HEIF Converter

How to Convert HEIF to Any Format

1. Upload Your HEIF File: Drag and drop your .heif (or .heic) image onto the page or click "Add Files". Batch conversion is supported — drop in a whole folder of HEIF photos and they all convert to the same target.
2. Pick the Image File Extension and Quality Preset: Open the "Image File Extension" dropdown and choose your output — JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF, BMP, GIF, ICO, and more. The "Quality Preset" defaults to "Very High (Recommended)"; lower it to shrink lossy targets like JPG and WebP, or use "Specific file size" to cap the output at an exact MB target.
3. Resize or Set Format-Specific Options (Optional): Under Advanced Options, keep the original resolution, scale by "Resolution Percentage", choose a Preset Resolution, or enter a custom Width × Height (aspect ratio locked). When a target has no alpha channel (JPG, BMP), pick the background color that replaces HEIF's transparency; TIFF exposes DPI and compression type; the "Lossless?" toggle controls whether formats that support it keep every pixel.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. 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.

Popular HEIF Conversions

• HEIF to JPG — the universal fix; opens and shares anywhere
• HEIF to PNG — lossless raster with transparency for editing and design
• HEIF to WebP — small, web-ready, ~96% browser support
• HEIF to AVIF — keep HEVC-class efficiency in a royalty-free, web-supported codec
• HEIF to TIFF — up to 16-bit, lossless, print and archival hand-off
• HEIF to PDF — bundle photos into one portable document
• HEIF to GIF — 256-color graphics and simple loops
• HEIF to BMP — uncompressed bitmap for older Windows tools

Why Convert a HEIF File?

HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is the still-image container standardized by MPEG as ISO/IEC 23008-12 — MPEG-H Part 12 — and finalized in mid-2015. It is a container: it defines how the image data, metadata, depth maps, alpha channels, and thumbnails are wrapped together, while the actual pixel compression is done by a codec stored inside. The codec is usually HEVC (H.265), and a HEVC-coded HEIF is what Apple ships as .heic; the same container can also hold AV1 (that variant is AVIF) or AVC. Apple made HEIC the default camera format in iOS 11 in 2017, and modern Android phones can capture HEIF too, which is why so many photos now arrive in this format.

The problem is reach. Despite compressing roughly twice as efficiently as JPEG and supporting up to 16-bit color with lossy or lossless modes, HEIF has almost no native support outside Apple's ecosystem. Per caniuse, only Safari 17+ decodes HEIF natively — Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and most Android browsers do not, leaving global support around 14%. The licensing cost of the underlying HEVC codec is the main reason the wider web never adopted it. So the file your iPhone took looks fine on your phone and refuses to open almost everywhere else. Converting re-encodes those pixels into a format the destination actually speaks:

• Universal viewing and sharing (JPG) — the safest landing spot. Every browser, OS, photo app, and upload form on earth opens a JPG. You trade HEIF's compression efficiency for the assurance that the file will simply open; for emailing, printing at a kiosk, or uploading to a site that rejects .heic, this is the conversion most people want.
• Editing and transparency (PNG / TIFF) — PNG is lossless with a true alpha channel, which makes it the right intermediate for design tools and screenshots. For print or archival hand-off, TIFF carries up to 16-bit color and DPI metadata so a print shop gets the resolution it expects.
• Keeping efficiency on the web (WebP / AVIF) — if the goal is a small image for a website, WebP has ~96% browser support and AVIF is the royalty-free AV1-coded sibling of HEIF, so you keep HEVC-class file sizes without HEVC's licensing or compatibility problems.
• Legacy and special targets (BMP / GIF / ICO) — some older Windows tools want an uncompressed BMP, a few systems only accept GIF, and ICO is still used for favicons and Windows shortcut icons.

HEIF Compared to Its Common Targets

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between HEIF and HEIC?

HEIF is the container format (ISO/IEC 23008-12); HEIC is one specific use of it. A .heic file is a HEIF container whose images are compressed with the HEVC (H.265) codec — that is Apple's default on iPhones and Macs. The generic .heif extension is used when the file follows the standard without committing to the HEVC labeling. In practice the two are closely related: every HEIC is a HEIF, but a HEIF could in principle hold a different codec, such as AV1 (in which case the file is an AVIF). This converter accepts both .heif and .heic and treats them the same way.

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

Because almost nothing outside Apple's ecosystem decodes HEIF natively. Per caniuse, only Safari 17+ supports HEIF in the browser; Chrome, Firefox, and Edge do not, and Windows needs Microsoft's paid HEVC codec extension to preview .heic files in Photos. That gap exists largely because the HEVC codec inside most HEIF files is patent-encumbered and expensive to license, so browser and OS vendors never built it in. Converting HEIF to JPG or PNG sidesteps the problem entirely — those formats open everywhere with no plugin.

Is HEIF lossy or lossless?

It can be either. HEIF is just the wrapper; the codec inside decides. Most HEIF files from phones use HEVC in a lossy mode (similar in spirit to JPEG but more efficient), but the standard also allows lossless coding, and it supports up to 16-bit color depth versus JPEG's fixed 8-bit. When you convert HEIF to a lossless target such as PNG or TIFF, no further pixels are discarded; when you convert to a lossy target such as JPG or lossy WebP, the "Quality Preset" controls how much compression is applied on output.

Will I lose image quality converting HEIF to JPG?

There are two things happening. First, HEIF stores more color information (up to 16-bit) than JPG can hold (8-bit), so very deep gradients or HDR-style captures lose some of that extra depth in the move to JPG — though for ordinary photos the difference is rarely visible. Second, the JPG encode itself is lossy, controlled by the Quality Preset. Leaving it on "Very High (Recommended)" keeps the result visually indistinguishable from the source for almost every photo. If you need a pixel-faithful copy for editing, convert to PNG or TIFF instead, which are lossless.

Does converting HEIF keep the EXIF metadata and date taken?

For raster targets that support metadata — JPG, TIFF, and PNG — the converter preserves the embedded EXIF where the format allows it, so the capture date, camera model, and orientation carry across. Formats that have no metadata container, like BMP, cannot hold EXIF, so that data is dropped when you convert to them. If retaining the original shot date and camera details matters, JPG or TIFF is the safer target than BMP or GIF.

Should I convert HEIF to WebP or AVIF for my website?

Both keep HEIF's efficiency advantage far better than JPG does. WebP is the conservative choice — roughly 96% global browser support (Safari added it in version 16) and small files with optional transparency. AVIF is the technically closer relative: it is the AV1-coded version of the very same HEIF container, so it preserves HEVC-class compression while being royalty-free and supported in Chrome 85+, Firefox 93+, and Safari 16+. Use AVIF when you want the smallest modern image and your audience is on recent browsers; use WebP when you want the widest compatibility with one file.

Are my uploaded HEIF files private?

Yes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There is no sign-up, no watermark on the output, and files are never shared or made public. In our testing, a typical 12-megapixel iPhone HEIC of about 1.8 MB converts to a "Very High" quality JPG of roughly 2.5–4 MB (JPG is less efficient than HEVC, so the file grows even though the image looks the same), or to a lossless PNG that is considerably larger. Need the reverse direction or a different source image? The universal image converter handles 35+ inputs, and the image compressor shrinks a converted file without changing its format.