Windows 11 Photos Adds Native iPhone HEIC Support Without a Paid HEVC Codec

What's actually changing​

On October 15, 2026, Microsoft announced a redesigned Photos experience on the Windows Experience Blog. Vice President Giorgio Sardo described three parts: an all-new Gallery, a native Editor rebuilt in WinUI 3, and a redesigned Viewer. For iPhone users, these are the changes that matter:

• Native HEIC editing and saving. Microsoft says Photos now lets users edit and save HEIC and WebP images in their original format, and it keeps HDR intact while editing.
• Faster HEIC viewing. Pureinfotech, summarizing Microsoft's numbers, reports that the new viewer starts 15 percent faster on average, with improvements of up to 30 percent when opening HEIC images, compared to the previous version of Photos.
• iCloud in the Gallery. The update brings photos from local storage, OneDrive, and iCloud into one place, adds natural-language search, improves editing tools, and better supports modern image formats.

The headline claim is that HEIC files open without buying the HEVC extension. Microsoft's blog post never says this directly, but Neowin says it does happen in the new app. Neowin acknowledges that it's not entirely clear what changed under the hood to make HEIC files work without an additional download. Microsoft hasn't said whether the necessary support is now bundled directly into Photos or handled elsewhere in Windows. In practice, though, HEIC files now just work in the new Photos app without sending you to the Microsoft Store first.

So the change has been seen in Insider builds, but Microsoft hasn't described how it works. That matters for the questions further down.

Section summary: The new Photos app edits and saves HEIC natively and opens it faster. Independent Insider reporting says the Store codec prompt is gone, but Microsoft hasn't said how.

Why the old codec toll existed​

Microsoft's own support documentation explains the old setup. A support page labeled for Windows 10 says that when photos or videos are in HEIF or HEVC format, Photos may show the message "You need an extension to use this file." The quickest fix it lists is to install two Microsoft Store packages:

The page says you need both, even if you only want photos and never videos, and that you should restart Photos after installing them. It also lists two workarounds: let the phone convert files to a more common format during transfer or email, or upload the photos to OneDrive and let it handle conversion.

The reason a photo needed a video codec is that HEIC stores the image as HEVC-compressed data. That's how iPhones get smaller files at similar quality. HEVC carries patent licensing costs, which is generally understood to be why Microsoft charged a small fee for the decoder instead of shipping it free. That last point is industry context; Microsoft didn't say it in this announcement.

One correction to the "everyone always had to pay" version of events: Microsoft's support page describes a situation where you might see the prompt, not a rule for every machine. Some PCs had the HEVC extension preinstalled by the manufacturer, and many iPhone owners never saw a HEIC file because the phone converted to JPEG on transfer. The toll was real, but it didn't hit everyone.

Section summary: The old fix was a free HEIF extension plus a $0.99 HEVC extension. Not every PC needed it.

Rollout: who gets it, and when​

This is not available on every PC yet. Microsoft began rolling out the new Photos experience to Insiders on October 15, 2026. The company plans to expand availability to all users later in 2026, but it has not provided a specific public release date. Tbreak put it simply: if you're not on the Windows Insider programme, there's nothing to download yet.

Admin365.Blog has published a more detailed timeline that names October 26, 2026 as the expected start of expansion to retail Windows 11 users and mid-December for completion. Microsoft's own announcement does not include those dates, so treat them as reported expectations.

Microsoft's support page has a simple way to tell if you have the new app: the Photos icon changes once the updated experience reaches your device.

A note for IT admins​

The new Gallery runs as a different package. Admin365.Blog reports that in Insider builds the new Photos app is the OneDrive Photos package, Microsoft.OneDrive.Photos, and that the existing Photos app is being renamed Photo Viewer for opening and editing single images. The blog also warns that these package and naming details come from Insider builds and may change before general availability.

Microsoft's support documentation confirms several points that matter for managed fleets:

• AppLocker: If your packaged-app rules block Microsoft Photos and you want them to keep doing so, add Microsoft.OneDrive.Photos to the rules.
• DisableStoreApps: The update won't install on devices where this policy turns off Store-originated apps. Those machines won't get the new HEIC behavior either.
• OneDrive policies: DisablePersonalSync blocks sign-in with personal OneDrive accounts. DisableNucleusSync blocks every OneDrive account in Photos. Neither stops people from using Photos with local files.
• Work or school accounts: Users get Gallery, file-name and tag search, Favorites and local folders. Albums, Moments and People are for personal accounts only.

Microsoft says most organizations won't need new configuration. Still, if you blocked Photos on purpose, review those rules before the update arrives.

Section summary: Admins should check AppLocker rules for the new package name and be aware that DisableStoreApps keeps the update, and its HEIC behavior, off affected PCs.

How to check HEIC support on your PC​

Once the update reaches your machine:

• Confirm you have the new app. Open Start, type Photos and launch it. Look for the updated icon.
• Open a local HEIC file. Use a .heic file stored on the PC, not one in a cloud-only folder, so you're testing local decoding rather than a cloud preview.
• Check for the extension prompt. If the image opens without "You need an extension to use this file," the new behavior is working.
• Test editing. Make a small crop and save it. Microsoft says the file should stay in HEIC format.
• If it fails: you probably don't have the new app yet. Microsoft's documented fallback still applies: install HEIF Image Extensions and HEVC Video Extensions from the Store, convert on transfer, or use OneDrive.

If your iPhone photos sit in iCloud, Microsoft's support page describes the setup. In Photos, go to This PC, then iCloud Photos. Install iCloud for Windows from the Store when prompted, sign in with your Apple Account, and turn on Photos in the iCloud app.

What this doesn't (yet) cover​

The report that started this story goes further than the evidence in a few places:

• File Explorer thumbnails and preview pane. Microsoft says opening an image from File Explorer launches the new Viewer. It hasn't said that Explorer's own thumbnails or preview pane decode HEIC without the codecs. If the decoding lives inside Photos rather than in Windows' shared imaging components, Explorer may still show blank icons.
• HEVC video. Native HEIC photo support does not mean HEVC video plays without the extension. Microsoft's support page treats HEIF photos and HEVC videos as related but separate cases, and nothing in the announcement says HEVC video playback is free now. iPhone videos may still need the codec.
• Third-party apps. Other apps that relied on the Store codecs gain nothing unless Microsoft changed something at the system level, and Microsoft hasn't said whether it did.
• Performance figures. The 25 percent Editor-launch improvement and the up-to-30-percent HEIC Viewer improvement come from Microsoft's controlled tests against Photos version 2026.11060 on x64 and ARM64 devices. Microsoft says actual results vary by device and configuration.

The bigger picture​

The new app isn't getting universal praise. BigGo notes that the Gallery is a WebView2 web wrapper, while the Editor and Viewer are native. It adds that whether the gallery's web-based architecture undermines those gains for the users who care most about responsiveness remains an open question. The OneDrive-centered Gallery also suggests Microsoft wants your photo library in its cloud, though local-only use still works without signing in.

The HEIC change itself is a clear improvement. A lot of Windows users carry iPhones, and asking them to buy a codec to see their own photos was a strange bit of friction. If the general rollout matches what Insiders are reporting, double-clicking an iPhone photo should simply open it.

The remaining questions are whether that support extends to File Explorer and whether iPhone videos stay behind the codec paywall. Until Microsoft says more, Insiders are the best people to test it.

Correction (October 25, 2026): The 'Performance figures' note previously described the 25 and 30 percent figures without saying what each measures. The 25 percent figure is the Editor's launch improvement; the Viewer starts 15 percent faster on average and opens HEIC images up to 30 percent faster.