The HEIF file (.heif, .hif)

HEIF, the High Efficiency Image File Format, is a container for images standardised by MPEG as ISO/IEC 23008-12. It doesn't define how pixels are compressed. Instead it borrows the box structure of MP4 and says how to store coded images, how they relate to each other, and what metadata goes with them. One file can hold a single photo, a burst, an exposure bracket, a thumbnail, a depth map, an alpha plane or an image sequence.

The codec inside gives each flavour its name, and usually its extension:

So every HEIC and every AVIF file is a HEIF file, but a .heif file isn't necessarily either. In practice most .heif and .hif files still contain HEVC, because that's what phones and cameras write.

Still images in a HEIF file are items. Each item has a type, and its data can be found through the item location box (iloc). Properties (size, colour, decoder settings, rotation) are stored once and shared between items. References say how items relate. Image sequences, such as bursts or short animations, are stored as tracks instead, like the video in an MP4.

Some items have no coded pixels. They're derived images, recipes that build a picture from other items:

Other items are auxiliary: an alpha plane for transparency, or a depth map from a phone's portrait mode, linked to their picture with an auxl reference and usually hidden. A file can also group items as alternatives of each other (an altr group), so a reader shows one of them.

HEIF has no fixed signature; its media type registration says so. The first box is always ftyp, so bytes 4 to 7 read ftyp, followed by a major brand and a list of compatible brands. Each brand is a four-letter promise that the file follows a certain set of rules. The brands registered with the MP4 Registration Authority include:

A file-type checker should therefore read the ftyp box rather than the extension: a .heif file may say heic and decode like an iPhone photo, or say avci and need an H.264 decoder. The same check tells an AVIF or HEIC file from an MP4 video, which also starts with ftyp.

Many recent mirrorless cameras can save photos as HEIF instead of JPEG, with the .HIF extension. The format inside is HEVC, as in an iPhone's HEIC, but usually at 10 bits per channel, which keeps smooth gradients and leaves more room for editing than an 8-bit JPEG. The .hif extension was added to the HEIF standard in 2020, and is registered for both image/heif and image/heic.

• Canon introduced HEIF with the EOS-1D X Mark III in 2020, followed by the EOS R5 and R6. On Canon cameras it goes with the HDR PQ setting, which records high dynamic range photos for HDR screens.
• Sony cameras offer HEIF at 10 bits with 4:2:0 colour, for smaller files, or 4:2:2, for more colour detail. Sony's Imaging Edge Desktop converts them to JPEG or 16-bit TIFF.
• Fujifilm cameras also save 10-bit HEIF, as .HIF files, as an alternative to JPEG.

Not every app that opens iPhone photos opens these. Some don't recognise the .hif extension, some can't decode 10-bit or 4:2:2 HEVC, and HDR PQ photos look flat or washed out in software that treats them as ordinary images. Canon's Digital Photo Professional and Sony's Imaging Edge Desktop handle their own cameras' files, and Apple's Photos and Preview open many of them.

As with HEIC, the container is rarely the problem. Whether a file opens depends on the codec inside: HEVC is covered by patent licences, so free software often relies on the operating system's decoder, while AV1 is royalty-free and widely available. See our HEIC page for the details.

• On a Mac: double-click to open in Preview, then File > Export to save as JPEG or PNG. In Terminal: sips -s format jpeg photo.heif --out photo.jpg.
• On Windows: install HEIF Image Extensions and, for HEVC files, HEVC Video Extensions, then open the file in Photos and save a copy as JPEG.
• From a camera: the maker's software (Canon Digital Photo Professional, Sony Imaging Edge Desktop) opens and converts its own .HIF files, including 10-bit and HDR versions.
• On Linux or anywhere else: libheif's tools inspect and convert: heif-info photo.heif lists every item, and heif-dec photo.heif photo.png (heif-convert in older versions) converts it. ImageMagick does the same with magick photo.heif photo.jpg.
• In Python: pillow-heif adds HEIF to Pillow: pillow_heif.register_heif_opener(), then Image.open("photo.heif") as usual.
• Keep 10-bit detail: convert to 16-bit PNG or TIFF rather than JPEG if you plan to edit further.

• Windows asks for an extension. HEIF Image Extensions reads the container; the HEVC Video Extensions decode HEVC images inside it. Both are needed for HEIC and most .HIF files.
• The app opens iPhone photos but not camera files. Check the extension (try opening a copy renamed to .heic), then the codec: 10-bit and 4:2:2 HEVC need a decoder that supports them.
• Only part of the image, or a tiny image, appears. The reader didn't assemble the grid, or showed the thumbnail. Use a libheif-based tool.
• The photo is sideways after converting. HEIF stores rotation as an irot property. A converter that applies it and also copies the Exif orientation tag into the JPEG turns the picture twice.
• Only one image of a burst comes out. Most viewers show the primary item only. heif-info lists the rest, and libheif's tools or pillow-heif can extract them.
• Hidden extras. Depth maps, thumbnails and Exif data, including GPS location, travel with the file. Strip metadata with exiftool -all= photo.heif, or convert to JPEG, before sharing publicly.