77Fox's Image & video converter adds items such as To JPG, To PNG and To GIF to the Windows right-click menu, so you can turn an iPhone HEIC photo into a JPG, a WEBP image into a PNG or a clip into a GIF without uploading anything. It also restores NetEase Cloud Music .ncm files to the MP3 or FLAC stored inside them, without re-encoding, and adds the title, artist, album and cover art when the file has no tags. Everything runs on your PC. The converter is free, available only in the 77Fox desktop app for Windows, and off by default, so you switch it on first.
Photos from an iPhone come as HEIC files, which many Windows programs and upload forms won't accept. WEBP and AVIF images saved from websites often won't open in someone else's viewer or editor, and .ncm files won't play in ordinary players, car stereos or video editors. The usual workaround is an online converter, which means uploading your files and waiting.
Turn on the converter and the right-click menu
- In 77Fox, open Settings → Features and switch on Image & video converter. It's off by default.
- Click the settings icon on that row (it works once the feature is on) to open its page. Later you'll also find it under Tools in Settings. You can drop files here to convert them inside the app.
- For right-click conversion, switch on Windows context menu, which is also off by default. It's registered for your Windows user only, so it needs no administrator rights and doesn't affect other users on the PC.
- Under Context menu · Images, Context menu · Videos and Context menu · NetEase NCM, switch off the formats you don't need.
- Right-click a file in File Explorer and choose an item such as To JPG, To PNG or To Original (MP3/FLAC). The new file appears next to the original. If the name is taken, 77Fox adds (1), (2) and so on rather than overwriting anything.
Images: which format to pick
The converter reads PNG, JPG/JPEG, WEBP, AVIF, GIF, BMP, TIF/TIFF and HEIC/HEIF, and writes PNG, JPG, WEBP or AVIF. Everything except HEIC converts with what's built into 77Fox, so it needs no extra download and no internet connection. HEIC photos, the format an iPhone saves by default, are decoded with ffmpeg: the first time you add one, the converter page offers to install it (about 106 MB, the same copy video conversion uses).
| Situation | Source | Pick | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos from an iPhone won't open in a Windows program or an upload form | HEIC | To JPG | The first HEIC conversion asks you to install ffmpeg |
| An image saved from a website won't open in your viewer or editor | WEBP, AVIF | To PNG | PNG keeps every pixel, good for further editing |
| A web form only takes JPG, or the recipient uses older software | WEBP, AVIF, PNG | To JPG | Nearly every device and website opens JPG |
| Screenshots or mockups too large to send quickly | PNG, JPG | To WEBP or To AVIF | Usually smaller, but the recipient's software must open these formats |
| Icons or stickers with a transparent background | PNG, WEBP | Keep PNG, or To WEBP | Avoid JPG: it has no transparency, so transparent areas turn white |
| An older program or a scanner saves bulky BMP files | BMP | To PNG | PNG keeps every pixel and is usually far smaller |
Two options on the converter page apply to right-click conversions too:
- Quality: for JPG, WEBP and AVIF, from 40 to 100, default 90. PNG keeps every pixel, so it has no quality setting.
- Longest edge: keep the original size, or shrink large images to 3840, 2560, 1920, 1280 or 800 pixels on the longest side. Smaller images are never enlarged.
Animated GIF or WEBP files keep their animation when converted to WEBP.
Video: change the format or make a GIF
Video input covers 14 extensions: MP4, MKV, MOV, WEBM, AVI, M4V, WMV, FLV, TS, MTS, MPG, MPEG, 3GP and OGV. Output can be MP4, WEBM, MKV, MOV or GIF, or just the soundtrack as MP3 or WAV. You can set:
- Resolution: Keep original, 2160p, 1440p, 1080p, 720p, 480p or 360p. Video is only scaled down, never up.
- Video quality: High quality, Balanced or Smaller file. Balanced is the default.
- Frame rate: keep the original, or 24, 30 or 60.
- Keep audio: switch it off for a silent video. It doesn't appear for GIF, MP3 or WAV output.
MP4, MKV and MOV files use H.264 video with AAC audio, the most widely compatible combination; WEBM uses VP9 with Opus. For GIFs, if you haven't set a frame rate or resolution, 77Fox uses 12 frames per second and a height of at most 480 pixels to keep the file size sensible.
Video conversion needs ffmpeg, and so do HEIC photos. If it isn't installed when you add a video or a HEIC photo to the list, the converter page tells you that video, audio and HEIC conversion needs ffmpeg, and nothing is downloaded until you click Download and install. It's about 106 MB, a fixed version that is checked against its SHA-256 hash before it's installed. It stays on this PC, isn't synced, and works offline from then on. Screen recording in 77Fox uses the same copy, so one install covers both.
NCM: keep the original or convert to MP3
A .ncm file holds a complete MP3 or FLAC. With Original (MP3/FLAC), 77Fox takes that audio out as it is and saves it as .mp3 or .flac. The audio isn't re-encoded, so it sounds the same as the original, and no ffmpeg is needed. If the file has no tags, 77Fox writes the title, artist, album and cover art; tags that are already there are left alone, and only a missing cover is added. This is the default NCM target, and usually the right one.
| Option | Right-click item | Re-encoded? | Needs ffmpeg? | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original (MP3/FLAC) | To Original (MP3/FLAC) | No, taken out as is | No | Most cases; keeping the original sound |
| MP3 | To MP3 | If the file holds an MP3: no, same result as Original. If it holds FLAC: yes, at the highest MP3 quality setting | Only when it holds FLAC | Car stereos and older players that only take MP3 |
| WAV | To WAV | Yes, unpacked to uncompressed WAV | Yes | Video editors and tools that want WAV |
Details worth knowing:
- An MP3 made from FLAC keeps the title, artist, album and cover art.
- WAV output matches the FLAC's bit depth, so a 24-bit FLAC becomes a 24-bit WAV. WAV holds sound only, with no cover art, and is much larger than MP3 or FLAC.
- If a file is incomplete or isn't an NCM file at all, 77Fox says it isn't a valid NetEase NCM file or is damaged.
Use this only with files you have the right to use, and for personal use only. Please don't share the converted files, and follow copyright law and the music platform's terms.
Keep only the right-click items you use
With Windows context menu on, every format starts out in the menu: 4 for images, 7 for videos and 3 for NCM files. Keep them all and a right-click on a video adds seven entries. Switch off what you don't use; for example, keep To JPG and To PNG for images, and To MP4 and To GIF for videos.
- Menu items are always in English, such as To PNG, To MP4 and To Original (MP3/FLAC), whatever language 77Fox is set to.
- Right-click conversions use the options saved on the converter page, such as image quality, video quality and resolution, and save the result next to the original.
- If you right-click a video or a HEIC photo before ffmpeg is installed, 77Fox shows a message asking you to install it first. Install it from the converter page, then right-click again.
- To remove the items, switch off Windows context menu, or turn off the whole feature under Features; the entries are removed with it. If you turn the feature back on later, switch Windows context menu on again too.
The format conversion section has the overview, and the download page has the Windows app if you don't have 77Fox yet.
FAQ
Are my files uploaded when I convert them?
No. Images, videos and NCM files are converted on your PC and never leave it. The only time conversion goes online is the one-time ffmpeg download, which video and HEIC photos need. Other image formats and restoring NCM files to their original format work entirely offline.
Why does the first video or HEIC conversion download something?
77Fox converts video, and decodes HEIC photos, with ffmpeg. At about 106 MB it isn't bundled with the installer, so it's downloaded only after you click Download and install, checked against its hash, and kept on your PC without syncing. If ffmpeg is already installed on your PC and on the system PATH, 77Fox uses that copy and skips the download.
Does restoring an NCM file change the sound quality?
Not with Original (MP3/FLAC). The audio is taken out as it is, without re-encoding: a FLAC inside stays FLAC, and an MP3 inside stays the same MP3. Only converting FLAC to MP3 goes through MP3 encoding.
Can I convert many files at once?
Yes. On the converter page, drop in a batch or click to choose files; images, videos and NCM files can be mixed. Click Convert to process them all, and you'll see how many succeeded and failed. You can cancel at any time, and the 77Fox taskbar icon shows progress. One batch runs at a time, so a new one can start only when the current one finishes. Output goes next to each original by default, or to one folder you choose. The Format converter widget on the 77Fox dashboard works too: drop files on it, then click Convert, and it uses the same saved options.