Image to HEIF Converter

Convert Image to HEIF Online

Turn JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, TIFF, BMP, or a camera RAW into HEIF — the High Efficiency Image File Format Apple ships as .heic. A HEIF still is an HEVC-intra-coded image that stores roughly the same picture in about half the space of a JPEG, with room for 10-bit color, HDR, and transparency, which makes it a strong pick for shrinking a large photo archive without wrecking quality. The honest catch, covered below: HEIF opens natively only inside Apple's ecosystem and in Safari 17+, so anyone you send it to on Chrome, Windows, or Android often can't view it without installing extra software. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public.

HEIF Format at a Glance

HEIF vs JPEG, WebP, and AVIF

For an efficient image that also opens on the open web, Image to AVIF reaches similar sizes to HEIF while displaying in current Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari; for maximum compatibility on any device, Image to JPG is the safe pick.

How to Convert Image to HEIF

1. Upload Your Image File: Drag and drop or click "+ Add Files" to add one or many images. The converter accepts more than 30 input types — JPG, JPEG, JFIF, PNG, GIF, HEIC, AVIF, WebP, BMP, TIFF, TIF, ICO, PSD, EPS, XCF, and RAW camera formats like CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, DNG, RW2, ORF, PEF, RAF, 3FR, X3F, MRW, DCR, ERF, and MOS.
2. Pick a Quality Preset: Open the options and set "Quality Preset" — it defaults to Very High (Recommended). Because HEIF is lossy, lower presets shrink the file further at the cost of detail; keep it high for an archive copy you plan to keep long-term.
3. Resize or Target a File Size (Optional): Leave "Resolution Percentage" on Keep original, choose a Preset Resolution, or enter a custom Width and Height to downscale — or switch to "Specific file size" to hit an exact upload cap.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and save the .heif file. No sign-up, no watermark.

When NOT to Convert to HEIF

HEIF earns its place when the photos will live and stay on Apple hardware. It is the wrong target in several common cases:

• You'll email, post, or share the image with non-Apple users. A .heif won't preview in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, won't open on most Android phones without an app, and needs codec packs on Windows. Keep JPEG, or convert to Image to AVIF for a smaller file that still displays in current browsers.
• You want maximum size savings with the widest reach. AVIF matches HEIF's efficiency and is far better supported; WebP saves less but opens almost everywhere.
• Your source is an already-compressed JPEG. Re-encoding to HEIF shrinks the bytes but recovers no detail the JPEG discarded — it's a lossy-to-lossy pass.
• You specifically need the iPhone-native flavor. Target Image to HEIC for the .heic extension iPhones and Photos expect, rather than the codec-generic .heif.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won't my HEIF file open on Windows, Android, or in Chrome?

HEIF support is narrow. On Apple devices it's built in from iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra (10.13) onward. On Windows 10 and 11 you need the "HEIF Image Extensions" plus "HEVC Video Extensions" from the Microsoft Store before Photos and File Explorer can open .heic/.heif files, and Android support varies by manufacturer. Among browsers, only Safari 17 and later can display HEIF natively — Chrome, Firefox, and Edge cannot open it at all, which is why global browser support sits near 14%. If the image needs to be viewable outside Apple's ecosystem, convert it back with HEIF to JPG or target a more widely supported format instead.

What's the difference between HEIF and HEIC?

HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the container, standardized as ISO/IEC 23008-12, MPEG-H Part 12, and first published in 2015. HEIC is the specific case where that container holds an image coded with HEVC (H.265) — which is what Apple uses, and why iPhone photos carry the .heic extension. The plain .heif extension is codec-generic. In everyday use the terms are interchangeable, and the files this tool produces are HEVC-coded HEIF images that Apple devices treat the same as .heic. If you specifically want the iPhone-native flavor, use Image to HEIC.

How much smaller will the HEIF file be than the original JPEG?

At similar visual quality, HEIF files are typically about 40-50% smaller than JPEG because the HEVC (H.265) codec compresses more efficiently than JPEG's 1992-era method. In our testing, a 12-megapixel JPEG re-encoded to HEIF at the Very High preset came out roughly half the original size with no visible difference on screen. Heavily detailed photos compress less than flat or smooth ones, so treat the 40-50% range as a guide rather than a guarantee.

Will converting to HEIF improve my image's quality?

No. HEIF is a more efficient, higher-bit-depth format, but it's lossy (HEVC-intra coding, like JPEG), so re-encoding a JPG to HEIF makes the file smaller, not sharper. Any detail a JPEG discarded when it was first saved is gone for good, and HEIF can't bring it back. The real win is storage — roughly the same picture in about half the bytes, plus a 10-bit container that holds up better through future edits.

What input formats can I convert to HEIF?

This is a general image-to-HEIF landing tool, so it accepts more than 30 input types: JPG/JPEG/JFIF, PNG, GIF, HEIC, AVIF, WebP, BMP, TIFF/TIF, ICO, PSD, EPS, XCF, and a wide set of RAW camera formats — CR2, CR3, CRW, NEF, ARW, DNG, RW2, ORF, PEF, RAF, 3FR, X3F, MRW, DCR, ERF, and MOS. Each source is decoded and re-encoded as a HEVC-coded HEIF image at the quality preset you choose. If your originals are specifically JPEGs, JPEG to HEIF covers the same job with JPEG-specific notes.

Does HEIF preserve transparency, HDR, and Exif metadata?

Yes, within the format's limits. HEIF supports an alpha channel, so transparency from a PNG or PSD carries through, and it can store 10-bit HDR and wide (Display P3) color for sources that contain it. It also supports Exif and XMP, so capture data such as timestamp, camera model, orientation, and GPS is preserved wherever the original held it. The embedded color profile carries over too, so a color-managed viewer should show consistent color.

Should I archive my photos as HEIF, AVIF, or WebP?

It depends on where the archive will be opened. HEIF gives the best size-to-quality result inside Apple's ecosystem but is nearly unopenable elsewhere. Image to AVIF reaches comparable sizes and displays natively in current Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari, making it the safer long-term archive for a mixed-device household. WebP saves less space than either but has the broadest reach. Pick HEIF only when every device that will ever touch the archive is Apple-made; otherwise AVIF is usually the better shrink-and-keep choice.

How are my files handled, and are they private?

Your image is uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, converted on our servers, and the files are deleted automatically a few hours after conversion. There's no sign-up, no watermark, and your files are never shared or made public. The practical limit on a very large RAW or PSD is upload size and time on your connection, not any per-file cap — and if you just want to shrink photos without changing format, the Image Compressor keeps them in their original type.