How to Convert HEIC to WebP

Your iPhone saves photos as HEIC. Your website needs images that load fast and display everywhere. Those two facts do not get along: HEIC is excellent at compression but no browser will render it, so the photo has to become something else before it can go online.

Most people reach for JPG. If the destination is a web page, WebP is usually the better answer— roughly 25–35% smaller than an equivalent JPG at the same visual quality, supported by every browser released in the last several years, and it supports transparency, which JPG does not.

Why iPhone photos are HEIC in the first place

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container, storing HEIF images) has been Apple’s default since iOS 11. It uses modern video-codec compression to store a photo at roughly half the size of a JPG with no visible loss — genuinely clever, and the reason a 128 GB phone holds as many photos as it does.

The catch is support. Apple’s ecosystem reads it natively; almost nothing else does. Windows needs a paid codec from the Microsoft Store. No browser displays it. Most upload forms reject it. Sharing a HEIC is how you find out the recipient cannot open your photo.

Convert HEIC to WebP, step by step

1. Open the converter. Go to the HEIC to WebP tool and drop in your .heic or .heif file.
2. Convert. The photo is decoded and re-encoded as a WebP at quality 80 — the setting where the file gets substantially smaller while staying visually indistinguishable from the original for normal viewing.
3. Download the WebP and upload it wherever it is going.

No app to install, no account, and it works from the phone browser — useful, since the photo is on the phone in the first place.

WebP or JPG? Pick by destination

This is the whole decision, and it comes down to what happens to the file next.

• Choose WebPwhen the photo is going on a website, into a web app, or anywhere page-load speed matters. Smaller files, same quality, and Google’s own page experience guidance has been pushing modern formats for years. It also keeps transparency if the image has any.
• Choose JPG when a human is going to receive the file — email it, print it, put it in a document, upload it to a government portal or an older CMS. JPG is understood by literally everything, including software from decades ago. It is the safe default for anything outside a browser.
• Choose PNG only if you need lossless quality or transparency and file size is not a concern. For photographs it produces much larger files than either of the above.

Short version: WebP for the web, JPG for people.

Is WebP actually safe to use now?

Yes, for browsers. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and every current mobile browser all render WebP; Safari was the last holdout and has supported it since 2020.

Outside the browser it is patchier, and that is the real caveat. Some desktop photo viewers, older versions of office software, a few print services and various upload forms still do not accept WebP. So if you are not sure where the file will end up, send a JPG — being 30% smaller is no use if the recipient cannot open it.

What happens to the photo during conversion

• It stays lossy. Both HEIC and WebP are lossy formats, so re-encoding re-compresses the image. At quality 80 the difference is not visible at normal viewing sizes, but it is a fresh compression pass — keep the HEIC original if this is a photo you care about.
• Dimensions are unchanged.A 4032×3024 iPhone photo becomes a 4032×3024 WebP. For a web page that is far more than you need — see below.
• Live Photos become one frame. The still image is converted; the short video attached to a Live Photo is not part of it.
• Bursts and portrait effects. You get the primary image as your phone rendered it, including the depth-effect blur if it was applied.

The step that matters more than the format

Here is the honest truth about web images: choosing WebP over JPG saves you maybe 30%. Resizing saves you 90%.

A modern phone photo is around 4000 pixels wide. A blog post displays it at 800. Serving the full-size file means the visitor downloads roughly twenty-five times more data than their screen can use, and on mobile they pay for it twice — in time and in their data plan.

So after converting, run the file through Image Resizer and bring it down to the size it will actually be displayed at. Then, if you want, squeeze it further with Image Compressor. Both run entirely in your browser, so nothing is uploaded at that stage. How to compress images for the web walks through the full routine.

Converting a whole camera roll

If you are dealing with hundreds of photos rather than a handful, it is worth changing the setting at the source: on your iPhone, Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible makes the camera shoot JPG from then on. It costs you storage, and it does nothing for the photos you already have, but it stops the problem recurring. There is also Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic, which converts on transfer.

Is it private and free?

Browsers cannot decode HEIC at all — it needs the libheif decoder and a licensed codec path — so this converter runs on our secure server. Your photo is uploaded over an encrypted HTTPS connection, converted in an isolated workspace, and deleted automatically the moment the WebP is sent back — nothing is stored, logged or shared. It is completely free: no watermark, no sign-up, no daily limit, and files up to 100 MB per conversion.

Frequently asked questions

Will the WebP be smaller than the HEIC? Usually slightly larger, actually — HEIC is the more efficient format of the two. You are not converting to save space; you are converting so browsers can display the image at all. Compared with JPG, though, WebP is clearly smaller.

Do all browsers support WebP? Yes, every current one. Non-browser software is less consistent, so use JPG when a person rather than a web page is receiving the file.

Will I lose quality? A small amount, since it is a re-encode between two lossy formats. At quality 80 it is not visible at normal viewing sizes. Keep the original if the photo matters.

Can I convert several photos at once?The tool handles one file per conversion. For a whole camera roll, switching your iPhone to “Most Compatible” is the better fix.

Does it work from my iPhone? Yes. Open the tool in Safari, pick the photo and the WebP downloads to Files — no app required.

What about .heif files? Same format, different extension. Both are accepted.

Is EXIF data kept? Assume it is not preserved. If you need the original capture date, location or camera settings, keep the HEIC — and remember that stripping location data is often what you want before publishing a photo online.

Can I convert WebP back to HEIC? There is no good reason to. HEIC exists to save space on your phone; once a photo is out in the world, WebP or JPG is what you want.

Convert your HEIC now

Open the HEIC to WebP converter, drop in your photo and download a web-ready image — free, watermark-free and deleted right after. Sending it to a person instead of a website? HEIC to JPG is the safer choice. And whichever you pick, resize it before it goes on a page.