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ImageConverter

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HEIC to PNG Converter

Convert HEIC photos from an iPhone or iPad into PNG. This is the right choice when you plan to edit the image afterwards, or when something specifically demands PNG — but be aware the file will get considerably larger. If you just need the photo to open somewhere, JPG is usually the better answer.

Deleted automatically Uploads removed within 30 minutes

Drag and drop your HEIC images here

Add several at once. Each file is processed and then deleted from our server.

Up to 20 MB per file Batch ready

Step by step

How to convert HEIC to PNG in 4 steps

  1. Add your HEIC files

    Drag them in or click to browse. Files ending in .heif work too.

  2. Nothing to configure

    PNG is lossless, so there is no quality trade-off to make.

  3. Wait a moment while each file is converted

  4. Download

    Expect a much larger file than the HEIC you started with.

Format comparison

HEIC vs PNG

HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container)

Lossy

The format iPhones and iPads save photos in by default, using HEVC compression to keep files small.

  • Much smaller than JPG at similar quality
  • The default on Apple devices, so no setting is needed
  • Many Windows apps, websites and upload forms cannot open it

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

Lossless

Stores every pixel exactly as it was saved, so nothing is lost however often the file is opened and saved.

  • Pixel-perfect: ideal for screenshots, logos and text
  • Supported everywhere, including every browser
  • Photographs make large files — often several times the JPG size

These two formats sit at opposite ends of the same trade-off.

HEIC is built for efficiency. Apple adopted it in 2017 because HEVC compression stores a photograph in roughly half the space of a JPG. It also carries 16 bits of colour per channel, transparency, image sequences such as Live Photos, and depth maps.

PNG is built for exactness. It never discards a pixel, no matter how many times the file is opened and re-saved, and it supports a full alpha channel. It has been a web and desktop standard since 1996, so essentially every program on every platform reads it.

Converting between them therefore trades a great deal of file size for two things:

  • No further loss. The compression HEIC already applied is baked in and cannot be undone, but from this point on the image will not degrade again however many times you edit and save it.
  • Universal compatibility, including in older software that would reject a HEIC outright.

One thing worth being clear about: converting to PNG does not restore quality. HEIC is lossy, so detail was discarded when the photo was taken. PNG preserves the image exactly as it now is, artefacts and all, in a much bigger file. It prevents future loss; it cannot repair past loss.

Transparency does carry over where it exists. Most camera photos are fully opaque, but HEIC can store an alpha channel and PNG preserves it — unlike JPG, which cannot store transparency at all.

Quality

Quality and file size

There is no quality setting on this page, and that is deliberate rather than an omission. PNG compression is lossless: it makes files smaller by finding patterns, not by discarding detail, so there is no trade-off to expose.

What you will notice is size. A 2 MB HEIC commonly becomes a 12–20 MB PNG. This is normal and not a sign of anything going wrong. Two reasons compound:

  • HEIC is one of the most efficient image formats in existence, and PNG is one of the least efficient for photographs.
  • PNG's compression is designed for flat colour and sharp edges. Photographs are made of gradients and noise, which it handles poorly — the exact reason JPG was invented.

If the result is too large to be useful, you have three options depending on what you need:

  • You only wanted compatibility — convert to JPG instead. A fraction of the size, opens just as widely.
  • You want lossless but smaller — WebP is far more efficient than PNG and every current browser displays it.
  • You must keep PNG — run the result through PNG compression, which reduces the colour palette. Be careful with photographs, though: palette reduction suits graphics far better than photos.

When PNG is genuinely the right target

  • You are going to edit the photo repeatedly. Every save of a lossy file costs a little more quality, and the damage compounds. Converting to PNG first freezes the current state so subsequent saves are free.
  • Something requires PNG specifically. Design tools, app icon pipelines, game engines, some document systems and a number of upload forms name it explicitly.
  • The image has transparency you need to keep — rare from a camera, but possible.
  • You are archiving a master copy and disk space is not the constraint.

When most people should choose something else

If you are here because your computer will not open your iPhone photos — which is why most people are here — you almost certainly want JPG. It opens in exactly the same places PNG does, and the file will be a small fraction of the size. PNG's advantages only matter if you are editing or if something demands the format.

For anything going onto a website, WebP beats both: smaller than JPG at the same quality, and lossless-capable like PNG.

What is lost along the way

Two things do not survive, regardless of target format:

  • Live Photos become a single still frame. HEIC can hold an image sequence; a standard PNG holds one picture.
  • Depth and portrait data is dropped. A blurred background stays as rendered, but the depth map that allowed re-editing is gone.

Your originals on your phone are untouched.

Privacy

What happens to your file

This tool runs on our server, so it works the same on every phone and computer. Your file is uploaded, and this is exactly what happens to it:

  • Stored outside the public web root under a random name, never under your file's name.
  • Processed, with the original upload deleted immediately — whether it succeeded or failed.
  • The result sits behind a signed link that only you receive, which stops working after 20 minutes, and the file is deleted the moment you download it.
  • Anything never collected is deleted automatically within 30 minutes.
  • The image itself is never logged or kept. If a conversion fails, we record the formats involved and the error — not the file.
  • Camera metadata, including any GPS coordinates recording where a photo was taken, is removed from the result. Only the rotation needed to show the image the right way up is kept.

Questions & answers

HEIC to PNG: frequently asked questions

Should I convert HEIC to PNG or to JPG?

JPG, for most people. If you simply need the photo to open on your computer, JPG does that just as universally and produces a file a fraction of the size. Choose PNG when you plan to edit the image repeatedly, or when a specific tool demands PNG.

Why is my PNG ten times bigger than the HEIC?

Entirely expected. HEIC is among the most efficient image formats there is, and PNG is among the least efficient for photographs — its compression suits flat colour and sharp edges, not gradients and noise. A 2 MB HEIC becoming a 15 MB PNG is normal.

Does converting to PNG improve the photo quality?

No. HEIC is lossy, so detail was already discarded when the photo was taken, and that cannot be recovered. PNG preserves the image exactly as it currently is — which prevents any further loss when you edit and re-save, but repairs nothing.

Will transparency be kept?

Yes, where it exists. HEIC can store an alpha channel and PNG preserves it exactly. Most camera photos are fully opaque, so this usually makes no difference — but unlike JPG, nothing is lost if your image does have transparency.

What happens to Live Photos and portrait depth data?

Both are dropped. A standard PNG holds one still image, so the motion and sound of a Live Photo are not carried over, and the depth map behind a portrait-mode blur is gone — though the blur itself stays as it was rendered. Your originals on your phone are unaffected.

Why does this tool upload my file when others do not?

Because most browsers cannot decode HEIC, which is the same reason your computer struggles with these files. The upload is deleted immediately after conversion, the result is deleted as you download it, anything abandoned is swept within half an hour, and GPS data is stripped.

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