HEIF vs HEIC in plain English
HEIF (High Efficiency Image File Format) is a container: a box that can hold one or more images plus thumbnails, depth maps and metadata. HEIC is the name for a HEIF file whose pictures are compressed with HEVC, also called H.265. Apple uses the .heic extension; many other devices use .heif for what is usually the same kind of file.
So if you have .heif photos, the practical answer is the same as for HEIC: great compression, poor compatibility. Our HEIC vs HEIF guide goes deeper on the naming mess.
Where .heif files come from
| Source | How you end up with HEIF |
|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy phones | A “high efficiency pictures” camera setting saves HEIF |
| Other Android phones | Some camera apps offer HEIF to save storage |
| Mirrorless cameras | Some recent Canon, Sony and other models can shoot HEIF, often 10-bit |
| iPhones and iPads | Usually .heic, but some apps and exports use .heif |
The common thread: the device saves space, and the problem appears the moment you move the photos to a PC, a website or a friend’s laptop. Many Android phones can view HEIF themselves, but support depends on the phone and the app, as our Android guide explains.
Camera HEIF files and 10-bit colour
Cameras that shoot HEIF often use it for 10-bit images, which hold more tonal steps than an 8-bit JPG. Those files decode fine here. During conversion they’re reduced to 8 bits per channel, because that’s all JPG can store. For sharing, social media, email and prints, you won’t miss anything. If you want to keep editing headroom, convert to PNG instead on our HEIF to PNG page, or keep the original HEIF files as your archive.
Fixing a whole memory card at once
Copy the folder off your phone or SD card, then drop it straight onto the box above. Files are converted in parallel, with pause, resume and retry for the occasional odd file, and the results arrive as one ZIP. Date and camera details are kept so your library still sorts by when you shot each photo. Location is stripped unless you say otherwise.
Nothing leaves your computer
There’s no upload, so it doesn’t matter whether the files are holiday snaps or client shoots. A WebAssembly build of libheif reads the HEIF inside your browser, the JPG encoder runs next to it, and the results go straight to your downloads folder.