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How to convert images to AVIF on a Mac
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
To make AVIF files on a Mac, select your JPG or PNG images in Finder and run Convert › Convert to AVIF in FileDial. It saves a new AVIF beside each original and works offline. AVIF is a modern royalty-free format that is now supported by all major browsers, but keep a JPG for apps that do not read it.
What AVIF is
AVIF is the AV1 Image File Format, developed by the Alliance for Open Media and released as version 1.0.0 in February 2019. It stores still images and image sequences compressed with the AV1 video codec, inside the HEIF container. It supports lossy and lossless modes, alpha transparency, animation, HDR and 8, 10 and 12-bit colour.
The practical selling point is efficiency. Wikipedia reports that Netflix tests in 2020 found AVIF more efficient than JPEG, with fewer blocking artefacts. FileDial does not quote percentages here because savings depend on the picture.
Where AVIF works today
Wikipedia lists support for AVIF in all major browsers since 2024: Chrome from version 85, Firefox from 93, Safari from 16 and Edge from 121. That makes it a realistic format for your own website images.
Support is thinner outside browsers. Email clients, older editors, print services, and upload forms that only list JPG or PNG may refuse it. Treat AVIF as a delivery format for the web, and keep a JPG or PNG master for everything else.
Convert with FileDial
Select a folder of images and run the tool once. Each AVIF is written as a new copy beside the original, so your masters stay put. The result card reports the size before and after, which is the quickest way to judge whether AVIF paid off for your pictures.
- In Finder, select the JPG or PNG files.
- Hold the right Option key to open the dial, or right-click and choose Open in FileDial.
- Choose Convert, then release on Convert › Convert to AVIF.
- Compare the sizes on the result card and open the AVIF copies in a browser to check them.
AVIF or WebP?
WebP arrived earlier: Google announced it in 2010, and it also does lossy, lossless, transparency and animation. Its support is wider in older software. AVIF generally targets better compression and adds HDR and higher bit depth, but encoding is slower and tooling is younger.
If you already serve WebP and everything works, there is no urgency. If you are building a new site, you can offer AVIF first and fall back to WebP and JPG. FileDial has Convert › Convert to WebP for the second step, which also keeps animated GIFs animated, though metadata is not kept.
- Pick AVIF for photos on your own site where you control fallbacks.
- Pick WebP when you want the widest modern support.
- Pick JPG when you do not know where the file is going.
Testing whether AVIF helps your images
Do not assume AVIF will win on every picture. Smooth photographs and graphics with gradients tend to benefit most, while very noisy or highly detailed images may shrink less, and encoding is slower than for older formats. The honest way to find out is to convert a representative sample and compare sizes on the result card, then open the files in the browsers your visitors use.
Also consider your pipeline. If your CMS, e-commerce platform or image service already converts uploads to modern formats, you may be better off uploading a clean JPG or PNG master and letting it do the work. If you hand-build pages, AVIF with a WebP and JPG fallback is a sound approach. Keep masters in a lossless or high-quality format, because converting from an already-compressed AVIF to something else adds loss. Metadata handling can differ between formats and tools, so check what your converted files carry before publishing anything taken at home.
- Test a sample before converting everything.
- Keep a master you never overwrite.
- Check metadata before publishing.
Mistakes to avoid
Do not delete the JPG or PNG masters after converting. AVIF support, while broad in browsers, is not universal in desktop apps, and a master in a common format keeps your options open. Do not convert an already heavily compressed JPG and expect miracles either: artefacts from the first compression are carried along.
There is no built-in Finder shortcut for AVIF output that we can vouch for across macOS versions, so a dedicated tool is the practical route. If you only publish a few images a year, a build tool or CMS plugin on your site may be less effort than converting by hand. FileDial suits designers and owners who manage assets in folders and want a quick, private batch without uploading unreleased imagery.
Offline matters for site assets
Unreleased product shots and client photos should not go through a stranger's converter. FileDial never uploads files, and every tool runs locally.
Questions
Can macOS open AVIF files?
Recent versions of macOS and Safari can display AVIF, and Safari has supported it since version 16 according to Wikipedia. Other apps vary. If an editor or upload form rejects the file, convert a copy to JPG or PNG with FileDial and keep the AVIF for the web.
Is AVIF better than JPG?
For the same visual quality AVIF is generally more efficient, and Netflix's 2020 tests found fewer blocking artefacts. But compatibility is narrower than JPG, and encoding takes longer. Use it where you control the viewer, such as a website, and keep JPG for sharing.
Does AVIF support transparency and animation?
Yes. The format supports alpha transparency and image sequences, plus HDR and film grain synthesis. For simple animated images, though, WebP or an MP4 may be easier to use in practice, depending on where you publish. Support in older desktop editors is patchier than in browsers, so test a file in the specific app before relying on it.
Will converting delete my original images?
No. FileDial saves each AVIF as a new file beside the original and leaves the original unchanged unless a tool says otherwise up front. Undo is available on the result. AVIF encoding is slower than a quick JPG conversion, so allow extra time for a large folder.