AVIF Viewer — Open .avif Files with XnView MP

AVIF (AV1 Image File Format, .avif) is a modern image format developed by AOMedia and based on the AV1 video codec. XnView MP reads and writes AVIF natively on Windows, macOS and Linux, with no plugin or external codec required, and plays animated AVIF files. XnConvert performs bulk conversion to and from AVIF.

XnView AVIF support at a glance

• Read .avif: yes, natively built in
• Write/export .avif: yes, with quality settings
• Animated AVIF: playback supported, frame-by-frame via Pages panel
• Alpha transparency: read and preserved on export
• Batch convert to/from AVIF: yes, via XnConvert
• Platforms: Windows 10/11, macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon), Linux
• License: free for private, educational and non-profit use

About the AVIF format

AVIF was published by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) in 2019. It uses the AV1 video codec to compress single images, with a still-image profile defined in the MIAF / HEIF container family. AVIF supports lossy and lossless compression, alpha transparency, HDR with 10-bit and 12-bit color depth, wide color gamuts and animation. Major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari) and platforms such as Netflix have adopted AVIF for its strong compression efficiency.

Key characteristics of AVIF

• Compression: lossy and lossless, based on AV1
• Color depth: 8, 10 or 12 bits per channel, HDR-ready
• Alpha channel: full 8/10/12-bit transparency
• Animation: built-in, more efficient than animated GIF or WebP
• Wide color gamut: Rec. 2020 / Rec. 709 / sRGB
• Container: ISOBMFF (same family as HEIF and MP4)
• File extension: .avif
• MIME type: image/avif
• Standard: AOMedia AVIF 1.0 (2019)

How to view and convert AVIF files with XnView

Open an .avif file

Launch XnView MP, then File > Open and select the AVIF file, or drag the file onto the XnView MP window. The image displays immediately with pan, zoom and fullscreen controls. Animated AVIF files start playing automatically.

Convert AVIF to JPEG, PNG, WebP or TIFF

In XnView MP: File > Save as, then pick the output format. For converting many AVIF files at once, open XnConvert, drag the files in, choose the output format in the Output tab and click Convert.

Export images as AVIF

XnView MP and XnConvert can save images as AVIF with adjustable quality. Open the image, choose File > Save as > AVIF, and set the quality slider. In XnConvert, add a Format step with AVIF selected to batch-export an entire folder.

Frequently asked questions

Does XnView MP support AVIF natively?

Yes. XnView MP reads and writes AVIF (.avif) natively on Windows, macOS and Linux, with no plugin or external codec required. AVIF support is built into the application.

Can XnView play animated AVIF files?

Yes. XnView MP plays animated AVIF files natively, with frame-by-frame navigation available through the Pages panel.

How do I convert AVIF to JPEG, PNG or WebP?

Open the .avif file in XnView MP, then File > Save as and pick JPEG, PNG or WebP as the output format. For batch conversion of many AVIF files at once, use XnConvert: drag the files in, select the output format and click Convert.

How do I export images as AVIF?

In XnView MP: open the image, choose File > Save as > AVIF, and set the quality slider. In XnConvert, add a Format step with AVIF selected to batch-export an entire folder.

Is AVIF better than JPEG and WebP?

AVIF generally produces smaller files than JPEG and WebP at equivalent visual quality, supports lossless mode, HDR, alpha transparency and animation. The trade-off is slower encoding and the format is newer, so support varies across older software.

Related XnView tools

• Download XnView MP — view and edit AVIF on Windows, macOS, Linux
• Download XnConvert — batch convert AVIF to and from any of 500+ supported formats
• JPEG-XL viewer — the other next-generation image format
• All supported image formats