AVIF File Format (.avif)
An AVIF file holds a still image or short animation encoded with the AV1 video codec, packaged inside a HEIF-style container that also carries HDR and wide-colour-gamut data alongside the pixels.
AVIF at a glance#
| Full name | AV1 Image File Format |
|---|---|
| File extension | .avif |
| Category | Image Files |
| Developer | Alliance for Open Media |
| First released | 2019 |
| MIME types | image/avif |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless, depending on how the file was written |
| Specification | AV1 Image File Format (AVIF) |
| FileFlip support | FileFlip reads and writes this format |
What a .avif file can hold#
These are the things a AVIF file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.
| Transparency (alpha channel) | Yes |
|---|---|
| Animation | Yes |
| Lossless compression | Yes |
| Embedded metadata | Yes |
| Colour profiles | Yes |
| High dynamic range | Yes |
Strengths and limitations of AVIF#
What AVIF does well
- More than 50% smaller than a JPEG at visually equivalent quality in Google's own web.dev testing
- 10 and 12-bit colour depth plus HDR transfer curves, so bright skies and gradients don't band
- Supports both lossy and lossless encoding in the same container
- Keeps an alpha channel and can hold an animation, so it covers what PNG and GIF each do separately
Where AVIF falls short
- Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons still reject AVIF uploads as of mid-2026
- Windows only ships built-in support from Windows 11 version 22H2 onward; earlier Windows needs the free AV1 extensions from the Microsoft Store
- Encoding is CPU-heavier than JPEG, though recent libaom releases have cut that cost sharply
- Some older photo editors and content management systems still don't recognise the extension
Use AVIF for web images where file size matters most, since it now decodes natively in every major browser and beats JPEG and WebP on compression at the same quality.
Convert AVIF to JPEG or PNG when a file is headed somewhere that still rejects it, such as an older content management system, a print workflow, or an app without AV1 decoding.
How to open a .avif file#
A .avif file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts AVIF into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.
| Platform | Programs that open it |
|---|---|
| Windows | Photos (Windows 11 22H2+), Adobe Photoshop, paint.net, IrfanView, ImageMagick |
| macOS | Preview, Photos, Adobe Photoshop, ImageMagick |
| Linux | GIMP, gThumb, ImageMagick, libavif tools |
| iOS | Photos |
| Android | Chrome, File Viewer for Android |
| Web | FileFlip |
AVIF questions people ask#
What is an AVIF file?
An AVIF file is an image compressed with the AV1 video codec instead of the older JPEG or WebP algorithms, which is why it produces noticeably smaller files at the same visual quality. It was created by the Alliance for Open Media, the same group behind the AV1 video format, and first shipped in 2019.
Do browsers support AVIF now?
Yes. AVIF decodes natively in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, and caniuse.com puts global browser support above 94% as of mid-2026. That makes it safe to use directly in a website without a JPEG fallback for most audiences.
Is AVIF better than WebP?
AVIF generally compresses photographic images smaller than WebP at the same visual quality, and it supports higher bit depth and HDR, which WebP does not. WebP still encodes faster and has been supported in browsers for longer, which is why some tools default to it.
Why won't a website accept my AVIF upload?
Plenty of older content management systems, forums and stock photo sites still only recognise JPEG, PNG and sometimes WebP, because AVIF support was added to their upload validators later or not at all. Converting the AVIF to JPEG usually clears the block immediately.
Can Windows open AVIF files?
Windows 11 version 22H2 and later opens AVIF files out of the box in Photos and File Explorer thumbnails. Earlier versions of Windows 10 and 11 need the free AV1 Video Extension and AVIF Image Extension installed from the Microsoft Store first.
Converting AVIF files#
Convert AVIF to another format
- AVIF to JPG
- AVIF to PNG
- AVIF to BMP
- AVIF to DOCX
- AVIF to EPUB
- AVIF to GIF
- AVIF to HTML
- AVIF to ICO
- AVIF to JPEG
- AVIF to JXL
- AVIF to LaTeX
- AVIF to Markdown
- AVIF to ODT
- AVIF to PDF
- AVIF to PPTX
- AVIF to PSD
- AVIF to RTF
- AVIF to TIFF
- AVIF to TXT
- AVIF to WEBP
- AVIF to AsciiDoc
- AVIF to BBCode
- AVIF to BibTeX
- AVIF to BMP2
See every AVIF conversion (37 more)
Convert another format to AVIF
- ARW to AVIF
- BMP to AVIF
- CR2 to AVIF
- CR3 to AVIF
- DNG to AVIF
- DOCX to AVIF
- EPUB to AVIF
- GIF to AVIF
- HEIC to AVIF
- HEIF to AVIF
- HTML to AVIF
- ICO to AVIF
- JPEG to AVIF
- JPG to AVIF
- JXL to AVIF
- LaTeX to AVIF
- Markdown to AVIF
- MOBI to AVIF
- NEF to AVIF
- ODT to AVIF
- PDF to AVIF
- PNG to AVIF
- PPTX to AVIF
- PSD to AVIF
See every image conversion (62 more)
Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.