How to Convert AVIF to JPG on Mac

AVIF is an image format built on the AV1 video codec. It usually makes smaller files than JPG or PNG and can hold transparency and short animations, so more and more websites serve their images as AVIF, and saving one often gives you an .avif file.

The current versions of all major browsers show AVIF, but support is patchier elsewhere: some upload forms take only JPG or PNG, and older photo and office programs can't open AVIF. JPG opens practically everywhere, which is why it's still the safe format to send.

Yes. macOS opens AVIF files in Preview, so a one-off conversion needs nothing else, and the sips command in Terminal can convert a whole folder.

• Preview, one file: open the AVIF, choose File > Export (File > Export As… in macOS 27), set Format to JPEG (or PNG) and drag the Quality slider. The AVIF stays as it was.
• Preview, several files: open them in one window, select all the thumbnails in the sidebar and export them together from the File menu.
• Terminal, one file: sips -s format jpeg photo.avif --out photo.jpg. Use -s format png for PNG, and add -s formatOptions 85 to set the JPEG quality.
• Terminal, a whole folder: create a folder such as converted, then run sips -s format jpeg *.avif --out converted in the folder that holds the AVIF files. sips replaces same-named files without asking, and without --out it rewrites the original file itself.

For a handful of images, Preview or sips is all you need. With dozens, exporting by hand is slow and commands mean typing. File Acture's Convert Images converts a whole batch of AVIF files to JPG with one quality setting, on your Mac.

It reads AVIF through macOS's own image codecs and never uploads a file. Choose JPEG under Format and set Quality; 85 is the default. Keep metadata is off by default, so any camera details and location are left out, while color profiles are always kept so colors don't shift. Each JPG keeps the original file name, and nothing already in the folder is overwritten.

The same tool also writes PNG, WebP and, where macOS supports them, HEIC and AVIF. Files go to Documents › File Acture › Images unless you choose another folder, and the originals stay as they were.

Choose JPG for photos and PNG for anything with transparency or sharp edges; every method above can write both.

For JPG, the default Quality of 85 is a sensible middle ground. Go up to 90 or more for prints and images you'll edit again, and down to 70 or 75 for pictures that only need to look good on a web page.

• JPG: photos and other pictures with smooth color changes. Files are small and open everywhere, but JPG is lossy and has no transparency.
• PNG: logos, screenshots, text, line art and images with a transparent background. PNG is lossless and keeps transparency, but a photo saved as PNG makes a much larger file.

Check what happens to transparency, animation and file size first.

• Transparency: JPG can't store it, so File Acture paints transparent areas white. sips painted them black in our test on macOS 27, and other tools can differ again, so check the result. Choose PNG to keep them.
• Animation: File Acture and sips turn an animated AVIF into a still JPG made from its first frame.
• File size: a JPG is often larger than the AVIF it came from: in our tests, at quality 85, a 510 KB AVIF photo became a 575 KB JPG and a 409 KB one became 812 KB. To fit an upload limit, use Compress Images with a target such as 500 KB.
• Other formats: for WebP files, see how to convert WebP to JPG. iPhone photos are HEIC: convert HEIC to JPG.
• Batches: the free version converts up to 5 images per run, with 3 runs on each Mac; see pricing for Pro.

Online converters upload your images to someone else's server, a poor fit for private photos and client files. File Acture converts on your Mac, so the files never leave it; the free version needs an internet connection only to count its runs, and Pro works without one.

If the JPG is for a form, it probably has a KB limit too: pixel and KB limits, explained.