What is an AVIF file?
AVIF stands for AV1 Image File Format. It's an image format published by the Alliance for Open Media, the group behind AV1, a video codec (the method a file uses to compress a picture and rebuild it later), and version 1.0 was finalised on 19 February 2019.
An AVIF file is a single frame of AV1 video stored inside a HEIF container (the file wrapper), the same wrapper Apple uses for HEIC. AV1 is very good at squeezing pictures, so an AVIF photo is often much smaller than a JPG that looks the same on screen.
The format can also hold more than a JPG can: 8-, 10- and 12-bit colour, HDR (extra bright, high-contrast images), a transparent background, and animation. Netflix published its case for AVIF in February 2020, and by January 2024 every major browser could display it. That's why so many websites now serve AVIF, and why so many .avif files end up in Downloads folders.
Why an AVIF file won't open, and where it fails
A browser can show AVIF. Much of the other software on your computer still can't.
The usual path to trouble starts with a right-click. You choose Save image as and get a file ending in .avif, because that's what the site sent and the browser saves what it received. Then you try to use the file somewhere else and it's refused.
Places where a .avif file commonly fails:
- Windows Photos, Paint and File Explorer thumbnails on a PC without Microsoft's free AV1 Video Extension installed
- Word and PowerPoint for Mac, which don't accept AVIF pictures
- Photoshop older than version 26.8 (June 2025), the first release that both opens and saves AVIF
- Upload forms on job portals, government sites and school systems that were built with JPG and PNG in mind
- Phones on Android 11 or older, which have no system AVIF decoder, so most gallery apps can't show the file
Converting the file to JPG or PNG fixes all of these at once. The next section helps you pick which one.
Convert AVIF to JPG, PNG and other formats
Pick JPG for photos and anything you need to upload or email. Pick PNG when the image has a transparent background or you plan to edit it. Everything else is for a specific job.
AVIF to JPG
The conversion most people need. JPG has opened on every computer, phone and website since the 1990s. It drops transparency and HDR, which doesn't matter for a normal photo.
AVIF to PNG
PNG can store transparency and doesn't add another round of lossy compression (compression that drops some detail to save space). Choose it for logos, cut-outs, screenshots and images headed for an editor. Expect a much larger file.
AVIF to WebP
WebP has had wide support for years longer than AVIF, in browsers and in most CMS and editing tools. It's the fallback when a system refuses AVIF but you still want a small web file.
AVIF to PDF
Wraps the image in a one-page PDF, which is handy for portals that only accept documents. Several pages can then be joined with the merge PDF tool.
AVIF to GIF
GIF is limited to 256 colours, so photos come out grainy. Use it only when a system demands .gif. An animated AVIF becomes a single still frame here, not an animated GIF.
AVIF to BMP and AVIF to TIFF
Targets for older Windows programs and for print workflows that ask for TIFF.
AVIF to ICO
Makes a Windows icon file from the image. Start with a square picture, because icons are small and fine detail is lost.
AVIF to JPEG
The same format as JPG with the four-letter extension. Use it when a form insists on .jpeg.
Convert other formats to AVIF
Going the other way makes sense for one reason: file size on a website you control. Nearly every browser in use today can display AVIF, and WordPress has accepted AVIF uploads since version 6.5 (April 2024), so a smaller AVIF usually means a faster page.
Supported sources: PNG to AVIF, JPG to AVIF, JPEG to AVIF, WebP to AVIF, HEIC to AVIF, BMP to AVIF, GIF to AVIF, TIFF to AVIF, TGA to AVIF and ICO to AVIF.
Two things to know before you start. AV1 encoding is slow compared with JPG, so a 24-megapixel photo takes a few seconds rather than an instant. And an animated GIF or WebP keeps only its first frame; the result is a still AVIF.
Don't convert to AVIF for sharing with people. Send JPG unless you know the other side can open AVIF.
How to convert an AVIF file
- Drop up to 5 files into the box at the top of this page, or tap it to pick them. Each file can be up to 300 MB.
- Choose a target format next to each file. Files in the same batch can go to different formats.
- Press Convert, wait for the upload and processing to finish, then download each result.
Files are uploaded and converted on our servers, so on a slow connection the upload is the longest step. The tool is free and needs no account, and results carry no watermark. There's no quality slider or resize option; each format is written at its standard settings. To shrink a result or change its dimensions afterwards, use the image compressor or the resize tool.
Which browsers, phones and programs open AVIF
| Where | AVIF support |
|---|---|
| Chrome | Version 85 (August 2020) and later |
| Firefox | Version 93 (October 2021) and later |
| Safari | On iPhone from iOS 16 (September 2022), and Safari 16.4 on Mac (March 2023) |
| Microsoft Edge | Version 121 (January 2024) and later |
| Windows 10 and 11 | Photos, Paint, Explorer thumbnails and Office, but only after installing the free AV1 Video Extension from the Microsoft Store |
| macOS | Preview, Quick Look and Finder from macOS 13 Ventura |
| iPhone and iPad | Photos and Files from iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 |
| Android | Android 12 and later for 8-bit images; 10-bit depends on the phone |
| GIMP | Opens and exports AVIF from 2.10.22 (October 2020) |
| Photoshop | Opens and saves AVIF from 26.8 (June 2025); saving flattens layers |
| Word and PowerPoint for Mac | Not accepted, as of 2026 |
If your device is on this list and the file still won't open, it may not be a real AVIF. See the mistakes below.
AVIF technical details
- Full name: AV1 Image File Format
- Publisher: Alliance for Open Media (AOM); version 1.0.0 on 19 February 2019, version 1.2.0 on 16 October 2025
- Container (the file wrapper): HEIF, the same family as HEIC
- Codec: AV1 still frames, with lossy and lossless modes
- Extensions: .avif, and .avifs for image sequences
- MIME type: image/avif
- Colour: 8, 10 or 12 bits per channel; HDR; a wider range of colours than JPG
- Transparency: yes, stored as a separate transparency layer
- Animation: yes, as an AV1 image sequence
- Profiles: Baseline (coded images up to 4K) and Advanced (up to 16384 by 8704 pixels)
Common mistakes with AVIF files
Renaming the file is the big one. Changing photo.avif to photo.jpg doesn't change the bytes inside, so the file is still AVIF and still won't open. Only a real conversion rewrites the pixels in the new format.
The opposite also happens. Some downloads named .jpg are AVIF or WebP inside, because the site served a modern format under an old name. If a .jpg refuses to open, upload it to the converter anyway. The converter reads the file contents, not the name.
Expecting animation to survive. An animated AVIF converted to GIF, PNG or JPG keeps only its first frame.
Expecting HDR to survive. JPG, PNG and the other targets here are standard dynamic range, so a 10-bit HDR AVIF comes out as a normal image. Bright highlights may look flatter than they did in the browser.
Deleting the original. Keep the .avif. It's the smallest and most complete copy you have, and every other format starts from it.