HEIC to AVIF Converter: Free, Private, No Upload

Convert HEIC files to AVIF in your browser. Smaller output file, batch up to 20 files at once, no upload, no account, no watermark. Your files never leave your device.

HEIC to AVIF
Batch up to 20 files
No upload, no account
Metadata stripped

1Add up to 20 images
2Pick from 18 formats
3Download or copy the code

Processed on your device. Your images are never uploaded, and metadata is stripped. How we keep it private

How do I convert HEIC to AVIF for free?

Drop your HEIC files into the tool above, choose AVIF as output, and download the result. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is no limit or watermark. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iOS and Android — anywhere you have a modern browser.

Price: Free, no credits and no daily cap
Account required: No
File uploaded to server: No, processed locally in your browser
Batch limit: Up to 20 files at once
Input format: HEIC
Output format: AVIF
Best for: AVIF workflows, smaller files, faster sharing
Works on: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, iOS and Android browsers
Privacy: No upload, no tracking, metadata stripped
Output quality: Adjustable 1-100, defaults to 90

How to convert HEIC to AVIF

1
Drop your HEIC files
Drag up to 20 HEIC files onto the page or click to choose them. Everything runs in your browser.
2
AVIF is preselected
Output is already set to AVIF. Adjust quality, resize or batch if you want.
3
Download
Save each AVIF, or download all of them together as a ZIP.

HEIC to AVIF: what changes and when it makes sense

HEIC is a High Efficiency Image Container (HEIF using HEVC compression). It is best known for photos at roughly half the size of JPG, with 10-bit colour and depth data on iPhones. The main drawbacks are patchy support across web tools, editors and upload forms because of HEVC licensing.

AVIF is an AV1 Image File Format. It is best known for the smallest files of any common web format at a given quality. The main drawbacks are slow encoding, patchy support outside browsers, and smoothing in fine textures at aggressive settings.

HEIC vs AVIF at a glance

Property	HEIC	AVIF
Type	Container format	Raster image
Compression	Lossy HEVC compression, typically roughly half the size of JPG at similar quality	Lossy or lossless, based on the AV1 video codec
Transparency	Full alpha channel with soft edges	Full alpha channel with soft edges
Animation	No	Yes
Colour depth	8 to 16 bits per channel, with wide-gamut Display P3 colour on iPhones	8, 10 or 12 bits per channel, with HDR and wide-gamut support
Support	Native on Apple devices and recent Windows and Android, but browsers other than Safari cannot display it	Supported by current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, but many editors, social platforms and OS viewers cannot open it
History	HEIF was defined by MPEG in 2015. Apple adopted HEIC (HEIF with HEVC) as the default iPhone photo format in iOS 11 (2017). The move roughly halved storage usage compared to JPG.	Finalised in 2019 by the Alliance for Open Media (Google, Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Intel and others). Based on AV1 video codec, successor to VP9 and HEVC. First major browser support: Chrome 85 (2020).

What actually changes in this conversion

Both HEIC and AVIF use lossy compression, so this adds a second round of loss. Use a high quality setting (90 or above).
Transparency is preserved, including soft edges.
File sizes should land in the same range.
Browser-based conversion works in 8-bit sRGB. Wide-gamut, 10-bit and 16-bit data are reduced. For colour-critical work, keep the original.
EXIF, GPS and camera data are stripped on every conversion. That is good for privacy, but you lose capture dates.

About HEIC: history and technical details

HEIF was defined by MPEG in 2015. Apple adopted HEIC (HEIF with HEVC) as the default iPhone photo format in iOS 11 (2017). The move roughly halved storage usage compared to JPG.

Technical: HEIF container holds HEVC-encoded image data plus metadata, thumbnails, and auxiliary images. HEVC (H.265) compression is roughly 2x more efficient than JPG. iPhone HEIC files use 10-bit Display P3 colour space.

Real-world size: An iPhone HEIC file is typically 1.5-2.5 MB, compared to 3-5 MB for the same photo as JPG. Windows 10 requires the HEIF Image Extensions from Microsoft Store to open it. Windows 11 has built-in support.

Popular tools: iOS Camera, macOS Preview, Adobe Photoshop 2021+, Adobe Lightroom 2018+, Windows 11 Photos, ImageMagick.

Alternatives: JPG (universal), PNG (lossless), WebP (modern web), AVIF (future web).

About AVIF: what you get

Finalised in 2019 by the Alliance for Open Media (Google, Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Intel and others). Based on AV1 video codec, successor to VP9 and HEVC. First major browser support: Chrome 85 (2020).

Technical: AV1 intra-frame coding with variable block sizes from 4x4 to 128x128. Supports 8/10/12-bit colour, HDR, wide gamut (BT.2020), monochrome. HEIF-based container. Encoding is 10-100x slower than JPEG.

Real-world size: AVIF at quality 50 produces files 30-50% smaller than JPG at quality 85 with similar visual quality. Netflix reports 50% bandwidth savings after switching. Google reports AVIF is 20-30% smaller than WebP.

Popular tools: Adobe Photoshop 2024+, GIMP 2.10+, Squoosh, avifenc, ImageMagick, AVIF.io, Netflix (production use).

Alternatives: WebP (faster encode, less compression), JPG (universal), HEIC (Apple-only), JPEG XL (future format).

Browser and software compatibility

HEIC: Native on Apple devices and recent Windows and Android, but browsers other than Safari cannot display it. AVIF: Supported by current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, but many editors, social platforms and OS viewers cannot open it.

AVIF is well supported by current browsers but is still rejected by many editors and social platforms.

Why people move away from HEIC

Most websites, forms and older Windows or Android devices cannot open HEIC.
Browsers other than Safari cannot display HEIC, so it cannot be used on web pages.
Email and messaging apps sometimes convert HEIC unpredictably, or refuse it.

Why people choose AVIF

AVIF often produces files 30 to 50 percent smaller than JPG at comparable quality.
It can carry 10-bit and HDR content that JPG and WebP cannot.
It pays off most on hero images and large photo galleries, where bytes matter the most.

Common mistakes with HEIC

Trying to upload HEIC to forms that only accept JPG
Expecting Windows 10 to open HEIC without the extension
Losing location data — HEIC to JPG strips GPS

Best practices for keeping quality

iPhone HEIC files use the Display P3 colour space. A browser conversion maps colour to sRGB, which can slightly mute very saturated colours.
Live Photo motion and depth data are not carried over. You get the still image only.
AVIF quality numbers do not line up with JPG. Start around 60-70 and compare against the original at 100 percent zoom.
Serve AVIF with a WebP or JPG fallback using the picture element so older browsers still get an image.
Resize before converting if the image will be shown small. A 4000 pixel photo displayed at 800 pixels wastes bytes in any format.
Check the result at 100 percent zoom, especially around text, edges and gradients, before you replace any originals.
Keep your original files. Conversions to a lossy format cannot be undone.
When you convert a set of images, use the same quality setting for the whole batch. The converter handles up to 20 files at once.

HEIC to AVIF questions

Quick answers about privacy, quality, supported formats, file limits and how AVIF works.

Why convert HEIC to AVIF?

AVIF files are typically smaller than HEIC, which makes them faster to share, send and load. The trade-off is a small amount of image detail at low quality settings.

Will converting HEIC to AVIF lose quality?

At 90% quality, most people cannot tell the difference. Use 85-95% for photos and you are fine.

Does AVIF keep transparency?

Yes. AVIF supports full transparency, so transparent areas in your original are kept.

Are my files uploaded?

Never. Everything runs in your browser. Your files never leave your device. Open DevTools Network tab while processing — you will see no upload request.

Can I convert many files at once?

Yes, up to 20 files at once. Download them individually or all together as a ZIP.

Does the converter strip metadata?

Yes. Browsers do not pass EXIF data through a canvas, so GPS, camera model and dates are removed on every conversion. That is good for privacy.

Is it free?

Yes. No credits, no daily cap, no account, no watermark. The practical limit is your device memory.

Is AVIF smaller than WebP?

Yes, typically 20-30% smaller at similar quality. But AVIF is much slower to encode and has less software support outside browsers.

Does AVIF support HDR?

Yes. AVIF supports 10-bit and 12-bit colour, HDR (Hybrid Log-Gamma and PQ), and wide-gamut BT.2020 colour. JPG and WebP cannot do this.

Can AVIF be animated?

Yes, though animated AVIF support is still limited in browsers. Chrome and Firefox support it, Safari does not as of early 2026.

Your files never leave your device

No upload, no account, no tracking. Everything happens in your browser using the Canvas API and WebAssembly. You can confirm this in your browser's DevTools Network tab while the tool runs — no request carries your file. See why ToolDeck is different.