How to Convert AVIF to JPG on Windows

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, one image at a time, once Windows can open the file. Paint and Photos can open an AVIF image and save a copy in another format.

• Paint: open the image, choose File > Save as > JPEG picture (or PNG picture). There is no quality setting.
• Photos: open the image, click See more (…), choose Save as and pick JPG as the file type. The AVIF stays as it was.
• If an AVIF won't open: Windows needs codecs for it. Install Microsoft's free HEIF Image Extensions and AV1 Video Extension from the Microsoft Store and try again. File Acture reads AVIF through the same Windows codecs, so it needs the same help.

For a handful of images, Paint or Photos is all you need. With dozens, opening and saving each one by hand is slow, and neither app converts a folder in one go. File Acture's Convert Images converts a whole batch of AVIF files to JPG with one quality setting, on your PC.

It reads AVIF through the image codecs Windows provides, the ones the Photos app uses, 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. Each JPG keeps the original file name, and nothing already in the folder is overwritten.

The same tool also writes PNG and WebP. The new files go to Documents › File Acture › Images unless you pick another folder under Folder, and the originals stay as they were.

Choose JPG for photos and PNG for anything with transparency or sharp edges; File Acture and Paint 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 fills transparent areas with white. Choose PNG to keep them.
• Animation: File Acture turns 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. 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 PC; 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 PC, 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.