How to Transfer HEIC from iPhone to PC with Ease? (4 Tested Ways)

"I need to transfer iPhone live photos, saved in HEIC, to my Windows PC. When I try to copy the photos in explorer, they get automatically transcoded to JPEG, which I don't want (double lossy compression). How do I access the original photos? I tried Dropbox, which offers the HEIC photos but not the live videos. I also tried Google Photos, which sometimes offers HEIC and sometimes JPEG. Is there a simple non-cloud way?"

- Snow asked in Stack Exchange

Need to transfer HEIC from iPhone to PC to free up more iPhone storage or other purposes? With the help of this step-by-step tutorial, you will find it easy to perform without any difficulties.

Part 1. What's HEIC and Which Devices Support HEIC?
Part 2. How to Transfer HEIC Photos to PC Selectively Using Coolmuster iOS Assistant
Part 3. How to Export HEIC from iPhone to PC via iCloud
Part 4. How to Get HEIC Photos Off iPhone to PC with AirDroid
Part 5. How to Transfer HEIC to JPG on PC via USB Cable

Part 1. What's HEIC and Which Devices Support HEIC?

Before moving on to any steps further, let's get a brief understanding of HEIC files first.

1. What's HEIC?

HEIC is a proprietary image format launched by Apple in 2017, whose full form is High-Efficiency Image Format. Why does Apple introduce the HEIC format? Since HEIC only takes half of a JPEG file's size but maintains the same image quality, iOS users will be less likely to receive the message, "Cannot take photos. There is not enough available storage to take a photo."

2. Which Devices Support HEIC?

By now, only Apple devices support HEIC format, but not all of them. As mentioned above, only Apple devices came out since 2017, say, iOS devices that run iOS 11 or later and Mac with macOS High Sierra or above, support HEIC photos.

Note: If you want to know more about an HEIC file, check here to learn more.

Part 2. How to Transfer HEIC Photos to PC Selectively Using Coolmuster iOS Assistant

Suppose you wish to export HEIC from iPhone to PC selectively. In that case, the best option falls on no others but Coolmuster iOS Assistant. With this software, you will be able to preview all the HEIC photos and other formats and transfer them to your computer in one click.

The highlights of Coolmuster iOS Assistant:

* Selectively export photos and other files from an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch to a computer or the default iTunes backup location.

* Support different image formats, like HEIC, JPEG, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, PEG, etc.

* Import contacts, calendars, and other files from the computer to your iPhone.

* Back up and restore the iOS device in one click.

* Widely compatible with all iPhone models (iOS 15 supported), such as iPhone 13 Pro Max/13 Pro/13/13 mini/12 Pro Max/12 Pro/12/12 mini/SE/11 Pro Max/11 Pro/11/XS Max/XS/XR/X/8/8 Plus/7 Plus/7/6S Plus/6S/6 Plus/6/5S/5C/5/4S/4, etc.

How do I get HEIC off my iPhone to your PC selectively?

Note: Ensure that iTunes or Music can detect your iPhone, or the program may fail to detect it.

1. Install and run the software on your PC.

2. Connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable and hit the Trust option on your iPhone if prompted. Once detected by the program, it will display the following interface.

3. Click Photos on the left panel and find the HEIC photos by checking the format column. Later, tick off the HEIC photos you want to transfer and hit the Export button on the top menu to transfer HEIC from iPhone to PC.

Further reading:

How to Transfer Music from iPhone to Computer Effectively? (4 Tips)

[Fixed] How to Transfer Photo Albums from iPhone 12 to PC with Ease?

Part 3. How to Export HEIC from iPhone to PC via iCloud

Suppose that you use iCloud Photo Library to store your iPhone pictures. In that case, you can download HEIC photos to your PC from the iCloud website.

How do you transfer HEIC to your PC using iCloud?

1. Go to the iPhone's Settings > Camera > Formats > select Automatic under the Transfer to Mac or PC section. Once done, your iPhone will convert HEIC to JPG when transferring them to PC.

2. Connect your iPhone to a stable Wi-Fi network. Now, open Settings > iCloud > Photos > turn on the iCloud Photo Library and My Photo Stream. Then it will sync all your iPhone photos to iCloud.

3. Visit icloud.com from a PC's browser and log in with the same Apple ID and password that you use on your iPhone. Afterward, choose the Photos tab and pick and download the wanted HEIC images to your PC.

See also: Come here to get 6 hassle-free ways to transfer files from Mac to an iPad. Let's take a look.

Part 4. How to Get HEIC Photos Off iPhone to PC with AirDroid

You can also use AirDroid to transfer HEIC from iPhone to PC without compression. Since it does not limit the file format and computer models, you can make the switch seamlessly.

Here's how:

1. Install AirDroid from App Store on your iPhone and sign in with your account and password. After that, launch it and tap Me at the bottom. Then enable the Auto-convert HEIC to JPG files when the receiver does not support the HEIC option.

2. Open the web.airdroid.com from a browser on your computer and log in to your AirDroid account by entering the same email address and password or scanning the QR code.

3. Once finished, tap the My Devices section on your AirDroid client app for iPhone, pick your PC from the list, and tap the attachment icon next to the input field.

4. Pick the Mobile Files option, select the HEIC photos you wish to transfer, and tap the Send button.

5. Wait until the transfer process is complete.

Part 5. How to Transfer HEIC to JPG on PC via USB Cable

Believe it or not, you can also transfer HEIC from iPhone to PC via a USB cable as long as those images are DRM-free.

Let's check how it works:

1. Connect your iPhone to the PC using a USB cable and unlock your iPhone.

2. Open a File Explorer window, tap This PC > double-click your iPhone name under the Devices and Drives option > select Internal Storage > DCIM.

3. After picking the HEIC images you wish to transfer, copy and paste them to your PC desktop.

Conclusion

As you can see, it's easy to transfer HEIC from iPhone to PC. But if you prefer a safe, simple, and reliable method, Coolmuster iOS Assistant will be the best choice. As introduced above, it allows you to preview all iPhone images and select the desired HEIC photos to transfer. Besides, it's the simplest to handle - only one click! Won't you give it a try?

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