For some reason, Windows doesn’t come with the ability to open HEIC files by default. If you try to open with the default Photo viewer, you’ll be greeted with
Clicking on the “Download and install it now.” link will take you to the Microsoft Store. Unfortunately, you are no long presented with a free option and it will cost you $0.99 to purchase the codec licensing for Windows.
I bit the bullet, paid the $0.99 (plus tax), and installed HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store.
One at a time please...
If you want to just convert a single photo at a time, you can now do this from the Windows Photos app. Simply open up the photo you wish to convert, right click and select “Save As”. When the save box appears, select the correct format, give it a new name (if you wish) and hit save!
Multiple Files at once
If you have a bunch of images that you want to convert all at once, give FastStone Photo Resizer a try, it’s free for personal use and pretty easy to use. After you install it, open up the program and then browse into the directory that contains the photos to be converted. You can add one file at a time from the left hand side by highlighting the file and then selecting the “Add” button OR click the “Add All” button to move all images from the left side of the screen to the right side for conversion. If you wish to specify a different output folder for the converted files, you may do so towards the bottom right of the screen by checking the “Output Folder” checkbox then browsing to the correct folder.
If you would like to tweak the settings for the output format, click the “Settings” button next to the Output Format area.
There are also other options that you can set for renaming and such. Once you are happy with your settings, click the “Convert” button and let it roll!