What does AVIF stand for?
AV1 Image File Format. An AVIF file holds an image compressed with AV1, a royalty-free video codec from the Alliance for Open Media, an industry group formed to build open media formats. The container is the same HEIF structure that iPhone HEIC photos use; only the compression inside differs.
The Alliance for Open Media published version 1.0.0 of the AVIF specification in February 2019. Like WebP, AVIF can be lossy or lossless, can have a transparent background and can hold an animation, and unlike WebP, or the 8-bit JPEGs that nearly all software produces, it also supports high dynamic range and more than 8 bits per color channel.
Why do websites use AVIF?
Because it is often the smallest file for a given quality. AV1 is newer than the methods behind JPEG and WebP, and it holds smooth gradients and fine texture well at low file sizes, so an AVIF version of a photo is frequently smaller than a WebP or a JPEG that looks the same. Many sites and image services send AVIF to browsers that accept it.
That is why a picture from a web page can land on your disk as .avif, and why a program on your computer may then refuse to open it.
What opens an AVIF file?
| Where | Opens AVIF? |
|---|---|
| Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari | Yes, in every current version |
| Android | Yes, from Android 12 |
| Windows | Depends on the version; the Photos app relies on Microsoft's AV1 Video Extension from the Microsoft Store |
| Older software and upload forms | Often not |
| File4Edit | Yes, to turn into a JPG, PNG, WebP and other formats |
Google's Android developers documentation lists AVIF support among the platform features that arrived in Android 12.
Why can't browsers save AVIF on their own?
Their built-in image encoders do not include it. Browsers display AVIF, but none can encode it from a canvas, which is how File4Edit writes most formats. A page can still produce AVIF with an encoder compiled to WebAssembly, as File4Edit does for WebP in Safari, but File4Edit includes no such encoder for AVIF, so it opens AVIF files and never offers AVIF as an output format.
Desktop and server software can create AVIF files, and so can the image services that prepare pictures for websites. For images made in a browser today, WebP is the practical choice: smaller than JPEG, transparent where needed, and available in every browser.
How do you convert an AVIF to JPG or PNG?
In any current browser, with nothing to install. The AVIF to JPG converter turns AVIF images into JPEGs that open everywhere, filling any transparent areas with a color you choose. To keep transparency, open the image converter and choose PNG or WebP instead.
Converting away from AVIF costs a little detail when the target is lossy, and a larger file when it is JPEG, because AVIF is the more efficient format. That is the price of a file every program can open.
AVIF vs WebP: which is better?
AVIF usually wins on size, and WebP on nearly everything else. AVIF files are often smaller at the same quality, especially for photos with smooth gradients. WebP is quicker to make and to decode, has been supported for longer, and File4Edit can make it in any browser, which it cannot do for AVIF.
Websites often offer both, with the HTML picture element listing AVIF first and WebP or JPEG as the fallback. For a single file that you make and send yourself, WebP is the one File4Edit can create.