does not make a HEIC smaller
HEIC is one of the most efficient photo formats in use. An iPhone photo of twelve megapixels is about 2 MB as HEIC, and the same photo as a JPG of equal quality is 3 to 4 MB. A plain conversion therefore makes the file bigger, which surprises people who convert first and check the size afterwards.
A smaller file has to come from somewhere else: a lower quality setting, fewer pixels, or both. Target size mode chooses for you. It lowers the quality as far as needed, and when quality alone cannot reach the number it reduces the dimensions in steps. The result shows the size reached and the final width and height.
Getting a better picture out of the same limit
You can usually beat the automatic result by making one decision yourself. If the photo will be viewed on a screen, set Resize to 2000 pixels on the long side before the search runs. A 1 MB budget spread over three megapixels gives a far cleaner picture than the same budget stretched over twelve.
The 48-megapixel photos of recent Pro models benefit most. Safari on a Mac passes them on whole, while an iPhone or iPad opens them at about 16 megapixels, the most its browser can draw. No ordinary limit can hold that many pixels at a decent quality anyway, and nobody receiving the photo can use them. For a strict limit such as 200 KB on an application form, enter the pixel dimensions the form asks for as well, and crop to the subject first.
Staying small in a modern format
If the destination is a website or a current app, and not an upload form from another decade, you do not have to fall back to JPG. Choose AVIF in the Format menu. It is built on the same generation of technology as HEIC, so at a comparable quality the file is about the size the phone stored, and unlike HEIC it is displayed by every current browser. WebP sits between the two, a little larger and accepted in more places.
And if the real problem is a full phone, compression is the wrong tool. Leave the originals where they are and let the phone's own storage optimisation move them to the cloud.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get a HEIC file back?
No. This site reads HEIC and does not write it. The compressed photo is a JPG by default, or WebP or AVIF if you choose one of those.
Why is my JPG larger than the HEIC I uploaded?
That happens when the limit you set is above the HEIC's own size. JPG needs more bytes for the same quality. Set a lower target, or choose AVIF.
Can I set an exact limit, such as 500 KB?
Yes. Pick it in the Target size menu, or choose Custom and type any number. The result is always at or under it.
Will the photo stay upright?
Yes. The orientation the iPhone recorded is applied to the picture before it is saved.
Is the location removed?
Yes, always, with the other camera data. That also saves a few kilobytes of the allowance.
Can I compress several HEIC photos to the same limit?
Yes. The target applies to each photo separately, so every file in the batch ends up under it.
Can I use this page in Chrome?
On an iPhone or iPad, yes: every browser there uses Apple's engine, which opens HEIC. On a Mac use Safari. Chrome on Windows, Linux and Android cannot open HEIC, and the page says so as soon as you add a photo.