.qoi File Extension

What kind of file is a .qoi?

A .qoi file is a lossless raster image in the Quite OK Image Format. It stores one 8-bit RGB or RGBA image, including a full alpha channel when present. QOI does not define animation, layers, embedded text, Exif metadata, or ICC color profiles.¹

The first four bytes spell qoif, or 71 6F 69 66 in hexadecimal. A 14-byte header records the width, height, channel count, and a basic colorspace flag. That signature is a useful first check when a filename may be misleading, although a decoder still needs to validate the complete file.¹

How do I open a .qoi on my computer?

QOI is a specialist format rather than a standard desktop or web image type. On Windows, macOS, or Linux, use a QOI-aware application:

• GIMP can export an image by using the .qoi suffix or selecting Quite OK Image as the file type.²
• FFmpeg includes a QOI decoder and can convert the image to a widely supported format.³
• Developer tools and game engines may support QOI through the format's small reference implementation or another listed integration.⁴

Major browsers do not natively display QOI, so a .qoi file is not a portable choice for an HTML <img> element. Convert it to PNG for lossless browser delivery.

Poly support for .qoi

Poly can create thumbnails, open a QOI image in the image viewer, index its dimensions and visual content, and make the rendered image available to the Poly agent when the file is recognized as image/qoi. This classification matters because Poly does not currently infer QOI from the .qoi suffix alone.

If a file arrives without an accurate media type, Poly may store it as a generic binary file. It remains searchable by filename, but image preview and visual search may be unavailable. Text drawn into QOI pixels is not indexed as document text.

History of .qoi

Dominic Szablewski introduced QOI in 2021, and version 1.0 of the specification is dated January 5, 2022.¹⁵ The format was designed around a small, single-pass codec. It represents pixels using six simple operations, including runs, recently seen colors, and small channel differences. Encoder and decoder share a 64-entry color index.¹

The result is intentionally narrow: fast and straightforward lossless image interchange without PNG's broader metadata, color-management, and web features.

Working with .qoi and alternatives

QOI and PNG both recover the encoded pixels exactly, but they suit different workflows.

Use QOI in a controlled pipeline where simple, fast decoding matters and every tool explicitly supports it. Use PNG for web delivery, color-managed publishing, or metadata. Use JPEG when a smaller photographic file matters more than lossless pixels or transparency.

To make a portable lossless copy with FFmpeg:

ffmpeg -i input.qoi output.png

Keep the original if exact QOI interoperability matters. Conversion to JPEG is lossy, while conversion to PNG preserves decoded pixels but cannot add color or metadata that the QOI file never contained.