Will image quality improve if I convert AVIF to JPG?

No, it will actually degrade slightly. AVIF is a lossy format and the image inside it has already been through one round of compression; because JPG is lossy too, a second round of compression is applied during conversion. This process is called transcoding, and every transcode adds new degradation, however small. No conversion brings back lost detail. The only valid reason to move to JPG is compatibility, not quality.

What quality setting should I use?

When converting an AVIF to JPG it makes sense to pick a higher quality value than usual, because the source file is already compressed. The 85-95% range keeps the added second-generation degradation below the threshold of visibility. If you choose low values, JPG's blocking and ringing artefacts pile on top of AVIF's existing artefacts and the result is noticeably dirty. The file will be a little larger, but that is a reasonable price for a copy you are converting purely for compatibility.

My AVIF file had a transparent background — what happens in JPG?

JPG does not support an alpha channel, so transparency cannot be preserved. During conversion, transparent regions are filled with a solid colour, usually white or black. For images such as logos, icons or product photos with the background removed, this can produce an unusable result. If transparency needs to be preserved, you should target PNG instead of JPG.

Should I delete the original AVIF file?

We recommend keeping it. AVIF is usually noticeably smaller than JPG at the same visual quality, so it is cheap to archive. And if you ever need to convert the same image to another format, starting from the original AVIF rather than the JPG copy lets you skip a generation of compression loss. Think of the JPG as a working copy you produced to be compatible with a particular device or program.

How Do You Convert an AVIF File to JPG? A Compatibility Guide

The "we can't open this file" error

You downloaded an image from a website, the file arrived on your computer with an .avif extension, and nothing happened when you double-clicked it. Or Photoshop said "file format not recognised", or you tried to upload it to an e-commerce dashboard and got an "unsupported file type" warning.

This is the most common AVIF scenario and it has nothing to do with your file being corrupt. AVIF is a next-generation image format; current browsers display it without a problem, but support in desktop programs, older operating systems and many upload forms is still patchy.

The solution is simple: convert the file to a format that works everywhere, namely JPG. In this guide we explain how to do that and which decisions matter along the way.

First, understand what the conversion actually does

This is the most critical part of the guide, and it is usually skipped.

AVIF is a lossy format. JPG is also a lossy format. So you have an image that has already been compressed once, with some detail discarded, and you are about to put it through a second lossy compression. This is called transcoding.

The consequence: the conversion fixes nothing. The detail AVIF discarded in the first compression does not come back, and JPG's own compression artefacts are added on top. If you keep the quality setting high, the second-generation loss stays below the threshold of visibility in most images — but it is not zero.

So the only legitimate reason to perform this conversion is compatibility. There is no such thing as "the AVIF looks over-compressed, let me convert it to JPG to fix it."

Step-by-step conversion

1. Check whether the file has transparency

AVIF supports an alpha channel, meaning transparency. JPG does not.

If your image contains a logo without a background, a cut-out product photo, or an icon with rounded corners, those empty areas will be filled with a solid colour when converted to JPG. The result is usually a logo sitting inside a white rectangle, and that cannot be placed on a dark background.

If transparency matters to you, JPG should not be your target. In that case converting the AVIF to PNG is the right route; PNG both preserves the alpha channel and opens everywhere.

2. Upload the file

Drag and drop your .avif file onto our AVIF to JPG conversion tool. If you have several files you can upload them in a batch; each one comes out as a separate JPG.

3. Keep the quality setting high

Under normal circumstances, around 80% is a perfectly reasonable choice when saving a photo as JPG. But the situation here is different: your source is already compressed.

When two compressions stack, the artefacts feed each other. The slight softening and block boundaries AVIF left behind look like "real detail" to JPG compression, and the algorithm spends bits trying to preserve them while adding artefacts of its own. The result can be an image worse than a single generation of compression would give you, in a file larger than you expected.

So prefer the 85-95% range. The file grows a little, but you are producing this copy for compatibility, not for size.

4. Download it and test it where you will actually use it

After downloading the JPG, test it directly at your destination: upload it to the dashboard, open it in the program, send it to the person it is for. That was the point of the conversion; the file looking fine in a preview is not sufficient verification.

If the quality looks inadequate, you still have the original AVIF and can try again at a higher setting. Never try to fix the JPG output by re-saving it as JPG — that adds a third generation of loss.

When is JPG the right target?

JPG has one advantage, but a very powerful one: everything opens it. A fifteen-year-old digital photo frame, an old version of Office, a corporate document management system, the on-board menu of a cheap printer — they all read JPG. The same cannot be said of next-generation formats.

Choose JPG in these situations:

Photographic content. JPG still does a good job with smooth-gradient images such as landscapes, portraits and product shots.
Files whose destination you do not know. If the recipient's device, browser or software version is uncertain, JPG is the risk-free choice.
Platforms with strict upload rules. Some e-commerce, classifieds and application systems accept only JPG and PNG.
Local businesses producing prints. Photo shops and print shops expect JPG in practice.

By contrast, if the image is a sharp-edged graphic, a screenshot, or contains a lot of text, JPG is not a good choice. It produces ringing around letter edges in this kind of content. Prefer PNG in that case.

A common mistake: running batch conversions blind

If you have dozens of AVIF files it is tempting to convert them all at once. Before you do, convert a few representative files individually and look at the results. Particularly if images with transparent backgrounds are mixed into your collection, you will have to pick them out one by one after a batch conversion.

Likewise, make sure filenames are preserved. If you are re-uploading images into a system, name matching is often critical.

In summary

Converting AVIF to JPG is not a quality improvement, it is a compatibility fix. Because you are going from lossy to lossy, a second generation of compression loss is added; the way to keep it small is to choose a high quality setting. If there is transparency, JPG is the wrong target — go to PNG instead. And do not delete the original AVIF: it is both smaller and your clean source if another conversion is needed later.