How to convert HEIC to PNG
- Add your photos with “Choose HEIC photos” or by dropping them on the box. PNG is already selected, and there is no quality setting because PNG is lossless.
- Wait a moment for the first photo: the page fetches its decoder then. Later photos go faster.
- Download each PNG, or take the whole batch with “Download all as ZIP”. Your HEIC originals aren’t changed.
When PNG is the right choice for a HEIC photo
- You are going to edit it. Each time a JPG is saved it loses a little more detail. A PNG can go through as many rounds of editing as you like without that loss.
- A form or print service asks for PNG. Some upload forms and design tools name it specifically.
- The picture has text or sharp lines. A screenshot or a photo of a document stays free of the halos JPG can leave around edges.
- The file has transparency. PNG keeps a transparent background if the HEIC has one. MDN calls PNG “the fallback for any image needing transparency”, since JPG has no alpha channel.
For everyday sharing, the HEIC to JPG converter is the better fit, because the file will be far smaller. You can also switch this page to JPG under “Convert to”. JPG vs PNG compares the two formats properly.
What a PNG can’t do
“Lossless” describes what happens from this point on. Your iPhone already compressed the photo when it saved the HEIC, and PNG can’t restore detail that compression removed, so the result won’t look sharper than the original.
It will be much larger. HEIC exists to save space, and PNG’s lossless method struggles with the fine, irregular detail in photographs. A batch can take up a surprising amount of room, which the photo storage calculator helps you plan for, and a large PNG can run into the limit on an upload form. In that case convert to JPG, or use the image compressor.
Why your iPhone won’t save PNG by itself
Apple’s guide to HEIF and HEVC media describes two options under Settings → Camera → Formats: High Efficiency stores photos as HEIF, and Most Compatible stores them as JPEG. Neither gives you PNG. Importing to a computer doesn’t either: Apple says photos “might be converted to JPEG or H.264” on the way. Getting a PNG always takes a conversion step like this one. What is HEIC? explains the format itself.
Why this page brings its own decoder
Your browser most likely can’t read HEIC. Can I use shows support only in Safari 17 and later, on Mac, iPhone and iPad, with no version of Chrome, Edge or Firefox on the list. Its note says “it is hard for browsers to support HEIC because it is complex and expensive to license.”
So the converter uses libheif, an open-source decoder compiled to WebAssembly and packaged by heic-to. It downloads only when you add your first photo, and from then on it runs on your own device. No photo is sent to us. The PNG holds only the picture, so location, camera model and date stay behind in the original. You can check what a photo reveals with remove EXIF data.
Limits to keep in mind
Large batches use a lot of memory, because each photo is held fully decoded while the PNG is written. On an older phone, convert a few at a time. The ZIP stores the PNGs as they are, so it will be about as large as all the files added together. Some HEIF variants, such as burst or depth images, may not decode. You’ll see a message if that happens.