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.jpg, .png and .webp · as many as you like · nothing leaves your device
How compressing works
Drop photos in and each one comes out as a smaller JPG. The slider sets the balance: further left gives a smaller file, further right keeps more detail. Move it and every photo on the page is redone at once. If a photo can't get any smaller, you keep the original.
How to use it in 4 steps
- 1Drop your photos onto the box, or press Choose photos.
- 2Look at the size shown on each card. It says how much smaller the file is.
- 3Move the Quality slider. Left gives a smaller file, right keeps more detail. Every photo updates.
- 4Press Save, or Save all as one zip, when you are happy.
Shrinking a photo’s file size
Compressing a photo makes the file smaller without changing its size in pixels. It does this by saving it again at a lower quality setting, which throws away detail that is hard to see. The slider on this page lets you choose the balance, and a smaller file uploads faster, fits in an email and helps a website load quickly.
Finding the right setting
Start in the middle. Move left for a smaller file and look at the preview: if you start to see blockiness or smudging around edges, move back to the right. For photos that will only be seen on a screen, a fairly low setting is usually fine. For photos you plan to print or edit more, keep the quality higher.
Compress or resize?
They solve different problems. Compress keeps the same pixel size and lowers the quality. Resize reduces the number of pixels. For the biggest saving, use both: resize to the size you need, then compress. Both run on your own device, so your pictures are never uploaded.
What you get
A new, smaller copy of each photo. If a photo is already small and compressing would make it bigger, the page tells you and keeps your original.
Related tips
- How to Send Large Photos Without Losing Quality
- Photo Sizes Explained: What to Use for Email, Social Media and Print
- How to Scan Documents With Your Phone and Make a Tidy PDF
- Converting Lots of Photos at Once: A Practical Guide
A quick example: a photo that is just over a size limit
A form says photos must be under 1 MB and yours is 1.8 MB. Drop it in and look at the size shown on its card, then move the Quality slider down from 75 per cent a little at a time, watching the number. Stop at the highest setting that gets under 1 MB, so you give up as little detail as possible.
If the slider alone is not enough, make the photo smaller first with Resize photo and compress after that, because fewer pixels shrink the file far more than a lower setting does.
Good to know
Each photo comes out as a JPG, so a PNG becomes a JPG and its see-through parts turn white. If a photo cannot get any smaller, you keep the original and the card says so. Compressing something that is already compressed repeatedly makes it look worse each time, so go back to the original for a new attempt. Zoom in on faces and text in the preview before you save.
A quick test is to compress a copy of one photo at a few settings and view them side by side at full size before you do the whole batch. Faces and skies show damage first, so look there. When you find a setting you like, every photo you add afterwards uses it.
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Questions people ask
How does it make the file smaller?
It saves the photo again as a JPG at the quality you choose. A lower quality throws away more fine detail, so the file gets smaller.
Which quality setting should I use?
Most photos look fine at the starting setting of 75%. Try moving the slider down until you can just see a difference, then nudge it back up.
What if the file is already small?
If saving it again would make a JPG bigger than it was, the tool keeps your original and tells you so.
What about PNG or WebP pictures?
They come out as JPGs. Any see-through area turns white, because JPG cannot be see-through.
Does this change how many pixels the photo has?
No, only how much detail is stored. For a much smaller file, first make the photo smaller with Resize photo, then compress it.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. Everything happens on your own device.