iPhone Photos Won't Open on a PC? Send Them as JPG

You send vacation photos to a relative on Windows and get back "they won't open." You AirDrop shots to a colleague and their software rejects the files. The photos are fine — they are HEIC, and the receiving end does not speak it. The durable fix is to send JPGs instead.

Why this keeps happening

iPhones shoot HEIC by default. Apple devices handle it invisibly, and iOS even auto-converts in some sharing paths — but not all, and not predictably. Email attachments, cloud links, file transfers, and many chat "document" modes send the original HEIC, and Windows without extra codecs, older Android versions, and lots of desktop software cannot open it.

The reliable fix: convert, then send

1. Open HEIC,JPEG,PDF Media Converter and select the photos you are about to send. A whole album works — see the batch guide.
2. Choose JPEG and tap Convert.
3. Share the converted copies straight from the app — AirDrop, Email, Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram — or save them to Files/Google Drive and attach from there.

Because you converted first, it no longer matters which sharing path you use or what the recipient's device supports. JPG opens everywhere: every Windows version, every Android, every browser, every printer kiosk.

Two habits that prevent repeat episodes

• Convert per share, not permanently. Keep shooting HEIC for the storage savings; convert copies at the moment of sending. Originals stay pristine in your library.
• Strip GPS on the way out. The convert screen has the toggle. Photos leaving for other people's devices do not need to carry your coordinates.

If it already went wrong

When someone is staring at unopenable files right now, the quickest recovery is on your end: convert the same photos to JPG and resend. Asking a non-technical relative to install HEIC codecs on Windows is technically possible and socially unwise.