Convert HEIC to AVIF
Drop a HEIC file below and get a AVIF back. The conversion happens on your own machine, so nothing is uploaded and there is no size or quantity limit beyond what your browser can hold in memory.
Drop images here
Ctrl/⌘ VPaste a screenshot or copied image
Accepts HEIC
Lower means a smaller file. 75 is a good default for photos.
100% in your browser Files are never uploaded.
Why convert HEIC to AVIF?
Plenty of websites, content management systems and older desktop programs reject HEIC uploads outright. AVIF is accepted just about everywhere, and that alone accounts for most of these conversions.
Both formats are lossy. Every re-encode discards a little more detail, so it is worth starting from the original rather than from a copy that has already been through this a few times.
These two formats are closer relatives than any other pair on this site. HEIC wraps still images in the HEVC video codec; AVIF does the same thing with AV1. Same idea, same generation, comparable efficiency — which makes this the one route off HEIC that costs you almost nothing in file size. What differs between them is not really technical.
Before you convert
The real difference is licensing, not quality
HEVC carries patent licensing obligations, which is the reason HEIC support is patchy outside Apple's ecosystem and why this converter can read HEIC but not write it. AV1 was built by an industry alliance specifically to be royalty-free, and that is why AVIF ended up in every major browser while HEIC did not. If you have wondered why a format that is technically excellent never became universal, that is the answer.
Expect the file size to stay in the same ballpark
Unlike HEIC to JPEG, which roughly doubles the file, this conversion lands close to where it started. AVIF is competitive with HEIC and sometimes ahead of it. If your motivation for leaving HEIC was compatibility with browsers rather than with desktop software, this route gets you there without paying for it in bytes.
Encoding takes noticeably longer
AV1 compresses well by searching hard, and that search costs time — a large photo can take several seconds in the browser where JPEG would take milliseconds. Converting a whole camera roll is a matter of minutes rather than moments. The container extras, meanwhile, still do not come along: burst sequences, depth maps and the moving half of a Live Photo have nowhere to land in a single-image AVIF.
What carries over
- Nearly all the compression efficiency
- Transparency and high bit depth
- Capture time, GPS, camera settings
What does not
- Burst sequences and depth maps
- The moving part of a Live Photo
- Fast encoding
HEIC vs AVIF at a glance
| Property | HEIC | AVIF |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Typical file size | 50-60% of an equivalent JPEG | 40-55% of an equivalent JPEG |
| Compatibility | Native on Apple devices; often rejected by web uploads | All current browsers; some older desktop apps lag behind |
| Usually comes from | iPhone and iPad photo libraries | Websites optimising page weight |
Frequently asked questions
Are my HEIC files uploaded anywhere?
No. The decoder and encoder are WebAssembly modules that run inside this page. The network tab may show a codec downloading the first time you use a format, but no request contains your file. On supported browsers, a codec that has already been used is cached so the same conversion can work offline.
Is there a file size or quantity limit?
There is no limit imposed by us. The practical ceiling is your device’s memory, since the image has to be held uncompressed while converting. On a typical laptop, images up to around 100 megapixels convert without trouble.
Will converting to AVIF lose quality?
AVIF is a lossy format, so some data is discarded. At the default quality setting the difference is not visible at normal viewing sizes. If you need an exact copy of the pixels, choose PNG instead.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The same WebAssembly modules run on mobile browsers. Conversion is slower than on a desktop because phone CPUs are weaker, and very large images are more likely to hit memory limits.
Why does my iPhone save photos as HEIC?
Apple switched to HEIC in iOS 11 because it fits roughly the same picture into about half the space of a JPEG. The trade-off is patchy support outside Apple’s own ecosystem, which is exactly why so many uploads get rejected. You can tell the camera to shoot JPEG instead under Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible, at the cost of the space saving.
Where does AVIF actually work?
Every major browser decodes AVIF natively, so it is safe for use on the web. Desktop applications lag further behind — plenty of image viewers and editors still cannot open it. Encoding is also noticeably slower than the other formats here, so expect a large image to take a few seconds.