Last Updated on May 30, 2023 by

 Otherwise HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format), is a new image file format that Apple announced when it released the ions 11 platform in 2017. Apple established this new format to replace JPEG on its phones. Windows hasn’t fully adopted Apple’s new image format yet, so its native apps don’t fully support HEIC by default.

However, you can still open HEIC images within Windows with some additional software. This is how you can open HEIC files on Windows without converting them to alternative formats. Five ways to open HEIC files on Windows

Add HEIC Image Extensions to Windows

If you really need to open HEIC images with the default Win 10 Photos app, check out HEIC Image Extensions. That installs the necessary codec’s to open the new image format in Photos.

Click the Get button on the app’s MS Store page to download and install Image Extensions. Since HEIC uses the HEVC codec, you must also install convert heic to jpg  Check out Copy Trans HEIC for Windows

Copy Trans HEIC is a Windows plug-in that allows you to open HEIC images on Windows 10, 8 and 7. With this software installed, you can open HEIC images with the native Windows photo viewer by double-clicking in File Explorer.

Additionally, the software extends support for the format to MS Office applications so you can insert HEIC images into Word and Excel documents or PowerPoint presentations.

All you really need to do is install Copy Trans HEIC.

 Click the Download button on the Copy Trans HEIC webpage to save the software setup wizard. Then open the installer to add the software to Windows, and voila, you can open HEIC files within the platform’s native applications! Preview HEIC Images in Drop box

You don’t necessarily need to open HEIC with photo viewers. Drop box is one of the cloud storage services that supports Apple’s new file format. Therefore, Drop box users can upload HEIC images from Apple ion 11 devices and preview them in their Windows browsers. Once you’ve uploaded the file to Drop box, select the image and click the eye icon to preview it.

4. Open HEIC Images with File Viewer Plus

Some third-party software for Windows supports the HEIC format. File Viewer Plus is universal file opener software with which you can open HEIC photos. FVP is a bit more than just a file viewer, as it includes some editing options to adjust photos. The full version of the software is currently being sold at a discounted price of $29.95.

You can add File Viewer Plus to Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 by clicking Free Trial on the software’s website.

Open the FVP setup wizard to install the software.

When you have installed FVP, open the software window.

After opening the file, you can click the Edit tab to select more editing options to resize and adjust the images and add effects to them. Open HEIC Images with Apowersoft Photo Viewer

Apowersoft Photo Viewer is a third party photo viewer that supports HEIC file format. The software is compatible with Windows 10, 8 and 7. You can install it by clicking the Download Desktop Version button on the software website.

After installing the software with its setup wizard,

Button at the top of the Apowersoft photo viewer window; and select the Open option. You can then choose a HEIC image to open within the software.

This is how you can add HEIC support to Windows or open the files with third-party alternative software. Now you can transfer HEIC photos from your Apple devices directly to Windows without the need for any file conversion software.

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