Add your CUR file
Drop one or more .cur files onto the converter above, or browse for them. They load into browser memory only — nothing is uploaded, so there is no size-based pricing and no server queue.
CUR to APNG
Converting a .cur image to .apng re-encodes the pixels for a different balance of size, quality, and support. Free, private, and validated — the file never leaves your browser.
Private for supported formats — processed in your browser
Runs on your deviceConvert supported files
Drop CUR files here
Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.
Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.About converting Windows cursor to Animated PNG
Converting a .cur image to .apng re-encodes the pixels for a different balance of size, quality, and support. A .cur file is a Windows cursor: a container holding one or more pointer images at different sizes, plus a hotspot — the exact pixel within the image that counts as the click point. It shares its structure with the Windows icon format and differs from it in only two fields.
An .apng file is an animated extension of PNG: full 24-bit color with 8-bit alpha per frame, in a stream that plain PNG decoders read as a normal still image. It delivers the smooth, semi-transparent animation that GIF's 256-color palette never could, and it is the format behind many messaging-app sticker packs. For this route the practical draw is 16.7 million colors and real alpha per frame, versus GIF's 256 and binary transparency and backward compatible: old decoders still render the first frame — balanced against files grow quickly for long or high-motion animations, where animated WebP/AVIF or video compress far better, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert CUR to APNG?
The practical trigger for this conversion is usually a mismatch: with .cur, windows-specific; macOS and Linux use entirely different cursor mechanisms. Switching to .apng buys you 16.7 million colors and real alpha per frame, versus GIF's 256 and binary transparency, which is why it is the better fit for animated stickers (Apple's iMessage and LINE both build on APNG). Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
CUR vs APNG at a glance
| Aspect | Windows cursor (.cur) | Animated PNG (.apng) |
|---|---|---|
| Format type | Lossless — every pixel or sample is preserved exactly | Lossless — every pixel or sample is preserved exactly |
| How it stores data | the directory header is identical to ICO except that the type field at offset 2 is 2 rather than 1 — that single value is what makes a file a cursor instead of an icon | adds three chunk types to PNG: acTL (animation control), fcTL (frame control), and fdAT (frame data) |
| Strongest at | extracting a cursor image for documentation, screenshot annotation or design reference | animated stickers (Apple's iMessage and LINE both build on APNG) |
| Weak spot | windows-specific; macOS and Linux use entirely different cursor mechanisms | files grow quickly for long or high-motion animations, where animated WebP/AVIF or video compress far better |
Pick APNG as the output
Select .apng in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if APNG is selectable, the route is real and validated.
Convert on your device
Press Convert. Decoding and re-encoding happen on your device using the browser's native image pipeline and hand-tuned encoders.
Verify and download
Each result is signature-checked before the download unlocks, so a failed encode can never masquerade as a valid APNG file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .apng extension.
CUR to APNG questions, answered
Will converting CUR to APNG lose quality?
Since cur is lossless-oriented and apng is lossless-oriented, the conversion preserves the source content exactly as stored; no additional compression pass is applied beyond what .apng itself requires.
Is it private to convert CUR files here?
Yes — the .cur file is processed inside your browser tab and never uploaded. Decoding and re-encoding happen on your device using the browser's native image pipeline and hand-tuned encoders. Close the tab and the file is gone from memory.
Where will the APNG file work?
Chrome 59+, Firefox 3+, Safari 8+, and Edge 79+ all animate .apng natively, so browser coverage is complete. Desktop support is patchier — most image editors open only the first frame — and social platforms frequently flatten or re-encode uploads, so test the target platform before committing to it.
Will the APNG file be bigger or smaller than my CUR?
It depends on the content: adds three chunk types to PNG: acTL (animation control), fcTL (frame control), and fdAT (frame data). Convert one representative file first and compare before batch-processing a large set.
What happens to the metadata in my CUR file?
In .cur, the hotspot coordinates and the per-entry size table belong to the container rather than to the image, and no raster target has anywhere to record them. The embedded PNG frame's own metadata is carried through the conversion. Re-encoding through the browser pipeline does not carry embedded metadata into the output, which doubles as a privacy scrub — check the exported file if you specifically need tags preserved.