HEIC to PNG: When to Convert, When Not
PNG is the right landing format for a HEIC photo you plan to edit, not one you just want to share. Here is what the lossless conversion does, and doesn't, do.
To convert a HEIC photo to PNG, drop the file into HEIC to PNG and download the result. There is one button and no settings — the conversion runs in your browser, and your photo is never uploaded to a server. The more useful question is whether PNG is the format you actually want, because for most iPhone photos it is not.
When PNG is the right target for a HEIC photo
Pick PNG when the photo is heading into editing or design work — layering it into a graphic, dropping it into a document, or handing it to software that expects PNG. PNG stores the image losslessly, so it won't stack a fresh round of compression artifacts on top of what the HEIC already contains as you re-save and export.
For the ordinary case — sending a photo to someone, uploading it to a form, or getting an iPhone picture to open on a Windows PC — HEIC to JPG is the better choice. JPG files are far smaller and are what most upload forms explicitly ask for. Our companion guide on why iPhone photos won't open covers that route in full.
What converting HEIC to PNG actually does to your image
Three things are worth being clear about, because the PNG label carries assumptions that don't hold for a camera photo.
It's lossless from here, not lossless overall. PNG encoding adds no new artifacts, but it can't undo the compression HEIC already applied. HEIC is itself a lossy format, so the detail your iPhone discarded when it saved the shot is gone — PNG preserves what's left perfectly, it doesn't restore what was lost. Converting a HEIC to PNG and back to HEIC is not a round trip you get for free.
It does not add transparency. People often reach for PNG because it supports transparent backgrounds, but a photo from your camera has no transparency to carry — every pixel is opaque. The converted PNG will be a solid, fully opaque image, exactly like the source. If you need a cut-out subject on a transparent background, that's a separate job you'd run on the converted PNG: remove the background, which also happens entirely on your device.
The file gets bigger, often a lot bigger. HEIC exists specifically to make photos small; PNG prioritises exact pixels over file size. Expect the PNG to be several times the weight of the HEIC original. That's normal, not a fault. If the result is too heavy for where it's going, run it through Compress PNG, or convert it onward to PNG to JPG when lossless quality no longer matters.
How to convert HEIC to PNG
- Open HEIC to PNG and drop in your
.heicor.heiffile — or a whole batch of them. - Click convert. There are no options to set; the tool decodes the file and re-encodes it as a standard PNG.
- Download the PNG. Convert several at once and they come back bundled in a single zip, so you're not saving them one by one.
Because the decode-and-encode happens locally in your browser, nothing you convert is sent anywhere — which matters when the files are personal photos or scanned documents rather than holiday snaps.
FAQ
Is HEIC to PNG lossless?
The PNG step is lossless — it adds no new compression. But HEIC is already a lossy format, so the PNG can only preserve the detail that survived your iPhone's original compression; it can't recover what was thrown away when the photo was first saved.
Will my converted PNG have a transparent background?
No. Camera HEIC photos are fully opaque, so the PNG is opaque too. Transparency isn't created by the conversion. To cut a subject out onto a transparent background, remove the background as a separate step.
Why is the PNG so much larger than my HEIC file?
HEIC is built for small files; PNG is built for exact, lossless pixels and doesn't compress photographs nearly as tightly. A PNG several times the size of the HEIC is expected. Compress the PNG or convert it to JPG if you need it lighter.
Should I convert HEIC to PNG or JPG?
PNG for editing and design work where you want lossless output; JPG for sharing, uploading, and general compatibility, where the far smaller file is the point.
Does this work with HEIF files too?
Yes. HEIF and HEIC are closely related, and the converter accepts both, producing a standard PNG from either.