Does HEIC support transparency?

HEIC can technically store transparency (alpha channel) in certain modes, but most iPhone photos are fully opaque. PNG natively supports transparency, making it the right choice if you need an alpha channel in the output.

Will the PNG file be larger than the original HEIC?

Yes, almost always. HEIC uses very efficient compression — converting to lossless PNG will result in a larger file, often 3–5× the HEIC size. This is expected: you are trading file size for universal compatibility and lossless storage.

Is it safe to convert my iPhone photos here?

Yes. All conversion happens locally in your browser using WebAssembly. Your photos are never uploaded to any server, logged, or stored. You can verify this by disconnecting from the internet and trying — it still works.

Can I convert multiple HEIC files to PNG at once?

Yes. Drop multiple HEIC files into the drop zone and all of them will be converted. When they are done, use the Download all as ZIP button to grab everything in one click.

Does this work on Safari / iPhone?

Yes. The converter works in Safari on iOS 14+ and iPadOS. You can also use Chrome or Edge on iPhone. Note: if your iPhone photos are stored in iCloud with Optimized Storage, you may need to download the originals first.

Does the PNG output preserve EXIF metadata?

The current version does not carry over EXIF metadata (GPS, camera settings, date/time) to the PNG output. This is a known limitation and is on our roadmap.

HEIC to PNG Converter — Free, Private, Browser-Based

What Is HEIC?

HEIC stands for High Efficiency Image Container. Apple introduced it as the default photo format for iPhone and iPad with iOS 11 in 2017. It uses the HEVC (H.265) video codec for image compression, which delivers roughly the same visual quality as JPEG at about half the file size.

Every iPhone from iPhone 7 onward, running iOS 11 or later, saves photos in HEIC format by default. A 12-megapixel iPhone photo is typically 3–5 MB as HEIC, compared to 6–10 MB as JPG.

HEIC is excellent for on-device storage — more photos fit on your iPhone for the same space. However, it is not a universal interchange format, which is why conversion to more widely supported formats is often necessary.

Why Convert HEIC to PNG?

Converting HEIC to PNG — rather than to JPG — is the right choice in specific situations:

You need lossless quality. PNG is a lossless format: every pixel in the PNG output is exactly as it appears in the source image. JPG applies additional lossy compression every time you save, which can degrade quality over multiple edits. If you are converting a HEIC photo to edit in Photoshop, Affinity Photo, or another editor, starting with PNG preserves full fidelity.

You need to preserve or add transparency. PNG supports an alpha channel (transparency). If your HEIC image contains transparency or you plan to remove a background, PNG is the correct output format. JPG cannot store transparency.

Archiving at maximum quality. For permanent archiving — family photos, professional work, documents — PNG ensures nothing is lost. The file will be larger, but every pixel is preserved exactly.

Compatibility with software that doesn’t support HEIC. Many applications cannot open HEIC files: older versions of Photoshop, Lightroom, design tools, and virtually all Windows software. PNG opens everywhere without plugins or codecs.

Web development. When you need an image for a website and want lossless quality without relying on WebP support, PNG is the universal fallback.

HEIC to PNG vs. HEIC to JPG

	PNG	JPG
Compression	Lossless	Lossy
File size	Larger (3–5× HEIC)	Smaller
Transparency	✓ Supported	✗ Not supported
Best for	Editing, archiving	Sharing, email, web
Re-save degradation	None	Quality loss each save

If you just need to share a photo or post it online, JPG is smaller and perfectly adequate. If you need to edit, archive at maximum quality, or preserve transparency, PNG is the better choice.

How This Converter Works

HEIC decoding requires an HEVC decoder — something browsers do not provide natively. pixconv.io uses a WebAssembly build of libheif, an open-source HEIC/HEIF decoder, to decode HEIC files entirely in your browser.

The conversion pipeline:

The HEIC file is read into memory using the JavaScript FileReader API.
The WebAssembly libheif module decodes the HEIC/HEIF data into raw RGBA pixel data.
The decoded pixels are written to an HTML5 canvas element.
The canvas exports the pixels as PNG using canvas.toBlob('image/png').
The resulting PNG is delivered as a download in your browser.

Everything runs locally on your device. No data is sent to any server at any point.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1 — Open the converter. Make sure you are on pixconv.io/heic-to-png. The converter is already set to output PNG.

Step 2 — Add your HEIC files. Drag and drop one or more .heic or .heif files into the drop zone. Alternatively, click Browse files to use your file picker. On Mac with iCloud Photos, you may need to right-click the photo in Photos and choose Download Original to get the full-resolution HEIC file.

Step 3 — Wait for conversion. Each file is decoded using the WebAssembly HEIC decoder and then written to a canvas as PNG. The first HEIC file may take a moment longer as the decoder initializes. Subsequent files process faster.

Step 4 — Download your PNGs. Click Download next to each converted file. If you converted multiple files, a Download all as ZIP button appears once they are all ready.

Privacy and Security

Your photos are processed entirely within your browser. pixconv.io does not:

Upload your photos to any server
Store, cache, or access your images after conversion
Require an account or login
Track which files you convert

HEIC files from iPhones often contain embedded GPS coordinates, timestamps, and other personal metadata. Because everything runs locally, none of this data is transmitted anywhere.

Tips for Best Results

iCloud Optimized Storage. If your iPhone uses iCloud Photos with Optimized Storage enabled, the full-resolution original may not be stored locally on your device. When you download the photo to your Mac or PC, it may be a lower-resolution preview. To get the full-resolution HEIC, right-click the photo in Photos.app on Mac and select Download Original.

iPhone to Mac transfer. When importing HEIC photos via Image Capture or AirDrop to a Mac, they arrive as HEIC files. Use this converter on Mac to batch-convert them to PNG before importing them into other applications.

iPhone to Windows via USB. Windows can be configured to automatically convert HEIC to JPG during USB transfer. Go to Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Automatic. If you specifically want PNG, use this converter after transfer.

Transparent backgrounds. If you edit the PNG after conversion (e.g., remove the background), tools like Photoshop, GIMP, or remove.bg work best with PNG input, since they preserve the transparency you create. JPG would flatten it to white.

File naming. Downloaded files are named after the original HEIC file with the extension changed to .png. If you batch download a ZIP, the ZIP is named converted.zip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert HEIC to PNG instead of JPG?

PNG is lossless — no image quality is sacrificed. It supports transparency. It is the right choice for editing, archiving, or any workflow where pixel-perfect fidelity matters. JPG is better for sharing or web delivery where smaller file size is the priority.

Will the PNG file be larger than my original HEIC?

Yes. PNG lossless compression is less efficient than HEIC. Expect PNG files to be 3–5× the size of the original HEIC. This is normal and expected.

Can I convert HEIC to PNG on iPhone?

Yes. Open this page in Safari on iPhone (iOS 14+). Tap the converter area to pick files from your Photos library or Files app. After conversion, tap Download to save the PNG file.

Does converting HEIC to PNG preserve transparency?

Most HEIC photos from iPhone cameras are fully opaque and have no transparency to preserve. If your HEIC file does contain transparency, the PNG output will include it.

How many files can I convert at once?

There is no fixed limit. The practical limit is your device’s available RAM. Most users can batch-convert hundreds of small-to-medium HEIC files without issue.

Does this work offline?

Once the page has loaded in your browser, the conversion runs locally. If the WebAssembly HEIC decoder has already been downloaded, you can convert files without an active internet connection.