HIF Image Extensions 1.2.57.0

Copy photos off a Canon, Sony or Fujifilm camera and some of them may end in .hif instead of .jpg.

Windows shows those files as blank icons until two free Microsoft add-ons are installed.

This page holds the first of them, the HEIF image package, and points to the second so your camera photos open in File Explorer and Photos like any JPEG.

What a .HIF File Actually Is

A .hif file is a HEIF photo, the same family of format that iPhones save as .heic. Cameras use a variant that keeps 10-bit colour, which holds smoother skies and more highlight detail than an 8-bit JPEG.

Canon cameras such as the EOS R5, EOS R6 and 1D X Mark III write it when HEIF or HDR capture is switched on. Several Sony and Fujifilm bodies offer a HEIF setting that saves the same .hif files.

Our guide What is HIF? Understanding Canon's Format vs HEIF and HEIC goes deeper into how the three names relate.

Why There Is No Separate HIF Extension

Microsoft does not make an add-on called HIF Image Extensions. The file on our download page is Microsoft's HEIF Image Extensions package, the one that reads .heic, .heif and .hif alike.

So if you already installed it for iPhone photos, you have it. The HEIF Image Extensions page carries the full install and troubleshooting walkthrough.

The Two Pieces Your Camera Photos Need

• HEIF Image Extensions. It reads the .hif container and hands the picture to Windows.
• An HEVC decoder. The picture inside is HEVC-compressed, so nothing appears until a decoder is installed.

The Store edition of the HEVC decoder costs money, but the Device Manufacturer edition is the same decoder at no cost. Its current build needs Windows 11, and our guide to getting the HEVC extension free covers Windows 10.

Once both are in, restart File Explorer from Task Manager so the thumbnails redraw. The photos then open in Microsoft Photos and any other app that uses the Windows image system.

When a .HIF Still Will Not Open

Camera HEIF files are more demanding than iPhone ones, and some 10-bit files from certain bodies still show errors or odd colours in Windows apps. Photographers report the same gaps in several desktop editors, so the fault is not always on your PC.

The reliable fallback is your camera maker's own software. Canon owners can use Digital Photo Professional, which reads Canon's .hif files and exports JPEGs.

For a brand-neutral viewer, XnView opens HEIF through its own decoder rather than relying on Windows. How to Open and View HEIF Images walks through the other options.

If an earlier install has gone wrong, How to Uninstall HEVC and HEIF Extensions shows how to remove both and start clean.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If your files end in .heic and came from an iPhone, this is the right package but the wrong page. The HEIF Image Extensions page is written for that case.

If your camera files end in .cr3, .arw or .raf, those are RAW files, not HEIF. The Raw Image Extension handles their thumbnails instead.

Fujifilm shooters editing RAW can also use Fujifilm X RAW Studio, and darktable is a free editor for RAW files from every major brand.

Converting .HIF Photos to JPEG

JPEG is still the safest format for sharing, printing or uploading to sites that refuse HEIF. XnConvert converts whole folders at once.

GIMP opens HEIF files for editing and can export them as JPEG or PNG.

For quick viewing without editing, IrfanView and ImageGlass are both light and free.

The rest of the lineup is in our image viewers category, and How to Open HEVC, HEIC and HEIF Files maps which add-on opens which file.

Quick questions

More photo tools sit in our Graphics section.

Download HIF Image Extensions 1.2.57.0 and see how it handles your camera files, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.