You save a picture and your editor refuses to open it. You copy photos from an iPhone and half of them look blank on a Windows computer. A form says the file type is not supported, though the picture looks perfectly normal. Almost always, the cause is the same: a modern image format that is better than JPG in some ways and less widely supported.
Three formats, one idea
HEIC, WebP and AVIF were all created to make images smaller without making them look worse. Smaller images mean faster websites and more photos on a phone. The trade-off is compatibility.
HEIC
HEIC is the file extension Apple uses for photos in the HEIF container, compressed with a modern video codec called HEVC. iPhones save photos this way by default, which is why they take about half the space of the same photo as a JPG.
WebP
WebP was created by Google, and released in 2010, to make web images smaller. Many large websites serve it automatically to browsers that support it. When you right-click and save an image from such a site, you often get a WebP file even though the page seemed to show a JPG or PNG.
AVIF
AVIF is built on AV1, a video compression technology designed to be efficient and free of licence fees. It usually makes smaller files than WebP and JPG at the same quality. Websites and image services are adopting it quickly, and desktop software is catching up more slowly.
Why compatibility is the problem
JPG dates from the early 1990s, and every device on earth understands it. Newer formats need newer software. Windows may need extra codecs to show HEIC. Older photo editors, word processors, print shop software and many upload forms were built before these formats existed, so they reject them. The file is fine; the program is old.
How to fix it
- Convert the file. Use the HEIC to JPG converter, the WebP to JPG converter or the AVIF to JPG converter. Drop the files in, choose JPG for photographs or PNG for graphics, and download.
- Change the source. On an iPhone, open Settings, then Camera, then Formats, and choose Most Compatible, so new photos are saved as JPG. Old photos stay as HEIC.
- Let the device convert on transfer. The iPhone’s Photos settings include a transfer option that can convert photos when you copy them to a computer.
JPG or PNG after converting?
Think about what the picture is. For a photograph, choose JPG: the file stays reasonably small and every program opens it. For a logo, a screenshot, a chart or anything with sharp text, choose PNG so the edges stay crisp. For an image with a see-through background, PNG keeps the transparency, while JPG fills the transparent area with a colour.
Will I lose quality?
Converting to JPG at about 90 percent quality keeps a photograph looking the same to the eye, though the file becomes larger, often by half or more, because the older format is less efficient. PNG avoids any quality loss but produces much bigger files, so use it for the pictures that need it. Live Photos become a single still image, because a JPG cannot hold the short video.
When you do not need to convert
If you only want to look at the picture, any modern browser opens WebP and AVIF directly. If you are putting the image on your own website, WebP is a good format there, and converting it back to JPG would make the page heavier. Convert only when a form, a print shop, a document or an older program refuses the file.
Do not just rename the file
Changing the extension from .webp to .jpg does not convert anything. It only makes the label wrong, and many programs will then fail with a confusing error. Use a converter that actually re-encodes the picture.
Batches and privacy
For a whole holiday of photos, add them in groups of a few dozen, keep the tab open until every file is done, then download the ZIP. The converters run in your browser, so family photos are not uploaded to our servers. Hidden details such as the date and the place a photo was taken usually travel with the file, and you can see or remove them with the EXIF data remover.
The short version
These formats are not broken, just newer than much of the software around them. Convert to JPG or PNG when something refuses them, change your camera format if you want JPG from the start, and keep the originals if you care about the best quality.
Frequently asked questions
Is HEIC better than JPG?
HEIC stores a similar-looking photo in about half the space, so it is better for storage. JPG is better for compatibility, because every device and form understands it. Which is better depends on where the photo is going.
Can I stop getting WebP files when I save images?
Not reliably. The website decides which format to send, and the browser saves what it receives. The simple fix is to convert the file afterwards.
Is converting lossless?
Converting to PNG keeps every pixel, but files get large. Converting to JPG at high quality looks the same to the eye, though it is technically lossy.
Why is my JPG bigger than the original HEIC, WebP or AVIF?
Those formats compress more efficiently, so the same picture needs more space as a JPG. Shrink it afterwards with the image compressor if size matters.