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A
akearneysf
Participant
May 27, 2025
Question

Elements 2025 Does Not Support HEIC files, But Photoshop Does. Incredibly Disappointing. 1*

  • May 27, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 1173 views

I just upgraded to Elements 2025 (for Windows 11) around 10 days ago. One of the reasons for the upgrade was that it was reported that it would support HEIC files from i-Phones (since PSE 2023!). I followed the steps to install the codecs required for HEIC files to be recognized in PSE 2025. I re-installed the HEIF extension file and installed the HEVC Video Extensions ($0.99 from MS Store) without any success with PSE.  I spent an inordinate amount of time troubleshooting this process without success. 

 

Then, I tried the same files on a friend's computer where he has both PSE 2023 and Photoshop installed and found he had the exact same issue with PSE 2023, BUT the HEIC files opened fine in Photoshop! 

 

The Adobe Virtual Assistant confirmed "Photoshop Elements 2025 does not support HEIC files natively, while Photoshop does." It goes on to suggest converting HEIC files to jpegs...this wasn't the answer I wanted having just upgraded with the expectation PSE 2025 did support HEIC.

 

Why does Photoshop support HEIC formats and PSE 2025 does not, given the huge popularity of I-Phones? PSE 2025 is meant to make it easier to work with image files, not create more steps. It's not like PSE is free, Adobe still charge $99 for the package upgrade.

 

C'mon Adobe get it together!

 

 

2 replies

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Greg_S.Community Expert
Community Expert
May 28, 2025

FWIW, I just tried to open some .heic files in both Photoshop CC and Photoshop CC Beta.  On each occassion, the full Photoshop programs crashed.  AFAIK, once you edit a .heic file in Photoshop CC, you cannot save it to the .heic format (on a Windows computer).  That is certainly true in Elements.  It is probably an Adobe/Apple/Microsoft licensing issue.

 

The real problem is that .heic files behave randomly when used with Adobe products on a Windows machine.   My preference would be to never use .heic files on a desktop Windows computer.  But Elements insists on ignoring my iPhone  preference which is to transfer the .heic files with Automatic setting so that they are automatically transferred as jpegs.  Yes, I shoot in heic format to save storage on my phone.  But I have Terrabytes of storage on my computer and have no need to have the compression of .heic files.  I have seen no reliable evidence that the .heic format produces better image quality than jpeg and this format is not recognized by most social media which is where I suspect most iPhone photos end up.

 

So my real question to you, @akearneysf, is why do you need .heic files on your computer and particularly for use with Elements?

A
akearneysfAuthor
Participant
June 3, 2025

Hi Greg,

 

Sorry for late response - your response went into my spam folder where I found it today.

 

To answer your specific question in regard to my use case. I have a pixel 8 phone, but all my family (grown kids, wife etc) all have iphones. When they share photos on google photos of a family event. I sometimes like to download them from google photos and save the photos in my PSE organizer where I've been collecting photos for 20+ years. I could try and get them to export/upload jpegs from their iphones for my benefit, but I might be whistling into the wind.  Now, when I try and import heic files to PSE 2025 organizer I get the error code and am sent on wild goose to download and install heif and Hevc extensions. Both are already installed already.

I appreciate your response,

Cheers,

Andrew

CMass
Community Manager
CMassCommunity Manager
Community Manager
May 27, 2025

Hey @akearneysf, 

Photoshop Elements does support HEIC; however, for Windows users, you will need to follow the steps in this article: https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-elements/using/hevc-decoding-on-windows.html

Also, check out this post: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-elements-discussions/heic-in-photoshop-elements-2024/td-p/14711676 

^CM

    A
    akearneysfAuthor
    Participant
    June 3, 2025

    Hi @CMass ,

     

    Yes, I originally followed the steps in your first link as you'll note from my orginal post. I also read the second post before I posted. There was nothing in the second post that provided more tips to follow besides exporting iphone files as jpegs (not practical for me given I'm importing shared family photos) and secondly to use iMazing Converter (I really don't want to use unknown 3rd party software on my machine if I can help it). I expect to get this functionality from Adobe given I just paid them for it! That second post disappointingly ended with a user Gemknight saying "That's sad. Been about 2 years and releases where the iPhone formats have trouble on the windows install." And that might sum it up, unless you, as an employee of Adobe, have something else I can try.

    Thank you for any help you can provide.

    Andrew

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