How to open .PNG files (Portable Network Graphics) on Android, Windows and Linux

Screenshots, logos, stickers, diagrams, memes with crisp text: a lot of what fills a Downloads or Screenshots folder ends in .png. It usually opens without fuss, but not always the way you’d expect. A transparent logo shows up with a black box around it, a “transparent” image from a search has a checkerboard you can’t get rid of, or a file ends in .apng and nothing seems to know it.

Folders opens PNG and APNG files in its image viewer on Android, Windows and Linux, free and without an account. Here’s what PNG is, how to open one, and how to sort out the usual puzzles.

What is a .PNG file?

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics, and its official pronunciation is “ping”. It was created in the mid-1990s as a free replacement for GIF, whose compression method was tied up in patents at the time.

PNG is lossless: every pixel comes back exactly as it was saved, however many times you open, edit and save the file. It handles full transparency, with every level from solid to completely see-through (an alpha channel), and colour depths up to 16 bits per channel. Each block of data inside carries a checksum, so damage is easy to detect.

That makes it right for screenshots, text, logos, icons and diagrams, where JPEG compression would smear the sharp edges. It’s the wrong choice for camera photos, which come out several times larger than as a JPEG, with no visible gain.

Extension	What it is
.png	A still image, lossless, with optional transparency. Windows and many Android phones save screenshots as PNG
.apng	Animated PNG: a PNG with extra frames, an extension started by Mozilla developers and now read by modern browsers. Its first frame is an ordinary PNG, so software that doesn’t know APNG shows a still picture. Many APNGs simply end in .png

How to open a .PNG file with Folders

Android

1. Get Folders from the download page, install it and allow file access when asked.
2. Screenshots are usually in Pictures/Screenshots or DCIM/Screenshots; images saved from the web or a chat go to Download or the app’s own folder.
3. Tap the PNG. If you’re in another app, choose Open with → Folders.

Windows and Linux

1. Install Folders, browse to the image and double-click it.
2. On Windows you can also start from File Explorer: right-click the PNG or APNG, choose Open with, then Folders. The installer puts it there.

What you can do with a PNG in Folders

• Zoom into a screenshot to read the small print, and swipe or use the arrow keys to move through the folder.
• Copy all text pulls the text out of a screenshot, such as an error message or a chat, so you don’t have to retype it.
• Edit and crop. Cut a screenshot down to the part that matters by dragging any edge or corner, use Adjust or a Filter, then save. A PNG is saved back as a PNG, so cropping costs no quality.
• Convert to ▸ makes copies beside the original:
  • JPEG for a much smaller copy of a photo-like PNG. JPEG has no transparency, so see-through areas turn white.
  • WebP keeps transparency and is usually smaller than the PNG, which suits websites.
  • ICO (icon) gives a square icon up to 256 pixels, with your picture centred on a transparent background.
  • AVIF (on Windows and Linux), HEIC, TIFF, BMP, GIF and TGA are on the same menu. On a computer, WebP and AVIF copies use FFmpeg, which Folders downloads the first time.
• Resize… for smaller copies, plus Details, Share and Open with another app.

Other ways to open .PNG files

• Windows: Photos or Paint. Linux: the desktop’s image viewer.
• Android: Google Photos or the phone’s Gallery.
• A web browser: drag the file into a tab. It’s also the easiest way to watch an APNG.
• GIMP or Krita (both free) for editing with layers.

Problems opening a .PNG file?

The transparent background shows as black or white. The file is fine. Transparency has no colour of its own, so each app paints its own background behind it. A black logo on a transparent background can seem to vanish in a dark theme.

The checkerboard won’t go away. Plenty of “transparent PNGs” from image searches are fakes: the grey-and-white checkerboard is painted into the picture itself. No viewer can remove it. Find another source, or cut the background out in an editor.

A small graphic is a huge file. It’s probably a photo saved as PNG, or a 16-bit PNG from a design program. Convert to ▸ JPEG or WebP for a smaller copy.

It won’t open at all. Because of those checksums, a cut-off or corrupted PNG often refuses to open rather than showing half a picture. Download or copy it again.

Questions people ask

Can I open a .PNG file on Android? Yes. Folders opens PNG and APNG files from your phone’s folders, Download and Screenshots included, with no internet needed.

Does converting PNG to JPG lose quality? A little, and the transparency goes. Screenshots with small text can turn slightly blurry around the letters. Keep the PNG and convert a copy, which is what Convert to ▸ does anyway.

PNG vs JPG: which should I use? PNG for screenshots, graphics, text and anything transparent; JPG for photos. If size matters and the place you’re uploading to accepts it, WebP does both jobs.

How do I open an .apng file? Folders opens it in its image viewer like any PNG. To watch the animation, drag it into a browser tab.

For photos, see the JPG guide; for a smaller web format, the WebP guide. Or browse all 382 file types Folders opens.