Forum Discussion
HEIC image extension not working on Windows 11, are there any heic extension alternatives?
I had the same issue—my HEIC photos suddenly stopped opening on Windows 11, showing "Unable to open this file." Reinstalling HEIF Image Extensions didn’t help, and paying for HEVC Video Extensions is just absurd!
I found a better solution—TuneBro HEIC Converter. It opens HEIC files without extra extensions and allows batch conversion to JPG/PNG with no quality loss. No more Windows HEIC headaches—highly recommend!
I followed this tutorial: https://www.reddiite.com/bulk-heic-to-jpg
HEIC is a high-efficiency image format used by default on Apple devices such as the iPhone. Since the format is based on the HEVC/H.265 coding standard, Windows systems rely on specific codecs to decode and display HEIC files. If you can't open HEIC images in Windows 11 with HEIC Image Extensions, the primary reason is that the following two key components are not properly installed or configured:
Issue 1. HEVC decoder not installed
After installing HEIC Image Extensions, the system prompts “HEVC support is required” or the file still cannot be opened.
Reason: HEVC Video Extensions is the basic dependency of HEIC decoding, but Microsoft does not include it in Windows by default for patent reasons.
Solution: Install the free version of HEVC decoder. On the page that opens, click on the “Get from device manufacturer” button (Internet connection required). Once the installation is complete, restart your computer.
ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n4wgh0z6vhq Issue 2. Wrong installation order
HEIC Image Extensions is installed first, and HEVC decoder is not installed, resulting in functionality failure.
Solution:
- Uninstall HEIC Image Extensions.
- Install HEVC Video Extensions (free or paid version) first.
- Reinstall HEIC Image Extensions.
These are two effective solutions to fix heic image extension not working on Windows 11 or Windows 10. You can also use some heic image extension alternative to convert .heic to .jpeg as JPEG is recognized by Windows OS natively.