AVIF to JPG

About this converter

This free AVIF to JPG converter turns an AVIF image into a JPG that opens in essentially everything. Because JPG has no transparency, any transparent areas are filled with a background colour you choose — white by default.

Everything runs in your browser — your image is never uploaded to a server.

What AVIF is, and why you have one

AVIF is the newest of the common image formats, and it is genuinely impressive — which is precisely why it causes trouble.

It is built on AV1, a royalty-free video codec released in 2018 by the Alliance for Open Media, a group including Google, Netflix, Mozilla, Amazon and Apple. AVIF stores a single AV1 video frame as a still image, inheriting years of video compression research.

The result is the best compression in general use: typically 50% smaller than JPG at the same visual quality, and around 20% smaller than WebP. It also supports transparency, HDR, wide colour gamut and 12-bit depth — things JPG has never been able to do.

So websites have started serving it, and because Save image as… keeps whatever the site delivered, you end up with a .avif file you never asked for. The format was chosen by the website, not by you.

Why your software refuses to open it

Browser support arrived reasonably quickly — Chrome in 2020, Firefox in 2021, Safari in 2022 — but software outside the browser is years behind, and much of it may never catch up.

Things that commonly cannot open an AVIF:

• Adobe Photoshop — no native support; it requires a plugin
• Microsoft Office — Word and PowerPoint will not insert one
• Windows Photos — needs the AV1 Video Extension installed from the Store
• macOS Preview — works on Ventura and later, not on older versions
• Print shops and photo labs — JPG, TIFF and PDF, essentially never AVIF
• Upload forms — job portals, government sites, marketplaces and most e-commerce back-ends accept JPG and PNG only
• TVs, photo frames, car displays and older phones
• Most email clients, which show nothing at all

Converting to JPG makes the problem disappear everywhere at once. JPG has been universal since the 1990s, and there is effectively no device or program that cannot read one.

The transparency choice

AVIF can store transparency; JPG cannot, and never could. So every transparent pixel has to become a real colour, and you are picking which.

White is the sensible default, matching most documents and most pages.

If the image will sit on a coloured background, choose that colour instead — otherwise a cut-out logo arrives inside a white rectangle. That is not a conversion fault; it is the transparency being filled with the colour you selected.

If keeping the transparency matters, do not convert to JPG. Use AVIF to PNG instead, which preserves it exactly. JPG is the right destination when the image is a photograph, or when a system specifically demands JPG.

Expect a bigger file, and a little quality loss

Two things to expect, both normal.

The JPG will usually be larger — often close to twice the size. AVIF compresses far more efficiently, so converting to JPG deliberately trades bytes for compatibility. On a file you are about to print, email or upload, that trade is exactly the one you want.

A small amount of quality is lost. Both formats are lossy, so the conversion decodes the AVIF and re-encodes it as JPG, adding a second round of loss on top of the first. One conversion at a reasonable quality setting is not visible at normal viewing size.

What does cause visible damage is repeated conversion — AVIF to JPG to AVIF to JPG will degrade noticeably. Always start from the best copy you have rather than converting a converted file.

One more consequence: AVIF supports HDR and wide colour. JPG is generally 8-bit sRGB. Converting an HDR image therefore compresses its brightness range down to standard, which can look flatter than the original. Most web images are not HDR, so this rarely arises.

How to use it

• Upload your AVIF — click the upload area or drag and drop an .avif file
• Pick a background colour — used to fill any transparent areas
• Download — save your JPG

Good to know

• Your browser must be able to read AVIF. Recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari can. A very old browser cannot, and the conversion will fail.
• Expect a larger file. That is the compatibility you are buying.
• Animated AVIF loses its animation. JPG holds a single frame; convert to GIF or MP4 instead.
• EXIF data is usually dropped, including GPS coordinates. Good for privacy, inconvenient if you wanted the camera details.
• For a screenshot, logo or anything with text, PNG is the better target — JPG compression smudges sharp edges.
• .jpg and .jpeg are the same format; the shorter name is a leftover from three-character file extensions.

Common questions

What is an AVIF file and why can't I open it?

AVIF is a modern image format based on the AV1 video codec, giving roughly half the file size of a JPG at the same quality. Browsers support it, but most desktop and mobile software does not — Photoshop needs a plugin, Office will not insert one, and print shops and upload forms generally refuse it. Converting to JPG removes the problem everywhere.

Why did my download save as AVIF instead of JPG?

Because the website served AVIF to make its pages load faster, and Save image as… saves the file exactly as it was delivered rather than converting it. The format was chosen by the site. Your browser can display it perfectly well, which is why the problem only appears once you try to use the file elsewhere.

Will converting to JPG lose quality?

A little, unavoidably. Both formats are lossy, so re-encoding adds a second small round of loss on top of the first. A single conversion at a good quality setting is not visible at normal viewing size. Converting back and forth repeatedly is what causes obvious degradation, so always work from the best copy you have.

Why is my JPG bigger than the AVIF was?

Because AVIF compresses far more efficiently — typically 50% better than JPG, which is the reason websites adopted it. Converting to JPG trades file size for compatibility, and that is precisely the point when the file is headed for a printer, an upload form or software that cannot read AVIF.

What happens to a transparent background?

It is filled with the background colour you choose, since JPG cannot store transparency at all. White is the usual default, but pick the colour the image will actually sit on, or a cut-out will arrive with a white box around it. To keep transparency, convert to PNG instead.

Should I convert AVIF to JPG or PNG?

JPG for photographs and whenever a system demands JPG specifically. PNG when the image has transparency you need to keep, or when it is a logo, screenshot or diagram containing text and sharp edges — JPG compression blurs those, while PNG reproduces them exactly.

Is my image uploaded anywhere?

No. Your browser decodes the AVIF and writes the JPG entirely on your own device. Nothing is transmitted and nothing is stored, so the conversion works with your connection switched off.

Related tools

• AVIF to PNG — convert instead to PNG and keep the transparency
• WebP to JPG — the same problem with the other modern format
• Image Compressor — bring the JPG size back down
• Image Converter — convert between all the common formats in one place