All about HEIC Files

The HEIC file type is primarily associated with Preview.

HEIC	File extension: HEIC
	File type:	image

What is a HEIC file?

HEIC files mostly belong to Preview by Apple. HEIC files contain one or multiple images saved in HEIF (High Efficiency Image File) format. Each HEIC file serves a container for image metadata, thumbnails, image derivations, auxiliary image items, and an image, or a sequence of images displayed frame by frame (like an animated GIF). The HEIF file format was developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and images HEIF images saved in HEIC files are typically coded using High Efficiency Video Coding. As such, HEIC files are mainly used by Apple products such as iOS 11. Other operating systems including Windows and Linux also support HEIC files. Image processing software that can open images saved in this format include but aren't limited to GIMP, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Preview.

How to open a HEIC file

You need a suitable software like Preview to open a HEIC file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your HEIC file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a HEIC file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online HEIC File Viewer

Choose your .heic file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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How to extract texts from HEIC files or capture a screenshot to PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...

1. To do so, click the "Choose your .heic file to view" button above.
2. Your HEIC file will then be displayed in the browser.
3. Now click on "Save as..." at the top of the page.
4. Then choose the file format (e.g. JPG, PDF, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
5. Your file will be converted and downloaded.

HEIC file format:

If you know the file format, you can also find out how to open or edit the file. A file format is determined by the file extension and signature, so JPEG images have the extension .jpg and the first bytes in the file are ÿØÿ. However, different programs can use the same file extension. Furthermore, a file extension can be renamed incorrectly and double-clicking on it will then display an error when it is opened. If there are problems opening a file, you must first determine the file format used. Below is our analysis of the HEIC files:

HEIC is a very widely used file extension. The file type uses a uniform format that many programs support. But the following two file formats are common:

• 96% of all HEIC files are HEIF bitmap files, which are using the popular MP4 file format. MP4 is a multimedia container format used to store video and audio and allows streaming over the Internet. They consist of illegible, cryptic characters. The files are often between 530 KB and 2 MB in size. The file type is relatively new. The files contain the following words: pict, pitm, infe, hvc1, "hdlr, $dinf, dref, url, ftypheic, iinf, meta and mif1heic. A usual file name is 20180601.heic. These files can be linked to photo, image, phone, lamina, appleimg, dcim, rendered and anime.
• 2% of all HEIC files are using the well-known JPG file format to store the data. JPEG is the standard image format for lossy and compressed image data. The content consists of illegible binary data, which can only be read and interpreted by the associated programs. The file size is in the range of 40 KB to 4 MB. The keywords JFIF and Exif are typical for these files.

The remaining 2% of all HEIC files are different files with different signatures, often, for example, Mac2OSX. Often described as apple, resized, render, plus, size, dokument or passport. Drag & drop your file here to see the file format and a preview of your HEIC file!