You can't put a movie in a spreadsheet. Excel would cry.
Learn why HEIC to TXT doesn't work and discover the right alternatives.
← Back to Converter💭 Let's Be Real...
Converting HEIC to TXT is like trying to fit an ocean into a coffee cup. Your HEIC contains compressed images. TXT is designed for rows and columns of data. These things are not compatible, no matter how much you believe in them. It's like asking a filing cabinet to play music - fundamentally the wrong tool for the job.
🔍 Understanding the Formats
What is HEIC?
HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) - HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) uses HEVC (H.265) video codec compression for still images. The format achieves approximately 50% file size reduction compared to JPEG at equivalent quality levels. HEIC supports 16-bit color depth, transparency, animation sequences, and multiple images within a single container file. The format is part of HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) standard specified in ISO/IEC 23008-12. HEIC enables non-destructive editing through edit lists and supports advanced features like depth maps and auxiliary images. Primary adoption is within Apple ecosystem (iOS, macOS) with limited native support on other platforms. Patent licensing requirements restrict widespread implementation across all devices and operating systems.
What is TXT?
TXT (Plain Text) - TXT (Plain Text) stores raw character data without formatting, styling, or metadata. Text encoding is typically ASCII (7-bit, 128 characters) or UTF-8 (variable-width, backward-compatible with ASCII, supports full Unicode character set). Plain text files are used for source code, configuration files, documentation, system logs, and scripts. The format has no compression, no proprietary specifications, and no version dependencies. TXT files can be opened by any text editor across all operating systems and platforms. File size is determined solely by character count and encoding scheme used.
❌ Why This Doesn't Work
HEIC is a image format containing compressed images. TXT is a text format for structured data - numbers, text, formulas. Media doesn't fit into cells. It just doesn't. While you could extract metadata (file properties) or analyze media (like audio frequencies or image histograms), that requires specialized analysis software, not file conversion.
🔬 The Technical Reality
HEIC media stores massive amounts of continuous binary data. Audio example: a 3-minute MP3 at 44.1kHz = 7,938,000 samples. Image example: a 1920×1080 PNG = 2,073,600 RGB pixels = 6,220,800 individual color values. Video example: a 10-second 1920×1080 MOV at 30fps = 300 frames = 622,080,000 pixels total. TXT spreadsheets have hard limits (XLSX: 1,048,576 rows × 16,384 columns = 17,179,869,184 cells maximum). A single second of 44.1kHz stereo audio would require 88,200 spreadsheet rows. A 1-second video at 1920×1080 30fps would need 1,866,240,000 cells for RGB data. These numbers exceed practical usability without specialized metadata extraction or AI analysis tools.
🤔 When Would Someone Want This?
People search for HEIC to TXT conversion when they want to extract metadata, analyze media properties, or catalog media files. Photographers might want EXIF data from images. Audio engineers might want frequency analysis. Video editors might want frame-by-frame data. However, this requires specialized analysis tools that extract specific information from media - not simple file converters that change formats.
⚠️ What Would Happen If We Tried?
If we forced this, what would even go in the spreadsheet? Pixel values? Audio samples? You'd end up with millions of numbers that mean nothing to a human. It would be like trying to read The Matrix. Possible? Technically. Useful? Absolutely not. A single second of audio at 44.1kHz would create 44,100 rows. A 1920x1080 image would need 2,073,600 cells for RGB values. Your spreadsheet would explode.
🛠️ Tools for This Task
**Best for metadata:** ExifTool (images/video), MediaInfo (all media types). **Best for audio analysis:** Audacity, Sonic Visualiser. **Best for image analysis:** ImageJ, GIMP histogram. **Best for video data:** FFmpeg, MediaInfo. **Best for programmatic extraction:** Python librosa (audio), OpenCV (images/video). Choose based on data type: metadata for file properties, analysis tools for content properties, programming libraries for bulk processing.