Convert HEIC to JPEG XL
Drop a HEIC file below and get a JPEG XL 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 JPEG XL?
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.
This is a conversion between two formats that are both technically excellent and both, for different reasons, awkward to actually use. HEIC is held back by HEVC patent licensing; JPEG XL is held back by browsers taking years to ship it. If you are moving between them, it is almost certainly for archiving rather than for publishing.
Before you convert
JXL's lossless mode is the reason to do this
If the goal is a long-term archive of your photo library, JXL lossless is a strong destination: it preserves every pixel exactly, compresses better than PNG by a wide margin, and is an open standard with no licensing questions hanging over it — unlike the HEVC underneath HEIC. For material you intend to keep for decades, those properties matter more than browser support does.
Almost nothing will open the result today
You are leaving a format that Apple's ecosystem handles natively for one that, as of August 2026, only Safari displays without the user enabling a flag. Chrome shipped a decoder in version 145 but keeps it off by default, with default-on expected later in the year. If you need to view, share or upload these images in the near term, this is the wrong direction — JPEG or WebP are.
The container extras still do not transfer
JXL is a capable format but the conversion produces a single still image, so burst sequences, portrait depth maps and the moving half of a Live Photo are left behind — the same as with every other destination here. If those matter to you, the honest answer is to keep the HEIC originals alongside whatever you convert to.
What carries over
- Every pixel, if you choose lossless
- Capture time, GPS, camera settings
- An open format with no licensing questions
What does not
- Practical viewability, for now
- Burst sequences and depth maps
- The moving part of a Live Photo
HEIC vs JPEG XL at a glance
| Property | HEIC | JPEG XL |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Typical file size | 50-60% of an equivalent JPEG | 45-60% of an equivalent JPEG |
| Compatibility | Native on Apple devices; often rejected by web uploads | Safari and recent Chrome; still uncommon elsewhere |
| Usually comes from | iPhone and iPad photo libraries | Long-term archives and photography workflows |
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 JPEG XL lose quality?
JPEG XL 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.
Is JPEG XL ready to use?
Partly. Safari has supported it for some time and Chrome shipped stable support in early 2026, but overall coverage still sits around 15%. It is a sound choice for archiving, where compression quality matters more than universal support, and a poor one for images going onto a public website today.