Convert HEIC to PNG

Converting HEIC to PNG is worth doing when the destination matters more than the source. HEIC is built for iPhone camera storage, efficient but rejected by a great deal of software. PNG is built for screenshots, logos and anything needing sharp edges or transparency. Which one you want depends entirely on where the image is going next.

Worth choosing over JPG only when you are about to edit the photograph. PNG stops any further quality loss during editing, though the files are large. For simply sending or uploading a photo, JPG is the better destination.

Worth knowing before you start: converting from HEIC to PNG does not recover quality. HEIC discarded detail permanently when it was first saved, and PNG preserves faithfully whatever it is given, including those existing compression artefacts. The file will get considerably larger with nothing visible gained. Convert from the original if you still have it.

Compatibility is usually the whole reason for this conversion. HEIC is efficient but poorly supported, and plenty of websites, form portals and older applications reject it outright, while PNG is accepted essentially everywhere.

PNG will preserve faithfully whatever it is handed, which from a lossy source means preserving the compression artefacts too. The file grows substantially and looks identical. That is worth it when you are about to edit, because it stops further generation loss, and pointless if you are simply saving a copy.

HEIC is decoded in the browser, which is the part most converters cannot do without sending your photo to a server first. Apple's format is unpacked locally to raw pixels and re-encoded, so iPhone photos convert without an app and without leaving your device.

• Files never leave your device
• No size limits
• Free, no sign-up