Add your HEIC file
Drop one or more .heic 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.
HEIC to AVIF
Converting a .heic image to .avif re-encodes the pixels for a different balance of size, quality, and support. Free, private, and validated — the file never leaves your browser.
100% private for supported formats
Runs on your deviceConvert supported files
Drop HEIC 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 HEIC image to AVIF image
Converting a .heic image to .avif re-encodes the pixels for a different balance of size, quality, and support. A .heic file contains imagery compressed with the HEVC (H.265) video codec inside the HEIF container — it is the specific HEVC-coded flavor of HEIF. Apple made it the default camera format on iPhone, so most .heic files people encounter are iPhone photos that roughly halve the storage of equivalent JPEGs.
An .avif file stores a still image (or sequence) coded with the AV1 video codec inside a HEIF-derived container. It is currently among the most efficient image formats deployed on the web, routinely beating JPEG by half at similar quality while adding HDR, wide gamut, and alpha. For this route the practical draw is best-in-class compression among widely supported web formats and 10/12-bit HDR and wide-gamut color, which JPEG cannot represent — balanced against encoding is much slower than JPEG or WebP, especially at high effort settings, which is worth knowing before you commit a large batch.
Why convert HEIC to AVIF?
The practical trigger for this conversion is usually a mismatch: with .heic, hEVC patent licensing means Windows users must install a codec (historically a paid $0.99 extension) to view files. Switching to .avif buys you best-in-class compression among widely supported web formats, which is why it is the better fit for serving hero images and photo galleries where bandwidth savings are significant. Because the conversion runs locally, trying it costs nothing but a few seconds of compute on your own machine.
HEIC vs AVIF at a glance
| Aspect | HEIC image (.heic) | AVIF image (.avif) |
|---|---|---|
| Format type | Lossy — discards detail it judges invisible to shrink files | Lossy — discards detail it judges invisible to shrink files |
| How it stores data | pixels are HEVC intra-coded, commonly at 10-bit depth on recent iPhones | encodes AV1 intra frames; both lossy and a mathematically lossless mode are defined |
| Strongest at | default photo capture on iPhone and iPad, halving camera roll storage | serving hero images and photo galleries where bandwidth savings are significant |
| Weak spot | hEVC patent licensing means Windows users must install a codec (historically a paid $0.99 extension) to view files | encoding is much slower than JPEG or WebP, especially at high effort settings |
| Metadata | full EXIF (including GPS and orientation) and XMP are carried as container-level metadata items, and Apple additionally embeds depth and gain-map auxiliary data that most converters discard | eXIF and XMP are stored as metadata items in the HEIF container alongside ICC profiles or CICP color signaling, and mainstream encoders preserve them on conversion |
Pick AVIF as the output
Select .avif in the output menu next to each file. The menu only offers targets this engine can genuinely produce, so if AVIF 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 AVIF file. Outputs keep the original filename with the .avif extension.
HEIC to AVIF questions, answered
Will converting HEIC to AVIF lose quality?
A second lossy step always costs a little, because heic is lossy-oriented and avif is lossy-oriented and each encoder discards detail differently (generation loss). At the default quality the difference is rarely visible; avoid repeated round-trips between .heic and .avif.
Is it private to convert HEIC files here?
Yes — the .heic 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 AVIF file work?
Chrome 85+ (2020), Firefox 93+ (2021), and Safari 16+ (2022) render AVIF natively, covering the overwhelming majority of current browsers. On the desktop, macOS 13+ and Windows (via the AV1 Video Extension) preview it, but plenty of older editing and printing software cannot open it yet.
Will the AVIF file be bigger or smaller than my HEIC?
It depends on the content: encodes AV1 intra frames; both lossy and a mathematically lossless mode are defined. Convert one representative file first and compare before batch-processing a large set.
What happens to the metadata in my HEIC file?
In .heic, full EXIF (including GPS and orientation) and XMP are carried as container-level metadata items, and Apple additionally embeds depth and gain-map auxiliary data that most converters discard. 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.