iOS devices use a high-efficiency camera capture format for image and video content. If you have ever tried transferring pictures and video files from an iPhone or iPad to a Windows PC, you will see a lot of peculiar files in HEIC and HEVC file formats. HEIF (High-Efficiency Image Format) is a file type for photos used by iPads and iPhones with iOS 11 and iOS devices that support A9 processors or newer versions. Apple has chosen HEIC as a file format for the new HEIF standard and HEIC is essentially a file extension that keeps HEIF images intact. In other words, HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding) is a default high-efficiency camera capture format for iOS11 video content and HEIF. HEIC extension is a default high-efficiency camera capture format for iOS 11 image content.
HEIF is an image and video file container that uses the HEVC codec to improve image quality and file compression. Using HEIC files has a wide range of benefits, unlike older formats like PNG or JPEG. HEIC files provide a user the benefit of storing multiple photos in a single file, support transparency, and have half the size of JPEG files for almost the same quality. In addition to that, the HEIC files are excellent for storing edited images and undoing edits whenever required. It also supports 16-bit color, unlike JPG, which supports 8-bit color.
Earlier in Windows, it was not possible to open and view a HEIC file directly on a Windows PC as the Windows photo editor did not support or recognize them. However, users could make use of third-party free apps or an online converter to convert HEIC files to JPG or PNG files to view the HEIC files on a Windows PC. Users could also convert.HEIC files to JPEG by making use of a cloud provider like Google Drive, which can automatically convert all the HEIF/HEIC files stored in cloud storage into .JPEG extensions.
However, things have changed since the April Update, as Windows has finally allowed native support for HEIF files on Windows Photos. The feature is not enabled by default, and the Windows Photos app provides a link to a paid extension in the Microsoft store. The extensions are available in the Windows Store, which would cost $1. However, users can get the extensions for free by downloading and installing two extensions from a different store link. Users are required to download the HEIF image extension to open HEIC images and would require an HECV Video extension to open videos encoded using HEVC. Once you install both extensions, Windows will add support for HEIC and HEVC files to Windows. This article explains how to add HEIF and HEVC file support to Windows 11/10.
View HEIC & HEVC files on Windows Photos app
To open the HEIC image, go to the Windows Store link to get the HEIF extension here.
Click on the Install button to install the HEIF codec.
It is important to note that users need to install both the HEIF and HEVC extensions to view images and play videos, as HEIF files with the HEIC file extension are compressed using the HEVC format. It is mandatory to install both extensions, and installing a HEIC file extension alone without the HEVC extension will fail to view HEIC file images.
To get the HEVC extension, use the Windows Store link here.
Click on the Install button to install the HEVC codec.
Once the installation is complete, you will be able to view HEIC and HEVC files on the Windows Photos app. The two extensions allow users to open files using File Explorer, Movies and TV apps, and Windows Photos.
It is worth mentioning that the users will be able to play the HEVC videos smoothly on any Windows PC that supports modern hardware, such as the latest graphics cards and new core processors; otherwise, the quality of the videos will be diminished while playing. If for whatever reason you want to remove the installed codecs, you can uninstall the codecs like you uninstall any other applications from Windows PC.
List of some best free HEIC Viewer software for Windows
XnView, Apowersoft Photo Viewer, Google Photos, Dropbox, CopyTrans HEIC, and HEIF Utility are some of the best free HEIC Viewer software for Windows 11/10 PC.
TIP: You can convert HEIC to JPG and PNG with these free HEIC converter tools.
