You have an HEVC file and Windows will not cooperate - wrong app, black screen, or no thumbnail at all. Two minutes fixes almost all of it.
HEVC - also called H.265 - is the compression behind most modern video and every iPhone photo. It halves file sizes, which is why phones and cameras adopted it so fast.
Windows does not include the decoder. That single fact causes every symptom on this page.
Two routes, and you only need one. Install VLC, which carries its own HEVC decoder and needs nothing else. Or add HEVC to Windows itself with the free extension - press Win + R and paste ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n4wgh0z6vhq. VLC is faster; the extension also fixes Photos, Movies & TV and File Explorer thumbnails.
The free extension nobody can find
Microsoft publishes two identical HEVC extensions. One costs $0.99. The other - HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer - is free, because device makers already paid the H.265 licence fee.
Same files, same decoder, same publisher. The free one simply is not searchable in the Store, so you have to open it by direct link:
ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n4wgh0z6vhqPaste that into Win + R and the Store opens on the product page. Click Get. Our HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer page tracks the current version if you would rather see it first.
Which problem do you actually have?
The symptoms look similar and the causes are not. Find yours here, then go straight to the fix:
| What you are seeing | What it means, and where to go |
|---|---|
| Black or green screen, audio but no picture | The decoder is missing or failing. Install the extension above, or use VLC. If it persists, the cause is usually drivers - see HEVC video that will not play |
| Opens in the wrong app, or asks every time | A file association problem, not a codec one. HEVC hides in four different extensions and Windows treats each separately - see setting HEVC file associations |
| The extension will not install | Usually winget failing with "No package found". The files are often already on your PC and only need registering - see installing HEVC extensions when winget fails |
| "Missing codec... 0xc00d5212" | Windows Media Player's way of saying it cannot decode HEVC. Installing the extension above resolves it |
| Blank thumbnails on .heic photos | That is the image side of the same codec, and it needs a different extension - see opening and viewing HEIF images |
| Nothing above fits | The free Codec Finder checks what your PC can already decode and names what is missing |
HEVC, HEIC, HEIF, H.265 - what the names mean
Four words, two things. Worth thirty seconds, because it tells you which fix you need.
- HEVC and H.265 are the same thing - one codec, two names. HEVC is the marketing name, H.265 the standards name.
- HEIF is the image format built on that codec. HEIC is Apple's name for its own HEIF files. Again, the same thing under two labels.
- So: video problems need the HEVC extension. Photo problems need the HEIF extension. Installing one does not fix the other, which is where most confusion starts.
HEIF images are roughly half the size of an equivalent JPEG at comparable visible quality, and they carry things JPEG cannot - HDR, 16-bit colour, depth data, even short animations. They are still lossy, so they are not free quality; they are better compression.
If you would rather just convert the file
Sometimes the sensible answer is not to fix Windows at all - especially if you are sending the file to someone else, or uploading it somewhere that will reject it.
- In the browser, nothing to install: HEIC to JPG and HEIF to JPEG handle photos without uploading them to a server.
- On your PC: iMazing HEIC Converter is a small free desktop app that converts HEIC to JPG or PNG, and handles batches.
Converting is one-way. Going from HEIC to JPEG discards the extra data - HDR, depth information, and often the metadata - and the file roughly doubles in size. Keep the originals if the photos matter. Convert copies, not your only version.
What about Mac, iPhone and Android?
This is a Windows problem almost exclusively.
macOS has handled HEVC and HEIC natively since High Sierra in 2017 - nothing to install. iPhones create these files, so they open them by default. Android has supported HEVC playback since version 5 and HEIC since version 10.
If you want your iPhone to stop producing files Windows struggles with, go to Settings, Camera, Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos save as JPEG and video as H.264. You lose the space saving - expect roughly double - but the compatibility problem disappears.
Quick questions
Do I have to pay for HEVC support on Windows?
No. The "from Device Manufacturer" extension is free and identical to the $0.99 listing, and VLC decodes HEVC with no extension at all. Paying is optional in every case.
Is HEVC the same as H.265?
Yes - one codec, two names. HEVC is the marketing name, H.265 the ITU standards name. Any tool supporting one supports the other.
I installed the HEVC extension but my .heic photos still will not open. Why?
Because photos need the HEIF Image Extensions, which is a separate package. The video extension does not cover images. Install both if you have iPhone photos and HEVC video.
Why does Windows not just include this?
Licensing. H.265 carries patent royalties, so Microsoft cannot ship the decoder with Windows for free the way it does H.264. Device makers pay the fee for their hardware, which is why the OEM edition can be free.
Will VLC alone be enough?
For playing video, yes. It will not give you thumbnails in File Explorer, or HEVC support in Photos and Movies & TV - those need the Windows extension. If you only want your videos to play, VLC is the whole answer.
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