How to convert HEIC to PNG without uploading it
Every "free" online HEIC converter you've used uploads your photos to a company server, converts them there, and — in several documented cases — keeps a copy or a live download link for days. For family photos, IDs, and anything personal, that's an unnecessary risk. The safer approach is to convert the file where it already is: on your own device.
This tool does exactly that. When you drop a HEIC here, your browser:
- Loads a real HEIC decoder (libheif, compiled to WebAssembly) — but only when you convert your first file, so the page itself stays light.
- Decodes each photo in a background thread, one file at a time, so the page never freezes — even on a camera-roll batch.
- Reads the photo's orientation data and stores the output upright, so a portrait photo doesn't come back sideways.
- Re-encodes it as a lossless PNG with a canvas, preserving the decoded pixels exactly — and any alpha channel the source carries — and hands you the result as a download. Your original file is never modified.
Why is the PNG so much bigger than the HEIC?
HEIC uses HEVC compression, one of the most efficient formats in use — a photo takes roughly a tenth of the space of the same pixels stored losslessly. PNG, by design, throws nothing away: it stores every pixel exactly, so the file is typically 5–10× larger than the HEIC it came from. That is the price of perfect fidelity, and it is expected — the before/after panel on each file shows the honest sizes. If the bigger file surprises you, JPG is the smaller alternative: our HEIC to JPG converter produces the same photo at a fraction of the size.
PNG or JPG — which should you pick?
Pick PNG when you need every pixel exactly as decoded: editing, archiving, screenshots, graphics with sharp edges and text, or any file that carries transparency. Pick JPG when file size matters more than pixel-perfect fidelity — sharing, uploading to forms with size limits, or storing a large camera roll. Both converters run entirely on your device with the same privacy guarantee.
Why won't my iPhone photos open on Windows?
Since iOS 11, iPhones save photos as HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) by default. HEIC uses the same HEVC compression as 4K video, so a photo takes roughly half the space of a JPG and a tenth of a PNG. The catch: Windows, most web upload forms, and older photo editors don't include a HEIC decoder, so the file either won't open or uploads as an unusable attachment. Converting to PNG fixes compatibility everywhere — at the cost of a much larger file, because PNG stores every pixel losslessly.
Stop your iPhone taking HEIC photos
To save future photos as JPEG instead: open Settings → Camera → Formats and choose Most Compatible. New photos will be JPEGs. Your existing photos stay in HEIC — convert those here. Note that "Most Compatible" photos take roughly twice the storage space, which is why Apple made HEIC the default.
Honest limitations
PNGs are much larger than HEICs
Expect 5–10× the size of the original. There is no quality slider to turn down — PNG is lossless by definition, so a smaller PNG of the same pixels does not exist. For smaller files, convert to JPG instead.
Live Photos lose the motion
A Live Photo is a still plus a short video. Only the first still is converted; the video part is dropped. Keep your original if you want the motion.
Portrait blur can't be re-adjusted
Portrait-mode depth data doesn't survive into a standard PNG, so background blur is baked in and can no longer be changed afterwards.
HDR and metadata are simplified
HDR / 10-bit HEIC photos are tone-mapped down to 8-bit, and camera metadata (EXIF, including location) is stripped on re-encode. Orientation is preserved — the output is stored upright.
Ordinary photos have no transparency
iPhone photos are opaque, so the PNG is opaque too — there is no transparency to preserve. If a HEIC does carry an alpha channel, the PNG keeps it exactly.