HEIF to HEIC Converter

How to Convert HEIF to HEIC Online

1. Upload Your HEIF File: Drag and drop your .heif image or click "Add Files" to browse. Batch conversion is supported — queue an entire camera-roll export at once.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Default keeps the source HEVC stream for a fast, near-lossless container rewrite into the .heic extension. If you do want to re-encode, choose a Quality Preset (Highest, Very High, High, Medium, Low, Very Low, Lowest) or set a target file quality percentage. Both wrappers are HEIF/HEVC under the hood, so a copy-stream pass is the lossless option.
3. Resolution and File Size (Optional): Resize via a resolution preset (144P, 240P, 360P, 480P, 576P, 648P, 720P, 768P, 1080P, 1440P, 2160P, 4320P), scale by percentage, keep the original dimensions, or enter a custom width/height. Target an exact output size in KB or MB, or a percentage of the source size with auto-scale.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and grab the .heic file. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Why Convert HEIF to HEIC?

HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the MPEG-H Part 12 container standard, and HEIC is its most common payload — a HEIF file whose images are encoded with HEVC (H.265). A HEIF can also wrap AV1 (then it's typically named .avif), but in everyday Apple workflows HEIF and HEIC point at the same HEVC-in-HEIF file. The split is in the extension: cameras, Android phones, and some pro tools save as .heif, while iOS, macOS, and the Apple Photos pipeline emit .heic. Converting between them is essentially a remux/relabel when the codec is already HEVC; re-encoding only happens if you change quality, resolution, or trim metadata.

• Apple Photos and iCloud Photo Library — iOS imports .heic natively, but .heif files from third-party cameras or Android phones can land in "Files" instead of the photo library or get flagged as unsupported. Rewriting the container as .heic lets Photos catalogue them with everything else from iPhone.
• AirDrop and Messages — iOS extension-sniffs incoming images. .heic opens straight into the Photos viewer; .heif sometimes routes to Files, breaking the inline preview in Messages and Mail.
• Editing on iPad and Mac — Affinity Photo, Pixelmator Pro, and the macOS Preview HEIF/HEVC pipeline open both, but a few stock filters and the iOS share-sheet workflows recognise only .heic as an image type.
• Camera-to-iPhone tethers — Sony A7-series and Canon R-series mirrorless bodies write HEIF. When syncing to an iPhone via the Camera Connection adapter or a Lightning card reader, the .heic extension keeps the import behaviour identical to iPhone-shot photos.
• Sharing back into Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed — Both apps support HEIF/HEVC, but Lightroom's iOS share extension specifically advertises .heic and a few automation pipelines (Shortcuts, Hazel rules) match on extension first.
• Cross-converting later — Once the file is .heic, downstream pages like HEIC to JPG, HEIC to PNG, or HEIC to TIFF work without any per-file extension fiddling.

HEIF vs HEIC — Format Comparison

In Apple's terminology a HEIC file is "a HEIF file containing one or more images encoded with HEVC." If your .heif source is already HEVC (the common case), converting to .heic is a relabel; if it's AV1, the converter re-encodes to HEVC so the file genuinely matches what .heic consumers expect.

Quality Preset Quick Guide

Pair the preset with a target percentage or exact KB/MB to lock in a specific file size when you need to fit into an upload limit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is converting HEIF to HEIC lossless?

Yes, when the source is already HEVC-in-HEIF (which is the typical case from Sony, Canon, and Apple devices). The default flow rewrites the container header and extension without re-encoding the image data, so pixels are byte-identical. A re-encode only happens if you pick a different quality preset, change the resolution, or the source is AV1-in-HEIF rather than HEVC.

Can I just rename the .heif extension to .heic?

Often yes, but not reliably. Many Apple apps fingerprint the container's ftyp brand (heic, heix, mif1) in addition to the extension; a HEIF file authored as mif1 rather than heic may still be rejected by Photos or the share sheet even after a manual rename. This converter rewrites the brand alongside the extension, which is what most strict consumers actually check.

What's the actual difference between HEIF and HEIC then?

HEIF is the container format (MPEG-H Part 12). HEIC is the convention Apple and most of the industry use for HEIF files whose images are encoded with HEVC. All .heic files are HEIF; not every .heif file is HEIC, because HEIF can also wrap AV1 or other codecs. In practice, when both extensions show up on Apple-leaning workflows the underlying bytes are usually the same HEVC stream.

Will Live Photos and image sequences survive the conversion?

Yes for HEIC-compatible HEIF inputs. The Live Photo motion track lives alongside the still image as a separate item in the HEIF item list, and a copy-stream remux preserves all items. If the source HEIF doesn't include the motion item to begin with (most non-Apple cameras), the output is a still .heic — there's nothing to add that wasn't there.

Why does my Sony or Canon HEIF file open on macOS but not on iPhone?

Newer mirrorless cameras tag their HEIF as mif1 brand without claiming HEIC compatibility, even when the codec is HEVC. macOS Preview is permissive and decodes anything ISOBMFF-shaped; iOS Photos is stricter and wants the heic brand. Converting fixes the brand mismatch without touching the picture quality.

Is the file going to be smaller, larger, or the same size?

Roughly the same on a copy-stream conversion — the HEVC payload is identical, only the container header changes. Differences of a few KB come from metadata blocks, thumbnail previews, or color-profile entries the rewriter normalises. A genuine size change only happens if you also pick a lower quality preset, smaller resolution, or a target file size.

Can I batch convert a whole iPhone export at once?

Yes. Drop multiple .heif files (or a folder, depending on browser support) and the converter queues them. Each output is downloaded individually or you can pull a ZIP of the batch. Your files are uploaded securely and processed on our servers, so even larger DSLR HEIF batches convert without relying on your device's own power.

Should I convert to JPG or PNG instead?

If your target audience is on Windows, older Android, or any non-Apple desktop, JPG remains the safest universal format — most Windows builds before 11 don't decode HEIC without the codec extension. Use HEIF to JPG for that route. PNG is the right pick when you need lossless or transparency support that HEIC's lossy HEVC encode can't preserve. Stick with .heic only when the consumer is Apple-native or specifically expects the extension.