Image Compressor
How to Compress an Image
Compressing an image shrinks its file size so it loads faster and is easier to email or upload. Use the tool below — it works in your browser, so your photo is never uploaded — then follow the steps if you need them.
Compress your image
Supported: JPG, PNG, WebP · Recommended ≤ 30 MB / file
Drag & drop images here, paste from clipboard, or
Steps to compress an image
- Drop your JPG, PNG or WebP image into the box above.
- Adjust the quality slider — lower quality means a smaller file.
- Compare the new size with the original shown on screen.
- Download the compressed image when you're happy with it.
Quality vs. file size
Most photos can be compressed a lot before the difference is visible, because the eye doesn't notice small changes in detailed areas. Start around 70–80% quality and only go lower if you need an even smaller file.
For graphics with flat colours or text, keep the quality higher to avoid blurry edges.
| Quality setting | Rough size change | Visible difference |
|---|---|---|
| 95% | About 30% smaller | None |
| 85% | About half the size | None at normal viewing size |
| 75% | Around a third of the original | Slight softening in fine detail |
| 60% | Around a fifth | Noticeable on flat areas like sky |
| 40% and below | Very small | Obvious blocks and colour banding |
What to expect from a typical phone photo.
Resize before you compress
Quality is only one of the two levers, and usually the less powerful one. If an image is 4000 pixels wide but will be displayed at 1000, three quarters of the data is being stored for detail nobody will ever see — and no quality setting recovers that waste as efficiently as simply resizing.
Halving both the width and the height leaves a quarter of the pixels, which typically cuts file size by around 75% before compression even starts. Resize first, then compress the smaller image, and you will hit a target size at a far higher quality setting.
Choosing the right format
- JPG — photographs. Lossy, universally supported, and the right default for anything camera-shaped.
- PNG — screenshots, logos, text and anything needing transparency. Lossless, so it never blurs edges, but large for photos.
- WebP — usually 25–35% smaller than JPG at matching quality, supported by every current browser. The best choice for websites.
- A common mistake is saving a photograph as PNG, which can make the file several times larger than the JPG it came from.
Hitting a specific size limit
Upload forms often state a hard limit — 100 KB for an application photo, 2 MB for an attachment, 5 MB for a portal. Guessing quality settings to reach one is tedious, so use a target-size tool that searches for the right setting automatically; this site has dedicated pages for 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB and 1 MB.
If a photo will not reach a small target at acceptable quality, the answer is almost always to reduce its dimensions rather than to keep lowering quality until it turns to mush.
Mistakes that quietly ruin quality
- Re-compressing an already compressed JPG — each save discards more detail permanently. Always work from the original.
- Compressing a screenshot as JPG, which makes text edges fuzzy. Keep screenshots as PNG.
- Judging quality on a phone screen, where compression damage is hard to see. Check at full size.
- Compressing before cropping. Crop first, so you are not spending file size on parts you throw away.
- Overwriting your original. Keep it — you can always compress again, but you cannot uncompress.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compress an image without losing quality?
Use a quality setting around 70–80%. That usually cuts the file size dramatically while keeping the image looking the same to the eye.
Is my image uploaded?
No. Compression happens entirely in your browser, so your image never leaves your device.
Which formats can I compress?
Common web image formats including JPG, PNG and WebP.
Should I resize or compress?
Both, in that order. Resizing to the size the image will actually be displayed at removes data nobody sees, and compressing the smaller image then reaches your target at a much higher quality setting.
Why did my file get bigger after compressing?
Almost always because it was saved as PNG. PNG is lossless, so storing a photograph in it can be larger than the original JPG — export as JPG or WebP instead.
Does compressing an image remove its metadata?
Re-encoding usually drops EXIF data such as GPS coordinates and camera model, which is often desirable before sharing. If you need it gone for certain, use a tool that strips metadata explicitly.