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Convert HEIC to PNG free, without uploading
HEIC to PNG works here in Safari 17 or later, which decodes HEIC itself; desktop and Android Chrome, Edge and Firefox cannot open HEIC. PNG adds no compression loss, but 10-bit colour is reduced to 8 bits and colours are mapped to sRGB. Drop the HEIC (.heic, .heif) on the tool below and download the PNG; nothing is uploaded.
HEIC to PNG
PNG · no file-size limit · original pixel size
No file-size limit is set: PixelFit saves at high quality and changes only the format and any pixel size you set.
Fit, background and padding white background
Saving presets is part of Pro.
The result appears here: the exact byte count, pixel size and quality, the size before and after, a preview and a download button.
The batch kit (one ZIP for up to 500 photos, several photos merged into one PDF) is part of Pro.
What changes from HEIC to PNG
3 of these 5 points lose or alter something on the way from HEIC to PNG; the rest carry over.
- Kept: Transparency survives: PNG keeps the alpha channel of the HEIC.
- Kept: PNG adds no compression loss of its own, but it cannot bring back detail the HEIC compression already removed. The bit-depth and colour-space changes listed here still apply.
- Lost or changed: HEIC can hold more than 8 bits per channel (8 or 10 bits per channel in phone photos); a browser canvas works at 8 bits, so 10-, 12- or 16-bit files are reduced to 8 bits per channel.
- Lost or changed: Metadata is not carried over: the HEIC's EXIF, XMP, depth and HDR items are dropped by the canvas, and EXIF orientation is applied to the pixels first so the photo stays upright.
- Lost or changed: Colours are mapped to sRGB: iPhone HEIC photos are usually in the wider Display P3 colour space, and the browser canvas PixelFit draws on works in sRGB, so the most saturated reds and greens are pulled slightly inside the sRGB range.
Measured file size: HEIC vs PNG
sharp 0.35.5 / libvips 8.18.7, 31 October 2026, long edge 1600 px; PNG saved as lossless, zlib level 6, RGBA. The 4032×3024 rows are the landscape at its full 12-megapixel camera resolution.
| Sample | PNG | PNG settings |
|---|---|---|
| portrait photo (1281×1600 px) | 4.46 MB (4,679,548 bytes) | lossless, zlib level 6, RGBA |
| portrait photo (1281×1600 px) | 782 KB (800,924 bytes) | palette of up to 256 colours, zlib level 9 |
| landscape photo (1600×1200 px) | 4.74 MB (4,972,383 bytes) | lossless, zlib level 6, RGBA |
| landscape photo (1600×1200 px) | 1.15 MB (1,210,764 bytes) | palette of up to 256 colours, zlib level 9 |
| landscape photo (4032×3024 px) | 27.1 MB (28,391,611 bytes) | lossless, zlib level 6, full resolution |
| scanned typed letter (1273×1600 px) | 2.59 MB (2,714,410 bytes) | lossless, zlib level 6, RGBA |
| scanned typed letter (1273×1600 px) | 1.23 MB (1,289,060 bytes) | palette of up to 256 colours, zlib level 9 |
What the numbers mean for HEIC to PNG
We could not measure the HEIC side: sharp's prebuilt libvips has no HEVC encoder, so only the PNG output is shown. The PNG size depends on the pixel size you keep and the colour count, not on the HEIC it came from.
The 4032×3024 rows are a real 12-megapixel phone frame at full resolution: as PNG it took 27.1 MB. A study quoted by the Library of Congress measured an average bit-rate saving of 44% for HEVC still images (the coding inside HEIC) over baseline JPEG at equal quality, so even a JPG is normally larger than the HEIC it comes from, and a lossless PNG far larger.
How to convert HEIC to PNG
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Add the HEIC file
Drop the .heic, .heif file on the tool at the top of this page, tap to choose it, or paste it. Use Safari 17 or later on a Mac, iPhone or iPad, which can decode HEIC. One HEIC photo per run is free; HEIC batches are part of Pro.
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Keep PNG selected
PNG is pre-selected and saved in full colour. Type a maximum size in KB only if the destination sets one; PixelFit then tries fewer colours (a palette PNG) and, if that is not enough, fewer pixels.
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Download the PNG
Save the file ending in .png; its size in KB shows before you save.
HEIC and PNG side by side
HEIC (2017) next to PNG (1996); browser figures checked 31 October 2026.
| Property | HEIC | PNG |
|---|---|---|
| File extensions | .heic, .heif | .png |
| MIME type | image/heic | image/png |
| Compression | lossy | lossless |
| Transparency | yes | yes |
| Animation | yes | yes |
| Largest size | set by the encoder (large images are stored as tiles) | 2,147,483,647 px per side |
| Colour depth | 8 or 10 bits per channel in phone photos | 1 to 16 bits per channel |
| Metadata | EXIF, XMP, depth and HDR items | text chunks, eXIf and ICC data |
| First published | 2017 | 1996 |
| Opens in | Safari 17+ on macOS, iOS and iPadOS; desktop and Android Chrome, Edge and Firefox do not decode it; about 16.93% of browsers in use | Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari (every current browser); about 97.49% of browsers in use |
| Good for | storing iPhone photos in less space than a JPEG of the same quality | screenshots, logos, signatures on white and images with transparency |
| Weak for | Windows PCs without the HEVC extension, Android apps and most upload forms | large photos, which come out several times bigger than a JPEG |
| Specification | HEIF, ISO/IEC 23008-12, HEIC brands (Library of Congress format description) | Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification, Third Edition (W3C) |
When not to change HEIC to PNG
- Changing HEIC to PNG does not restore detail; do it only when the destination demands PNG or you will edit the image further.
- Do not convert HEIC only to save space: HEIC is already the compact format, and our 12-megapixel test frame took 27.1 MB as PNG. Convert when the destination cannot take HEIC.
- In desktop or Android Chrome, Edge and Firefox the tool cannot open the HEIC, because those browsers have no HEIC decoder; PixelFit says so instead of guessing.
Browser support for HEIC and PNG (October 2026)
Reading HEIC (.heic, .heif): Safari 17+ on macOS, iOS and iPadOS; desktop and Android Chrome, Edge and Firefox do not decode it. caniuse puts HEIC support at about 16.93% of browsers in use (data updated 29 October 2026).
Writing PNG from that HEIC: Chrome 50+, Edge 79+, Firefox 18+, Safari 11+ (MDN compatibility data for canvas.toBlob, checked 31 October 2026).
Outside Safari there are honest alternatives: on an iPhone set to Most Compatible, AirDrop or e-mail sends a JPEG; on a Mac, open the HEIC in Preview and use File › Export › PNG. Then bring the PNG back here to hit a size or pixel limit.
Very large HEIC files: with no pixel size set, PixelFit keeps up to 16,777,216 pixels (16.7 megapixels, 4096 × 4096 worth) and scales bigger pictures down to that, because Safari on iPhone and iPad will not create a larger canvas. A 12-megapixel 4032 × 3024 photo keeps its full size.
Upload forms that ask for PNG
10 of the 61 application portals we checked accept PNG photos, 1 of them with a limit of 50 KB or less. A few of them, for this HEIC file (verify with the official notice before you upload):
- Singapore ABTC: PNG photo, up to 8 MB, 400 × 514 px (also takes JPG, HEIC).
- Indonesia e-VOA: PNG photo, up to 200 KB (also takes JPG).
- Canada G5 sponsorship: PNG photo, up to 4 MB, 420 × 540 px (also takes JPG, PDF).
- Canada PR portal: PNG photo, up to 4 MB, 715–2000 × 1000–2800 px (also takes JPG).
Where HEIC files come from
HEIC is the default photo format of iPhones and iPads since iOS 11 (2017). It keeps photos small, but Windows, Android apps and most upload forms expect JPG, PNG or PDF instead, so the HEIC has to become a PNG first.
There is no iPhone camera setting that saves PNG, so the HEIC is decoded once and written as PNG here.
Sources
- HEIF, ISO/IEC 23008-12, HEIC brands (Library of Congress format description), Library of Congress, checked 31 October 2026: loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000526.shtml
- Portable Network Graphics (PNG) Specification, Third Edition (W3C), W3C, checked 31 October 2026: w3.org/TR/png-3/
- caniuse.com “HEIF/HEIC image format” support table, data of 29 October 2026 (CC BY 4.0): caniuse.com/heif
- MDN browser-compat-data, HTMLCanvasElement.toBlob (which browsers write PNG), CC0, checked 31 October 2026: github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data/blob/main/api/HTMLCanv…
- Test photo “Hartz Lake at Hartz Mountain.jpg” by JustinH (Wikimedia Commons user), CC0 1.0, measured by PixelFit with sharp 0.35.5 / libvips 8.18.7 on 31 October 2026: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hartz_Lake_at_Hartz_Mount…
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert HEIC to PNG for free?
Yes, one HEIC photo at a time: the HEIC to PNG change runs free on your device, with no sign-up and no upload. A batch of HEIC photos is part of PixelFit Pro (up to 500 at once, saved as one ZIP), which also runs locally. Reading HEIC needs Safari 17 or later.
How do I convert HEIC to PNG?
Drop the HEIC on the tool above, keep PNG selected, and download the .png file. Add a KB limit if the destination has one.
Does converting HEIC to PNG reduce quality?
PNG adds no compression loss of its own, but it cannot bring back detail the HEIC compression already removed. The bit-depth and colour-space changes listed here still apply.
Why convert HEIC to PNG?
PNG suits screenshots, logos, signatures on white and images with transparency; HEIC is a poor fit for Windows PCs without the HEVC extension, Android apps and most upload forms.
Why can't Chrome open HEIC?
Desktop and Android Chrome, Edge and Firefox ship no HEIC decoder (caniuse and MDN, checked October 2026); Safari 17+ decodes it with the operating system's codec, so PixelFit can read it there and write the PNG.
Related
More HEIC format changes
- HEIC to JPG same HEIC input
- HEIC to PDF same HEIC input
Other files to PNG
- AVIF to PNG also ends as PNG
- GIF to PNG also ends as PNG
- SVG to PNG also ends as PNG
- TIFF to PNG also ends as PNG
- ICO to PNG also ends as PNG