PNG is lossless and keeps transparency, so it is often larger than the same image as JPG or WebP.
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What is a HEIC to PNG converter?
A HEIC to PNG converter decodes a HEIC or HEIF image and saves the pixels as a PNG, a lossless format that nearly every editor, design tool and operating system reads. HEIC is the format iPhones use for photos when the camera is set to High Efficiency. It is good at keeping a camera roll small and poor at traveling: Windows often needs extra extensions to show it, and many apps and upload forms do not accept it.
Choosing PNG over JPG is a decision about what happens next. A JPG is compressed with loss, and every time it is edited and saved it loses a little more. A PNG stores each pixel exactly, so it works as a master copy you can crop, retouch and annotate through many rounds of saving without the image wearing down. PNG also keeps an alpha channel, so a HEIC that carries transparency stays transparent. Ordinary camera photos have none, and their PNGs come out fully opaque.
The cost is file size. Take a 12 megapixel iPhone photo. Decoded, it is 4032 x 3024 pixels at four bytes each, about 49 MB of raw data, and PNG compression is built for flat graphics rather than photographic noise. The PNG is often many times the size of the HEIC, and the size line on each row shows exactly how much. If the photo is only going to be shared, the [HEIC to JPG converter](/tools/heic-to-jpg) produces a far smaller file.
The decoding is done by libheif, an open source HEIF library compiled to WebAssembly. It downloads the first time you add a HEIC file in a tab, about 470 KB compressed, and runs in a background worker. When a file holds several images, the primary one is converted and the note under its row says how many there were. EXIF data, GPS location and the embedded color profile are not copied into the PNG, because it is written from decoded pixels alone.
Everything runs client-side, so nothing is uploaded. Files are identified by their first bytes, so a HEIC renamed to something else is still recognized, and a file in another format is turned away with a link to the converter for it. HEIC files over 100 MB and images over 100 megapixels are refused with a message. The tool is free, no signup, with a daily conversion limit.
How to convert HEIC to PNG
Add your HEIC files
Drop .heic or .heif files on the box reading Drop HEIC images here or click to upload. Several at once is fine, and each file starts converting as soon as it is added. The first one waits a few seconds while the HEIC decoder downloads.
No settings to adjust
There is no quality setting, because PNG is lossless. The panel shows HEIC to PNG and a short note on what PNG keeps, and the files convert one after another in the list.
Compare before and after
Each row shows a thumbnail, its status and a size line with the file size change. Click the thumbnail to open the PNG large on a checkerboard, so any transparent areas are easy to see, and switch between Before and After. A note appears under the row when the HEIC held more than one image.
Download the PNGs
Press the download icon on a row for one file, or Download All (n images) in the list header to save everything as converted-png.zip. Repeated file names are numbered inside the ZIP.
Why convert HEIC to PNG?
Most people converting an iPhone photo want a JPG. PNG is the better target when the image is the start of more work rather than the end of it.
A master copy for editing
Retouching, cropping and adding text usually take several saves. Each save of a JPG compresses the image again, and artifacts build up around edges and in skies. A PNG decoded from the HEIC is saved exactly each time, so the last version is as clean as the first.
Converting cannot undo the compression the iPhone already applied. It stops any further loss from here on.
Design tools, documents and slides
Presentation software, diagram tools and page layout apps accept PNG almost universally, and several of them still refuse HEIC. A PNG drops straight into a mockup or a slide without another round of lossy compression.
Keeping transparency where it exists
HEIF allows an alpha channel, and some edited or exported HEIF images use it. JPG would fill those areas with white, while PNG keeps them. If the transparent edges need cleaning up afterwards, the background remover takes the PNG as input.
HEIC vs PNG: which to use
| Feature | HEIC | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossy, using the HEVC (H.265) codec. | Lossless. Every pixel decodes exactly as saved. |
| Typical file size for a phone photo | Small, often a couple of megabytes. | Often many times larger than the HEIC. |
| Transparency | Alpha channel allowed. Camera photos do not use it. | Full alpha channel, kept by this converter. |
| Repeated saving | Lossy each time it is re-encoded. | No loss, however many times it is saved. |
| Color depth | 8 bits per channel, higher depths allowed. | Up to 16 bits per channel. This converter writes 8. |
| Software support | Native on Apple devices. Patchy on Windows and in web forms. | Close to universal in editors, browsers and operating systems. |
| Best for | Storing photos on a phone. | Editing, design work, screenshots and images with transparency. |
Why the PNG is so much larger
HEVC, the codec inside a HEIC file, was designed for video and is very good at discarding detail the eye will not miss. Fine grain in a sky, faint noise in shadows and subtle texture on skin are approximated rather than stored. That is how a 12 megapixel photo fits in a small HEIC file.
PNG makes no such approximations. It compresses with DEFLATE, the same method as ZIP files, which works well on long runs of identical pixels in logos, screenshots and flat illustrations. Photographs have almost no such runs, because neighboring pixels differ slightly everywhere. PNG has to write nearly all of that variation down, so a photo saved as PNG is heavy by nature.
None of this means the PNG holds more detail than the HEIC did. It holds the same decoded picture, stored without further loss. The extra megabytes are the price of being able to edit and re-save it safely.
Privacy and security
- The HEIC is decoded and the PNG is written inside this browser tab, client-side. Your images are never uploaded.
- The decoder, libheif, is fetched once per tab as a WebAssembly file and runs in a background worker, separate from the page itself.
- The daily limit check sends the tool name, a device identifier and your account token if you are signed in. After a batch, the page records the file count, total bytes and output format, never names or pixels.
- EXIF fields, including GPS coordinates and the capture date, are not written into the PNG. Keep the original HEIC if you need them.
- Converted files are held in the tab's memory until you remove them, press Clear All or close the page.
Key Features
Lossless output
The PNG stores the decoded pixels exactly, so it can be edited and saved again and again without wearing down.
Transparency kept
A HEIF image with an alpha channel stays transparent in the PNG, and the preview that opens from a row's thumbnail sits on a checkerboard so you can check.
HEIC and HEIF both accepted
iPhone .heic photos and .heif files from other devices convert the same way, identified by the brand codes inside the file.
Batch conversion with a ZIP
Add a folder at once and save the results as converted-png.zip, with duplicate names numbered so nothing is lost.
Frequently Asked Questions
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