How to Download iCloud Photos as JPEG on Windows Computer

What is HEIC image format?

HEIC stands for high-efficiency image coding, which is an efficient format developed by Apple for storing images with high quality. Since the release of iOS 11, Apple has made HEIC the default storage format on iDevices. The best advantage of HEIC is its ability to restore images at half the size of JPEG without compromising image quality, which largely helps to save the device's storage.

TO protect photos from loss, lots of users will backup iPhone photos to iCloud. Naturally, iCloud usually saves your photos in HEIC format if you didn't change the default photos setting. but HEIC’s compatibility with Windows operating systems is still found wanting: you can’t view HEIC images on Windows PC due to its lack of support for HEIC format. This means when you view photos on Windows via iCloud.com, you are actually viewing HEIC images, which can’t be viewed outside iCloud on Windows.

You can keep scrolling to find out how to download iCloud photos as JPEG on both Windows and Mac.

How to Download iCloud photos as JPEG on Windows

What if you want to download iCloud photos in JPEG format instead of its default HEIC format? Please check out the following tips we’ve listed below and learn how to do it.

Way 1. Download HEIC as JPEG on Windows

Downloading iCloud photos as JPEG on Windows is immediately accessible after a few clicks.

The first thing you need to do is to log in to iCloud platform using your Apple ID from the web. Follow the following steps to download HEIC photos as JPEG on Window.

Step 1: Login iCloud.com using Apple ID and authenticate your account.

Step 2: Open Photos App in iCloud from the menu.

Step 3: Select the image you want to download.

As for multiple select, pick up the images you want to download individually while holding down the Ctrl key.

Step 4: Click and hold the download icon for some time after the select, then click the option “Most Compatible” in the notification when it pops out and click Download.

In this way, you can download as many HEIC images as you want in JPEG format on your Windows computer.  

Way 2. Convert HEIC to JPEG/JPG/PNG on iPhone 

Certainly, you can turn off the HEIC feature on iPhone to capture photos saved in the JPEG format by changing the camera capture format settings. The iPhone camera will automatically shoot photos in JPEG format once you’ve changed the settings. However, this move won’t convert the existing HEIC photos to JPEG.

However, downloading HEIC photos in the JPEG format from iCloud.com only works for photos you’ve synced to iCloud and unsteady network connections can often slow down the process. Thus, when it comes to converting the existing HEIC photos to JPEG on your iPhone, you’d better consider converting images from HEIC to JPEG on iPhone using a third-party HEIC converter.

Here we recommend you to try FoneTool, a free offline HEIC converter that enables fast and steady conversion of images from HEIC to JPEG/JPG/PNG. Compared with other third-party HEIC converters, FoneTool stands out among the rest due to the following remarkable qualities:

✌ Offline Convert: Since it’s an offline HEIC converter, it requires no network connection to carry out its task and therefore has faster and steadier performances.
✌ Simple Convert Solution: Its user-friendly interface helps users to get started quickly and makes the conversion process rather smooth.
✌ Batch Convert: It enables users to convert as many images from HEIC to JPEG as possible at one time on PC.
✌ Lossless HEIC Converter: It will retain the image’s original quality as well as its details property.

If you don’t have HEIC images that you want to convert on your computer, make sure to transfer/export them to your computer from iPhone before converting. Skip this step if you already have the target HEIC photos on your computer.

Step 1: Download and install FoneTool.

Step 2: Launch FoneTool and click Toolbox from the left pane > Choose HEIC Converter.

Step 3: Click Add Photos to add in the images you want to convert.

Step 4: On the right side: select JPG format> set Photo quality> select Conversion Speed> choose a storage Path> click Start Converting.

In addition to converting HEIC to JPEG/JPG/PNG with FoneTool, this tool is a good way to manage photos on your iCloud, such as upload, download, delete, etc.. What should you do? Just launch FoneTool to its main interface, go to My iCloud, sign in with your Apple ID, and click Manage iCloud.

Conclusion

In dealing with HEIC’s incompatibility, this passage has listed two options you can take to download iCLoud photos as JPEG on Windows computer as well as on Mac. Besides, this passage also introduces FoneTool, an offline HEIC converter, with which you can easily convert images from HEIC to JEPG on a computer. More than a HEIC converter.

FoneTool also works as an excellent iPhone data manager, which supports iPhone-to-iPhone data transfer without backup as well as data transfer between iPhone and PC.