How to AirDrop photos as JPG instead of HEIC

You AirDrop a photo from your iPhone to your Mac, go to upload it somewhere, and it's a .heic file the website won't take. Or it's headed for a Windows laptop that can't open it. If you want to AirDrop photos as JPG instead, there are two fixes on the iPhone: one setting that makes every new photo a JPG, and a quick trick for photos you've already taken. There's also an easy fix on the Mac when the HEIC has already landed.

Why your AirDropped photos come through as HEIC

iPhones save photos as HEIC by default, because it takes up a lot less space than JPG for a photo that looks the same. Your Mac and iPad open HEIC just fine, so AirDrop hands the photo over as it is. The trouble starts at the next step, when the photo leaves Apple's world: an upload form, an older app, a Windows PC.

So "AirDrop as JPG" really means one of two things: make the iPhone save JPGs in the first place, or make a JPG copy before you send.

Make every new photo a JPG

This is the setting to change if you send photos to non-Apple places all the time.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap Camera.
3. Tap Formats.
4. Tap Most Compatible.

That's the whole high efficiency vs most compatible choice: High Efficiency saves HEIC (and smaller videos), Most Compatible saves JPG (and videos that play on more devices).

Two things to know before you flip it:

• It only changes photos you take from now on. Everything already in your Photos library stays HEIC, and AirDrops as HEIC. For those, use the trick below.
• JPGs take more room. If your iPhone is nearly full, or you shoot a lot, you'll notice. If you only need a JPG now and then, leave the setting alone and use the trick instead.

AirDrop one photo as a JPG

For a photo you already took, make a JPG copy in the Files app and send that.

1. Open Photos and open the photo you want to send.
2. Tap the Share button, then Copy Photo.
3. Open the Files app and go to a folder, for example On My iPhone. To make a new one, tap the three dots at the top and choose New Folder.
4. Press and hold an empty spot in the folder, then tap Paste.
5. The pasted copy is a JPG. Tap it, tap Share, then AirDrop, and pick the device.

Your original photo stays as it was in Photos, still HEIC, so nothing in your library changes. Once you've sent the copy, you can delete it from Files.

Already got a HEIC on your Mac?

If the photo has already landed, you don't need to send it again. Convert it on the Mac.

One photo: open it in Preview, choose File > Export, set Format to JPEG, and click Save.

A bunch at once: select them in Finder, right-click, and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. Pick JPEG as the format and click Convert to JPEG. You get JPG copies next to the originals.

The same goes the other way round. If you're sending from a Mac to someone who needs JPG, convert the photo first, then right-click the JPG and choose Share > AirDrop.

Need a PDF, not a JPG?

Sometimes JPG is just a stepping stone. The insurance portal, the school form or the job application actually wants a PDF, and you were going to convert the photo twice.

Skip the JPG. Drop the HEIC on our HEIC to PDF page and you get a PDF back, even in a browser that can't open HEIC files. It takes .heic and .heif photos, one at a time, and downloading the PDF needs a free account. What the tool does and its limits are on the HEIC to PDF help entry, and there's a longer walk-through in how to convert HEIC to PDF.