# The best file converter apps for Mac

The best file converter for a Mac depends on the job: Permute for the widest format list, Smart Converter or HandBrake for free video, Squash for photo batches, and Sculpt for files that have to fit an e-mail or a chat.

- URL: https://swiftfox.studio/blog/best-file-converter-for-mac
- Covers: https://swiftfox.studio/apps/sculpt, https://swiftfox.studio/apps/sweep
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Publisher: Swiftfox Studio (https://swiftfox.studio)

## In short

- macOS already converts pictures from a Finder right-click, encodes video from the same menu and shrinks PDFs in Preview, so a few files a month need no app at all.
- Permute has the widest format list and edits video too, at $14.99 once, but version 4 needs macOS 26 and Apple Silicon.
- For free video and audio conversion, Smart Converter and HandBrake both read MKV and AVI, which several paid tools refuse.
- An e-mail attachment is base64-encoded on the way out, so Gmail's 25 MB limit holds only about 18 MB of file. A converter that aims at the advertised number produces files that bounce.
- Sculpt converts images, PDFs, video and audio offline, sizes files for e-mail and chat, keeps a PDF's text when it shrinks it, and can undo any batch, for $13.99 once.

## Six ways to convert a file on a Mac, side by side

| Tool | What it converts | Price | Runs on | Where it wins |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Preview and Finder | Images, PDFs, some video | Free, built in | Every Mac | Already installed; fine for a one-off |
| Permute | Video, audio, images, PDF pages, text | $14.99 once, or Setapp | Permute 4: macOS 26, Apple Silicon | The widest format list here |
| Smart Converter | Video and audio | Free; Pro 3 is $14.99 | macOS 10.15+ | Free, and reads MKV and AVI |
| Squash | Images | $29.99 a year or $2.99 a month | macOS 12+ (App Store) | Watermarks, filters, renaming in one batch |
| HandBrake | Video | Free, open source | Mac, Windows, Linux | Fine control over a video encode |
| Sculpt | Images, PDFs, video, audio | $13.99 once, 30-day trial | macOS 14+, Apple Silicon or Intel | Files sized to send, smaller PDFs, undo |

There is no single best file converter for a Mac, because "convert" covers
three different jobs: change a format, make a file smaller, or make it fit
somewhere. Each tool above is the right answer to one of them. The rest of this
page is about which one.

## Most conversions are about sending a file, not about formats

Look at the last few files you converted. The usual story is an iPhone photo in
HEIC that a form will not take, a scanned PDF that is too big to e-mail, or a
screen recording a chat app refuses. The format was rarely the goal. The goal
was that the file arrives.

That changes what to look for. A long format list matters less than three
smaller things: does the tool know the size limit you are aiming at, does it
keep what the file needs (the text in a PDF, the right way up in a photo), and
can you put things back when a batch went wrong.

## macOS already converts more than people think

Start here. It costs nothing and it is already on your Mac.

**Convert Image** is a Finder Quick Action: right-click one or more pictures,
Quick Actions, Convert Image. It writes JPEG, PNG or HEIF at small, medium,
large or actual size, next to the original, with a Preserve Metadata checkbox.
For "turn these HEIC photos into JPEGs" it is the whole job.

**Encode Selected Video Files** sits in the same right-click menu for video. It
offers a few presets by resolution, plus Audio Only, and it is enough to make a
phone clip smaller for a one-off.

**Preview** exports any picture it can open to another format, and its Quartz
filter Reduce File Size shrinks a PDF. You can also drag pages between two PDFs
in the sidebar to combine them.

Where it stops: no size targets, one strength for PDFs (and it is a heavy one),
no batch history and no undo. If you convert something once a month, that is
fine. If you do it every week, the missing parts start to cost time.

## Permute converts more formats than anything else here

**Permute**, from Charlie Monroe, is the broad converter. It claims over 100
formats across video, audio, images, PDF and text. It writes WebM and ProRes as
well as MP4 and HEVC, trims, crops, rotates, adds subtitles and changes speed,
and transcribes audio to text or SRT on the Mac. It also exports PDF pages as
images.

It is $14.99 once with a free trial, on the Mac App Store at the same price (with
some features limited by the sandbox), or part of Setapp. One thing to check
first: Permute 4 needs macOS 26 and Apple Silicon. An older or Intel Mac gets
Permute 3.

If your files come in every format under the sun, and especially if you need to
edit a video while you convert it, buy Permute.

## Smart Converter is the free pick for video and audio

**Smart Converter**, from ShedWorx, is free on the Mac App Store and does one
thing: video and audio. It reads hundreds of file types, MKV and AVI included,
and its "smart conversion" only re-encodes the parts of a file that need it, so
a simple container change is fast. There are presets for iPhone, Apple TV and
game consoles.

Smart Converter Pro 3 is $14.99 and adds folder watching, subtitles and lookup
of movie and TV artwork. Both versions were last updated in February 2025. For a
free video converter that just works, it is the one to install first.

## Squash is the image specialist, and a subscription

**Squash**, from Realmac Software, is for photos only and goes deeper on them
than any other tool here. One batch can convert, resize, compress, rename,
watermark, filter and strip location data, and a preset saves the whole chain
for next time. It works with Shortcuts.

On the Mac App Store it is a free download with a $2.99 monthly or $29.99
yearly plan; the direct version is also sold as a yearly subscription. If you
process photos for a website or a shop every week, the watermarks and filters
alone justify it.

## HandBrake is the free answer for MKV and WebM

**HandBrake** is free, open source and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. It takes
nearly any video in and gives you full control over the encode: codec, quality,
frame rate, audio tracks, subtitles. It does video only, and its window shows
every setting, which is the point for some people and too much for others.

## Sculpt is built around the file you have to send

**[Sculpt](https://swiftfox.studio/apps/sculpt)** is ours. It converts images, PDFs, video and audio,
offline, from a window, from a right-click in Finder or by dropping files on its
Dock icon. ⌘V adds whatever you copied, a screenshot included.

![Sculpt's queue with photos, PDFs and videos in separate groups, each group with its own output](https://swiftfox.studio/blog/best-file-converter-for-mac/fig-1.jpg "One drop, three groups: each kind of file gets its own output.")

The difference is that it starts from where the file is going. **Email
attachment** aims at the size that actually arrives, not the one the mail
service advertises. An attachment is base64-encoded on the way out, which adds
about a third, so Gmail's 25 MB is really 18 MB of file. Sculpt targets the
smaller number. The same goes for a clip sent to a chat.

![A finished Sculpt run: eight files converted, with what each one weighs now](https://swiftfox.studio/blog/best-file-converter-for-mac/fig-2.jpg "Eight files converted and 88.2 MB saved, with Undo one click away.")

**Shrink PDF** recompresses the pictures inside a PDF and keeps the text
selectable, the links and the bookmarks, at four strengths from screen to
archive. A PDF can also become one picture per page, and pictures and PDFs
dropped together can become one PDF. Pictures can be written as WebP. A video
can move from MOV to MP4 without being re-encoded. Location is removed from
photos and videos before they are sent.

One drop can produce several outputs, say a JPEG for e-mail and a PNG for the
archive. An output can be delivered as one ZIP. Every batch goes into History,
and Undo puts it back, originals included.

The mechanics are covered step by step in
[batch converting files on a Mac](https://swiftfox.studio/handbook/batch-convert-files-on-mac).

## What Sculpt deliberately does not do

It refuses MKV, WebM and AVI. Sculpt only takes video that macOS itself can
decode, so it does not even appear in the Finder menu for those files. Smart
Converter or HandBrake are the answer there.

It is not an editor. There is no trimming, no cropping, no subtitles and no
speed change; that is Permute. It writes M4A, WAV, AIFF and FLAC, but not MP3.
It does not watermark or filter photos; that is Squash. And it will not rewrite
a signed PDF or one with files attached, because the copy would lose the
signature or the attachment. The row says so instead.

## How to pick

- **A few files a month:** Preview and Finder. Do not buy anything yet.
- **Every format, plus video editing:** Permute.
- **Video and audio, for free:** Smart Converter, or HandBrake for control.
- **Photos for the web, with watermarks:** Squash.
- **Files that have to fit an e-mail or a chat, PDFs that have to shrink, and a
  way back:** Sculpt, $13.99 once, with a 30-day free trial.

Converted files have a habit of piling up in Downloads next to their originals.
If that folder is already a mess, [Sweep](https://swiftfox.studio/apps/sweep) can file them by kind
and age once they land.

_Prices and features checked on 26 October 2026._

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a Mac convert files without an app?

Yes. Right-click pictures in Finder and choose Quick Actions, Convert Image to get JPEG, PNG or HEIF at four sizes. Encode Selected Video Files in the same menu makes a smaller video or an audio-only file. Preview exports pictures to other formats and shrinks a PDF with its Reduce File Size filter. What none of them has is a size target, a choice of PDF strength, a history or an undo.

### Why does a file under 25 MB still bounce from Gmail?

Because an attachment is base64-encoded before it is sent, which makes it about a third larger. Gmail's 25 MB limit applies to the encoded message, so the file itself has to stay near 18 MB. Outlook and iCloud Mail are tighter still. Sculpt's Email attachment preset aims at the smaller, real number.

### Which Mac converter handles MKV, WebM and AVI?

Smart Converter, which is free, and HandBrake, which is free and open source, both read MKV and AVI, and Permute covers WebM as well. Sculpt does not: it only takes video that macOS can decode, such as MOV, MP4 and M4V, and does not offer itself for those three formats.

### How do I make a PDF smaller on a Mac without losing the text?

Preview's Reduce File Size filter works but is aggressive and has one setting. A better shrink recompresses only the pictures inside the document and draws the pages rather than turning them into images, so the text stays selectable. Sculpt's Shrink PDF does that at four strengths and keeps links and bookmarks. It leaves signed PDFs and PDFs with attached files alone, because a rewritten copy would lose them.

### Are online file converters safe to use?

They work, but every file is uploaded to someone else's server, which matters for a contract, an ID scan or a photo with your home's location in it. Every app on this page converts on your Mac, and none of them needs an account.

### What do these file converters cost?

Preview and the Finder actions are free and built in. Smart Converter and HandBrake are free; Smart Converter Pro 3 is $14.99. Permute is $14.99 once, or part of a Setapp subscription. Squash is $29.99 a year or $2.99 a month on the Mac App Store. Sculpt is $13.99 once with a 30-day free trial.