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Quick HEIC to PNG Conversion on macOS

··2 mins·
MacOS Tips MacOS Image-Conversion HEIC PNG Terminal CLI Productivity
Ethan Troy
Author
Ethan Troy
hacker & writer
Hugging Face
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The fastest way to convert HEIC files to PNG on macOS using the native sips tool - a simple one-liner that works everywhere.

If you’re a Mac user dealing with HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) files from your iPhone or iPad, you’ve probably run into compatibility issues when trying to share or use these images. While HEIC files are great for saving storage space, PNG is the universal standard that works everywhere.

Here’s the fastest way to convert HEIC files to PNG on macOS - no third-party software required.

The One-Liner Solution
#

macOS includes a powerful built-in tool called sips (Scriptable Image Processing System) that handles image conversions effortlessly. To convert all HEIC files in a directory to PNG:

cd "/path/to/your/images"
for file in *.HEIC; do
  sips -s format png "$file" --out "${file%.HEIC}.png" && rm "$file"
done

This script:

  1. Loops through all HEIC files in the current directory
  2. Converts each one to PNG using sips
  3. Deletes the original HEIC file after successful conversion (remove && rm "$file" if you want to keep originals)

Why Use sips?
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  • Native: Already installed on every Mac
  • Fast: Processes images in seconds
  • Reliable: Apple’s own image processing tool
  • No dependencies: Unlike ImageMagick or Python solutions

Example Output
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Converting 7 photos takes just seconds:

  • IMG_9679.HEIC → IMG_9679.png (9.6MB)
  • IMG_9680.HEIC → IMG_9680.png (10MB)
  • And so on…

That’s it! No app installations, no online converters, just a simple terminal command that gets the job done quickly.

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