HEIF File Format (.heif)

An HEIF file is a general-purpose container, built on the same ISO base media file format as MP4, that can hold one or more images encoded with any of several codecs, HEVC being the case Apple names HEIC and AV1 being the case standardized separately as AVIF.

.heifImage Files

HEIF at a glance#

Full name	High Efficiency Image Format
File extension	.heif
Category	Image Files
Developer	MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)
First released	2015
MIME types	image/heifimage/heif-sequence
Other extensions	.heifs
Compression	Varies from file to file
Specification	ISO/IEC 23008-12 (HEIF)
FileFlip support	FileFlip reads this format but does not write it

What a .heif file can hold#

These are the things a HEIF 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
Multiple images or pages	Yes

Strengths and limitations of HEIF#

What HEIF does well

One container can hold a primary image, thumbnails, bursts and auxiliary images like depth maps or alpha planes without duplicating pixel data
Crops, rotations and tiled grids can be described as instructions over the source pixels instead of a re-encode
Not tied to one codec, so the container keeps working as newer codecs like AV1 replace HEVC

Where HEIF falls short

The .heif extension alone does not say which codec is inside, so opening one needs a codec-aware decoder rather than a fixed HEIF decoder
Software support for the generic .heif case is thinner than for Apple's HEVC-coded .heic case, since most tools target one specific profile
HEVC-coded HEIF content carries the same patent licensing costs that slowed HEIC's arrival in browsers

Expect HEIF, rather than HEIC specifically, from cameras and devices that encode stills with a codec other than HEVC, since HEIF is the umbrella container those files also use.

Convert a HEIF file to JPEG or PNG when the destination only accepts a single, codec-agnostic raster image, since most upload forms and older software carry no HEIF decoder at all.

How to open a .heif file#

A .heif file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts HEIF 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 (with HEIF Image Extensions), Adobe Photoshop, IrfanView
macOS	Preview, Photos, Adobe Photoshop
Linux	GIMP, ImageMagick, libheif tools
Android	Google Photos
Web	FileFlip

HEIF questions people ask#

What's the difference between HEIF and HEIC?

HEIF is the container format, defined by ISO/IEC 23008-12, and it can hold images encoded with several different codecs. HEIC is specifically a HEIF file whose images are encoded with HEVC, which is the case Apple uses for iPhone and iPad photos, so every HEIC file is a HEIF file but not every HEIF file is a HEIC file.

Is AVIF the same thing as HEIF?

AVIF is a HEIF file whose images are encoded with the AV1 codec, in the same way HEIC is a HEIF file encoded with HEVC. The AVIF specification is written explicitly as a profile of HEIF, but it registers its own MIME type and extension because AV1 avoids the patent licensing that comes with HEVC.

Why does my camera save photos with a .heif extension instead of .heic?

Some cameras, including recent Canon and Sony models, encode HEIF stills for 10-bit HDR photography using a codec setup that isn't the HEVC-in-HEIF case Apple calls HEIC, so they label the file with the generic .heif extension instead. The underlying container is the same either way.

Converting HEIF files#

FileFlip does not write .heif files, so nothing on the site converts into this format. It works as a source only.

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.