Convert HEIC photos to PNG in your browser

Content last reviewed:2026-09-30

Add HEIC photos from an iPhone, iPad or Samsung and download lossless PNG files that open in every browser. In our measurement, a photo from an iPhone 12 Pro went from 2.70 MB as HEIC to 19.0 MB as PNG.

Files in queue

Add HEIC files on the left to start converting to PNG.

What is HEIC, and what is PNG?

A HEIC file holds a photo encoded with the HEVC codec inside a HEIF container, defined in the ISO/IEC 23008-12 standard[1]. The iPhone 7 and later models running iOS 11 or later save photos in this format[2], and since Android 10 in 2019, so do phones with a suitable hardware encoder[1].

PNG is a lossless format: it keeps every pixel of the image, stores full transparency and works in all browsers[3]. The W3C approved the PNG specification on 1 October 1996, and its third edition from June 2025 added support for Exif data and HDR images, among other things[4].

Among browsers, only Safari 17 and later displays HEIC files[5], and Windows opens them only when two extensions from the Microsoft Store are installed[6]. PNG opens in every browser and in Windows without add-ons[7], and saving it again keeps all the detail of the photo.

Back of a graphite iPhone with three camera lenses on a black background — The iPhone 7 and later models running iOS 11 or later save photos in the HEIF format, in files with the .heic extension. Photo: Paolo Giubilato, Unsplash.

How do you convert HEIC to PNG?

Drag your photos onto the Add files field, or click it and pick files. The converter accepts .heic and .heif files, several at once.
Click Convert. Each finished photo shows Done.
Save one file with Download or all of them with Download all, which packs several files into a ZIP archive. Only the extension changes, to .png.

The queue shows the Before and After weight of each file with the difference in percent and, below the buttons, the totals for the batch.

PNG has no quality setting because it stores the image losslessly: you get every pixel read from the HEIC file, in a file with the same dimensions as the original. Remove takes one photo off the queue, and Clear all empties it.

Everything happens in your browser: its HEVC decoder reads the HEIC photo, and the browser itself saves the PNG.

How much does a file weigh before and after HEIC to PNG conversion?

We ran eight original HEIC photos through this converter: three from an iPhone 12 Pro, two from an iPad Air (5th generation) and three from a Samsung Galaxy A32 5G. We read the device model from the EXIF data of each file. Weights are given exactly as the tool prints them in the queue: in kilobytes and megabytes of 1,024 bytes, with the same rounding. We took the measurement ourselves on 16 September 2026 in Chrome 153 on a Windows 11 computer; the result depends on the photo content, so your file may come out differently.

Test photo	Device	Dimensions in pixels	HEIC	PNG	Change
Theater stage in colored light	iPad Air (5th generation)	4032 × 3024	1.54 MB	17.7 MB	11.5 times larger
Scene from a children’s show	iPad Air (5th generation)	4032 × 3024	1.27 MB	14.3 MB	11.3 times larger
Car against the sun	iPhone 12 Pro	3024 × 4032	1.87 MB	13.7 MB	7.3 times larger
Café interior with two dogs	iPhone 12 Pro	3024 × 4032	1.64 MB	16.0 MB	9.8 times larger
Brick pillar with a wall safe	iPhone 12 Pro	3024 × 4032	2.70 MB	19.0 MB	7 times larger
Spools of colored thread	Samsung Galaxy A32 5G	4000 × 3000	1.52 MB	13.8 MB	9.1 times larger
Shelf with Christmas decorations	Samsung Galaxy A32 5G	4000 × 3000	1.38 MB	13.6 MB	9.9 times larger
Close-up of a mixing console	Samsung Galaxy A32 5G	3000 × 4000	1.16 MB	13.5 MB	11.6 times larger

PNG from this converter has no quality setting because it is lossless. You can see the weight of your own file in the queue, in the Before and After fields.

Why is a PNG several times larger than a HEIC photo?

In our measurement, every photo grew between 7.0 and 11.6 times. The brick pillar photo from the iPhone 12 Pro went from 2.70 MB to 19.0 MB, and the mixing console photo from the Samsung from 1.16 MB to 13.5 MB. The eight HEIC files weighed 13.1 MB together, and the same photos as PNG weighed 121.6 MB.

PNG compresses images losslessly[3]. Photos are dominated by soft tonal transitions and noise, and for such images JPEG gives a much smaller file, while PNG gives a much larger one with negligible gain in quality[4]. On top of that, every PNG from this converter has four 8-bit channels: red, green, blue and transparency.

If the photo is just for viewing or sending, the HEIC to JPG converter gives a lighter file. Choose PNG when the image goes on to editing in a graphics program. An uncompressed file for print comes from the HEIC to TIFF converter, and the finished PNG can be made smaller in the Helios editor.

HEIC vs PNG: how do these formats differ?

The table lists the features that show what each format stores and where you can open it without extra software.

Feature	HEIC	PNG
Specification	ISO/IEC 23008-12, finished in 2015	W3C, approved in 1996
Compression	HEVC codec, also known as H.265	lossless
Transparency	yes, as a separate auxiliary image	yes, full alpha channel
Bits per color channel	8 or more	8 or 16
Display in browsers	Safari 17 and later only	all versions of all browsers
Windows without add-ons	no, two extensions are needed	yes

HEIC according to the article on the HEIF format[1], PNG according to MDN and the article on PNG[3][4], browsers according to Can I use (data from 24 August 2026)[5], Windows according to Microsoft[6][7].

Which HEIC files does the converter accept?

We checked every row on 16 September 2026 on files run through the converter in Chrome, and the last one in Firefox. The right-hand column tells you what you get.

File you add	What the converter saves as PNG
Photo from an iPhone, iPad or Samsung phone	a PNG with the same pixel dimensions, in portrait or landscape just as on the phone
File with the .heif extension instead of .heic	the same as with a .heic file
HEIC file with several images	a PNG of the primary image, the one the phone shows as the photo
HEIC file with transparent or semi-transparent pixels	in our test in Chrome and Edge: a PNG without transparency and the message This file has transparency the browser cannot read, so the image is saved without it.
Photo with EXIF data, such as location	a PNG without EXIF data, so also without location coordinates
File larger than 100 MB	the message File is too large (max 100 MB).
Damaged file or text with a .heic extension	the status Error and the message Failed to load the image.
HEIC photo added in a browser without an HEVC decoder, such as Firefox	a warning above the Add files field saying that this browser cannot read HEIC photos, and the status Error next to the file

The converter skips files in other formats as soon as you add them and shows the message: Add HEIC files. Files in other formats were skipped. According to data from more than a million sessions collected from January to March 2026, Safari almost always has an HEVC decoder, Chrome on Windows has one in 81 percent of sessions and Edge on Windows in 56 percent. Firefox almost never has it[8].

When should you save a HEIC photo as PNG?

Three situations in which the larger weight of a PNG file makes sense.

The photo goes to a graphics program
PNG stores the image losslessly, so every further edit and save starts from the same pixels. JPEG loses some information each time it is saved again, so edit the photo in a lossless format and save only the finished version as JPEG[4].
Mac screenshots saved as HEIF
On a Mac with macOS Tahoe 26 or later, with the Capture Format set to HDR in the Screenshot app, screenshots are saved in HEIF[2]. The converter saves such a screenshot as a PNG with 8 bits per channel, which means without the HDR brightness range, and every browser opens that file.
A lossless copy that opens anywhere
PNG keeps every pixel read from the HEIC file, and every browser and Windows open it without add-ons[7]. The PNG to JPG converter can later make a lighter version from such a copy.

What happens to EXIF data and transparency in PNG?

EXIF data does not carry over to the PNG file, and the device model, date taken and location coordinates are removed with it. We checked this on the eight files from our measurement: each HEIC file had EXIF data with the device model, and none of the output files still had it.

Transparency carries over to the PNG only when the browser can read it from the HEIC file. In our test, Chrome and Edge could not: a HEIC file with a transparent background became a PNG with just the image, and a note next to the file said that the image is saved without transparency. None of the eight phone photos in our measurement had transparency, and PNG files from the converter have no embedded color profile.

On a Mac, you can also save a HEIC photo as PNG without the converter: in Photos or Preview, choose File > Export and pick PNG before saving[2]. A lighter version of the same photo for sending comes from the HEIC to JPG converter, and one for a web page from the HEIC to WebP converter.

Convert other files to PNG

JPG to PNG WebP to PNG SVG to PNG BMP to PNG GIF to PNG AVIF to PNG TIFF to PNG PDF to PNG Base64 to PNG

Convert HEIC to other formats

HEIC to JPG HEIC to WebP HEIC to AVIF HEIC to TIFF HEIC to PDF

Sources

High Efficiency Image File Format — Wikipedia
Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices — Apple Support
Image file type and format guide — MDN Web Docs
PNG — Wikipedia
HEIF/HEIC image format — Can I use
HEIF Image Extension — Microsoft Store
About the Windows Imaging Component — Microsoft Learn
AV1, H265 support in 2026: Data from 1M+ devices — WebCodecs Fundamentals

The file sizes in the tables were measured by running finished images through this converter in a browser, and we report them the way the tool counts them. What the page says about either format rests on the sources listed above.

Content last reviewed: September 30, 2026 · written and checked by the Arteon team

Common questions about converting HEIC to PNG

How do I convert HEIC to PNG?

Drag your HEIC photos onto the Add files field, click Convert and download the result with Download all. The converter is free and runs in the browser, so the photos are not uploaded to a server.

Why is the PNG file so large?

PNG stores the photo losslessly, keeping every pixel. In our measurement, eight HEIC photos grew between 7.0 and 11.6 times as PNG. If you need a lighter file, convert to JPG or WebP instead.

Is PNG higher quality than HEIC?

PNG keeps exactly the image the converter read from the HEIC file, and it stays unchanged through later saves. The photo quality is therefore the quality the phone recorded.

Will a transparent background be kept?

The background is kept only when the browser can read the transparency from the HEIC file. In our test, Chrome and Edge could not, so the converter saved just the image and showed a note about it next to the file. None of the eight phone photos in our measurement had transparency.

Can I convert many photos at once?

Yes. The queue accepts any number of files up to 100 MB each, and Download all packs the finished PNG files into one ZIP archive.

Does the converter remove EXIF data?

Yes. The PNG file gets no EXIF data, so the phone model, date and location coordinates are removed.

How do I save a HEIC photo as PNG on a Mac?

Open the photo in Photos or Preview, choose File > Export and pick PNG before saving. On a Windows computer, this converter does it in the browser.

Which browsers can convert HEIC photos?

You can use Safari, as well as Chrome and Edge on devices that have an HEVC decoder. Firefox almost never has one. If your browser cannot read HEIC photos, you will see a warning above the Add files field as soon as the page opens.