To convert HEIC to PNG, drop your iPhone photos into the converter above. Each HEIC file becomes a PNG at its original dimensions by default, within browser memory limits, and a whole batch can be converted in one go and saved as a single ZIP. It's free with no signup, and the photos are converted inside your browser, so your personal pictures never leave your computer or phone.
What a HEIC file is
HEIC is how an iPhone stores photos. The format underneath is HEIF, the High Efficiency Image File Format, introduced in 2015 by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), and an iPhone saves the variant whose images are compressed with HEVC, using the .heic extension. Apple switched to it with iOS 11 in 2017, and every iPhone from the iPhone 7 on can take photos this way. Photos saved with the .heif extension, which some Android phones and cameras use, convert in exactly the same way.
Apple's reason is storage: HEIF compresses better than JPEG, so photos take less space while looking the same. The cost is compatibility. On Windows, the Photos app opens HEIC photos only once two Microsoft Store add-ons are installed, the free HEIF Image Extension and the paid HEVC Video Extensions, and of the major browsers only Safari displays HEIC images, so many upload forms turn a HEIC away.
Why PNG
PNG compresses losslessly: it stores the converted photo pixel for pixel, so nothing is lost on the way and nothing more is lost however many times the PNG is opened, edited and saved again. That makes it the format to choose when the photo is a starting point rather than the end:
- Editing. Retouching, cropping and adding text in a design app, then saving again, without the slight loss each new JPG save brings.
- Cutouts. A photo whose background you remove needs a format that keeps transparency, and PNG does. After converting, select Remove background on any image to open it in the AI background remover.
- Archiving. A copy every app can read, at the full quality of the decoded photo.
The trade-off is size. A lossless format has to record every pixel exactly, including the fine grain lossy compression smooths over, so a PNG of a photo is much larger than the HEIC: in our test, a 718 KB HEIC photo of 1,280 × 854 pixels became a PNG of about 2.2 to 2.3 MB, roughly three times the size. For photos that are simply going to be shared, the HEIC to JPG converter makes files a fraction of the size.
Private by design
The photos are decoded and converted by your own browser; nothing is uploaded to a server. The PNGs also leave out the HEIC files' metadata, so they carry no camera details, no date and no GPS location: an iPhone embeds the place a photo was taken when Location Services is on for the Camera app, and anyone you share the original with may be able to read it.
Stop taking HEIC photos
To have the iPhone save new photos as JPG instead, Apple's steps are: open Settings, tap Camera, tap Formats, then tap Most Compatible. Choosing High Efficiency switches back to the space-saving HEIF format. Photos already on the phone stay HEIC, so they still need converting.
For a PDF of several photos instead of separate image files, use HEIC to PDF.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose PNG or JPG?
PNG when you'll edit the photo, cut out its background or need every pixel kept exactly, since PNG compression is lossless. JPG when the photo is going to be shared, emailed or uploaded as it is: its files are far smaller. The HEIC to JPG converter makes JPGs the same way.
Does a PNG keep the photo's quality?
It keeps the decoded photo exactly: converting to PNG adds no new compression loss. It can't bring back detail the HEIC's own compression already left out, though, so the PNG looks just like the original photo, not sharper.
Why is the PNG so much bigger than the HEIC?
A HEIC photo is stored with lossy compression, and a lossless format has to record every pixel of the result, including the grain lossy compression smooths over. Google's WebP documentation notes the same effect when a lossy JPEG is turned into a lossless PNG. In our test a 718 KB HEIC became a PNG about three times the size; each row shows the before and after sizes.
Does the PNG keep the photo's location and the date it was taken?
No. Converting re-encodes the pixels, and the new file carries none of the original's metadata: no camera details, no date and no GPS location. Keep the HEIC originals if you need that information.
Can I convert HEIC to PNG on a Mac without a converter?
Yes. Apple's instructions: open the photo in Photos or Preview, choose File > Export, then choose a format such as JPEG or PNG before saving. This page does the same for a whole batch, on any computer or phone.
Can I convert the photos on my iPhone itself?
Yes. Open this page in Safari, tap Choose images and pick the photos. A phone's browser has less memory to work with, so any photo larger than about 16 megapixels is reduced to fit, and its row says so; on a computer the limit is about 36 megapixels.