Convert HEIC Files Without Uploading Them Anywhere
Every "free online HEIC converter" you've used almost certainly works the same way: your photo uploads to a server, the server converts it, you download the result. That means a copy of your photo — your kids, your documents, your house keys in the background — sits on someone else's disk, governed by a privacy policy nobody reads. There's a better architecture, and this site is built on it.
How client-side conversion works
Modern browsers can execute near-native code via WebAssembly (WASM). HEIC Tap ships a full HEVC image decoder (libheif, the same library desktop apps use) to your browser as a WASM module. When you drop a photo onto the page:
- The file is read from your disk into the browser's memory — it is never put on the network.
- The WASM decoder decompresses the HEIC into raw pixels, on your CPU.
- The browser re-encodes those pixels as PNG or JPG and hands you the file.
You can verify this yourself: open the converter, load your files, then turn on airplane mode or pull the network cable. Conversion still works — because the server was never in the loop.
Why it matters beyond privacy vibes
- Legal/compliance: photos of IDs, contracts, or patients never leave the device — no third-party-processing questions to answer.
- Speed on real connections: no upload/download round trip. A 50 MB batch converts as fast as your CPU decodes it, not as fast as your upload bandwidth trickles.
- Server economics: no server compute or storage means no reason to meter, watermark, or gate conversions behind an account. That's why this site has no file limits.
- No decay: server-side converters shut down or get acquired; a client-side tool works as long as the page loads.
The honest tradeoff
Client-side conversion is bounded by your device's memory and CPU. A 48-megapixel ProRAW-adjacent HEIC on a 2015 laptop will be slower than a server with an HEVC hardware decoder, and a batch of thousands of files can strain a phone. For those cases, splitting into smaller batches fixes it. For everything else — the overwhelming majority of HEIC conversions — in-browser wins on privacy, speed, and reliability simultaneously.
Try the private converter — free, batch, and nothing ever leaves your device.
Try the private converterFrequently asked questions
Do online HEIC converters keep my photos?
Server-based ones necessarily receive a copy — that's how they function. Retention varies from 'deleted in an hour' to 'used for service improvement.' Client-side converters like this one receive nothing, so retention policy is moot.
Can HEIC Tap see my files?
No. The page's JavaScript reads the file from your own disk via the browser's file picker API. There is no upload request to intercept — check your browser's developer tools Network tab while converting if you want proof.
Does it work offline?
Yes — after the page and its decoder library load once, conversion works with no connection at all.
Why do other converters have file size limits and this one doesn't?
Limits exist to cap server costs. Since HEIC Tap's servers do zero conversion work, there's nothing to cap.