AVIF to JPG

The newest web image format, and the one least software has caught up with. This turns it into the format that always works.

Runs on your device — images are never uploaded

Drop your images here

or click to browse — as many as you like

AVIF

Convert to

Opens anywhere. No transparency, and each save loses a little.

90 is the sensible default. Below about 70 the edges of text and flat colour start to show it.

Converting is not compressing. Going to PNG makes most photographs larger, and no conversion can put back detail an earlier JPG already discarded.

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How it works

Three steps, no account, and the images never leave your computer.

STEP 01

Drop the AVIF files in

As many as you like. Anything your browser can open is accepted, so a mixed folder is fine too.

STEP 02

JPG is already selected

Change it if you want something else, and adjust the quality if the format has one. The panel warns you if transparency is about to be lost.

STEP 03

Convert and save

One file downloads on its own; several come down as a ZIP. Each shows whether it ended up smaller or larger than it started.

Why people do this conversion

An image saved from a modern website

Sites optimising for speed increasingly serve AVIF, and the saved file will not open in most desktop software.

Windows Photos refusing to open it

Windows needs an extension from the Store for AVIF, and it is not installed by default. Converting is faster than fixing that.

An upload form that rejects it

Almost no form accepts AVIF yet. JPG is on every accept list ever written.

Sending it to somebody else

You cannot know what they will open it with. JPG is the only safe assumption.

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What AVIF is and why you cannot open it

AVIF is the current best answer to the question of how small a photograph can be made without looking worse. It is built on the AV1 video codec, and it beats both JPG and WebP — commonly by 50% against JPG at the same visible quality.

Websites that care about speed have started serving it. Which means, like WebP before it, people now save images from the web and end up with files nothing on their computer will open.

The support gap

Browsers were quick. Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge all read AVIF now. Everything else has been slower, and the gap is wider than it ever was for WebP:

WhereReads AVIF?
Current browsersYes, all of them
Windows PhotosOnly with an extension installed
Older macOS and iOSNo
Photoshop and most editorsRecent versions only, sometimes via a plugin
Upload forms and print shopsAlmost never

Converting to JPG removes the question permanently. JPG has been readable by everything for thirty years.

The file will get bigger

Expect the JPG to be roughly twice the size of the AVIF, sometimes more. That is not a fault in the conversion — it is the measure of how much better AVIF compresses. You are trading size for the ability to open the file.

And it is a re-encode

AVIF is lossy, JPG is lossy, so this decodes and compresses again. At the default quality of 90 the result is visually indistinguishable from the AVIF on a photograph. Do it once and keep the original if you have anywhere to put it.

Transparency and animation

AVIF can hold both. JPG can hold neither. Transparency is filled with a colour you choose, white by default, and an animated AVIF keeps only its first frame. If either matters, convert to PNG instead — though PNG will be very much larger.

This conversion works because your browser can already decode AVIF; that is what it was built to do. The picture is decoded and re-encoded on your own machine and never sent anywhere.

Common questions

What is an AVIF file?

A modern image format built on the AV1 video codec. It compresses far better than JPG — often half the size for the same visible quality — which is why fast websites have started using it.

Why will my software not open it?

Support outside browsers is still thin. Windows needs an extension, older macOS versions cannot read it at all, and most editors only added it recently. Browsers all handle it, which is why this page can.

Will the JPG be bigger?

Yes, usually about twice the size. That difference is exactly how much better AVIF compresses — you are trading file size for being able to open it.

Is quality lost?

A little, since both formats are lossy and this is a re-encode. At the default setting it is not visible on a photograph.

What about transparency or animation?

JPG supports neither. Transparency is filled with a colour you pick, and an animated AVIF keeps only its first frame. Convert to PNG if you need transparency kept.

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