I can’t view my phone’s photos on my computer!!

Why your iPhone/Android photos show up as HEIC files

If you’ve transferred photos from your phone to your Windows computer and suddenly see .HEIC files you can’t open, you’re not alone. This happens because:

• iPhones and many Android phones save photos in HEIC/HEIF, a modern, high-efficiency image format.
• Windows can’t open HEIC files by default, so the photos appear unreadable.

The link below from Microsoft explains this in more detail and includes troubleshooting steps:

Upload HEIF and HEVC photos and videos to OneDrive - Microsoft Support

Your Options

Option 1 (Recommended): Install the needed Windows codecs

This lets you keep using your phone’s default settings, and Windows will be able to open HEIC photos normally. These extensions cost a small amount.

• HEIF Image Extension

  https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9pmmsr1cgpwg

• HEVC Video Extension (may or may not be needed depending on your device; this is for viewing video files)

  https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nmzlz57r3t7

Once installed, your computer should open HEIC images without any issues.

Option 2: Change your phone’s camera format

You can switch your iPhone or Android device to use the Most Compatible format (JPEG).

This avoids HEIC files entirely but uses more storage on your phone.

Instructions are included in the Microsoft support article linked above for iOS devices. Android devices are all a bit different, but the process is roughly the same as on the iphone.