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How to Reduce HEIC File Size on Mac
Open the HEIC in Preview, choose File > Export, keep the format as HEIC and lower the Quality slider. If the size is still too big, shrink the width first with Tools > Adjust Size. Resizing saves the most.
How do I make a HEIC file smaller and keep it HEIC?
- Open the file in Preview.
- Optional but effective: Tools > Adjust Size…, enter a smaller width, leave Resample image ticked, click OK.
- File > Export…, set Format to HEIC.
- Drag Quality left and watch the estimated size in the dialog.
- Save under a new name.
Keep in mind that HEIC is already an efficient format. The background is in why iPhone photos are HEIC. The wins come from fewer pixels and a lower quality setting, not from a trick.
How much smaller can a HEIC get?
We built a 4032 × 3024 HEIC (869 KB) and re-saved it with sips. The test file is synthetic with smooth content, so a real iPhone photo with fine detail will be larger and compress less dramatically. Use the ratios as a guide.
| Change to the 869 KB HEIC | Result |
|---|---|
| Same pixels, sips quality 70 | 709 KB |
| Same pixels, sips quality 50 | 223 KB |
| Resized to 2016 px wide, default quality | 198 KB |
| Converted to JPEG at sips quality 80 | 1.20 MB |
Two lessons. Quality has a steep middle: dropping from 70 to 50 cut the file by about two thirds, so test a few settings and look at the result at 100%. And turning a HEIC into a JPEG made it bigger, not smaller, which is the usual surprise. Convert to JPEG for compatibility, not for size.
How do I compress HEIC files from Terminal?
sips -Z 2000 photo.heic --out photo-small.heic
sips -s format heic -s formatOptions 60 photo.heic --out photo-q60.heic
mkdir -p small
for f in *.heic; do sips -Z 2000 "$f" --out "small/$f"; doneThe first line resizes to a 2000 pixel long edge and keeps HEIC. The second re-encodes at a chosen quality. The loop does a whole folder into a new one, so the originals stay. Sips quality numbers differ from other apps, so judge by the output size.
Why is my HEIC file still large?
Three common reasons. The photo has fine detail, such as foliage or low light grain, which any encoder struggles with. It is a Live Photo or a burst, which carries extra video or frames. Or the camera is set to capture at full resolution. None of these are fixed by changing format. Resize, or lower quality, and accept some loss.
If the real goal is that someone else can open the file, you want a different fix. See HEIC to JPG on a Mac and why HEIC will not open on Windows.
When is Smol the wrong tool for this?
For a handful of photos, Preview or a sips loop is free and quicker. Smol is not the fastest tool, and it always re-encodes, so it cannot give you a pixel-identical smaller HEIC. If a file must stay exactly as shot, leave it alone.
Smol is worth $29 (once, one Mac) when you have a camera roll to shrink. Drop in a folder of HEIC files, mixed with JPEGs or PNGs if you like, set output to HEIC and a quality, and each file gets a smaller copy beside the original with a _compressed suffix. It can also output JPG or AVIF instead. It runs on your Mac and uploads nothing. By default it resizes to fit inside 2000 × 2000 pixels and strips metadata including location, so turn the resize off if you need full resolution. To get a small JPG, compress with output set to JPG rather than using Convert, which writes a large file. See the best image compressor for Mac or buy Smol.
How we checked this
Created a 4032 x 3024 test HEIC and re-saved it with sips at several qualities and a smaller size on an Apple Silicon Mac, recording byte sizes. Smol facts come from the product fact sheet. Facts last checked . We make Smol, so treat our claims about it with the same care as any vendor’s, and see our editorial policy.
HEIC file size: common questions
Is HEIC smaller than JPEG?
Usually, at similar visual quality, which is why iPhones use it. But conversion can go the other way. In our test, a 869 KB HEIC became a 1.20 MB JPEG at sips quality 80. Converting to JPEG helps compatibility, not file size.
Can I reduce HEIC size without converting to JPG?
Yes. In Preview use File > Export with the format set to HEIC and lower the Quality slider, or resize first with Tools > Adjust Size. From Terminal, use sips with the HEIC format and a quality value. The file stays HEIC.
Does lowering HEIC quality lose detail permanently?
Yes. Re-saving at lower quality discards detail you cannot recover, and repeating it stacks the loss. Always save to a new file and keep the original. Resizing also discards pixels for good, so do not shrink the only copy of a photo you may print.
Why did my HEIC get bigger after exporting?
The export used a higher quality setting than the original, or the source was already heavily compressed. Lower the Quality slider and compare the estimated size to the original. If the new file is larger, keep the original instead.
How do I shrink many HEIC files at once?
Use a loop with sips from Terminal, or open the files together in Preview and use Export Selected Images. For a mixed folder with a right-click shortcut and consistent settings, Smol handles batches in one pass. It writes smaller copies and leaves originals untouched by default.
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