heif.ioWhat are HEIF and HEIC?
HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is a container for pictures, the way MP4 is a container for video. HEIC is the most common kind: a HEIF file whose pictures are compressed with HEVC, the same codec used for 4K video. iPhones have saved photos as HEIC by default since 2017, and many Android and Samsung phones can too.
Why phones use it
- About half the size of JPG at the same quality, so twice as many photos fit.
- More colour: 10-bit depth and wide-gamut profiles such as Display P3, where JPG is limited to 8 bits.
- More than one picture per file: bursts, Live Photos, depth maps for portrait mode, and HDR gain maps.
- Edits without loss: a rotation or crop can be stored as an instruction instead of re-compressing the photo.
HEIF, HEIC, AVIF: which is which
| Name | What it is | Extensions |
|---|---|---|
| HEIF | The container format itself | .heif, .hif |
| HEIC | HEIF with HEVC-compressed pictures | .heic |
| AVIF | The same container with AV1-compressed pictures; royalty-free and read by all current browsers | .avif |
Why it sometimes won't open
HEVC is covered by patents, so software makers pay to include it and some don't. Windows needs two add-ons from the Microsoft Store, most web browsers other than Safari can't show HEIC at all, and many upload forms accept only JPG or PNG. The picture is fine; the program just can't read it.
What to do about it
- Convert it. The converter on this site turns HEIC into JPG, PNG or WebP on your own device, free.
- Teach your computer to read it. Our software picks cover Windows add-ons and batch converters.
- Stop making them. On an iPhone: Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible saves JPG instead, at about twice the size.
What's stored besides the picture
Like JPG, a HEIC file carries metadata: when and where the photo was taken, the camera and its settings, and a colour profile. The metadata viewer shows all of it. It's worth a look before you share a photo publicly, because the location is often in there.