Compress Image Online

Reduce image file size by up to 90% with adjustable quality. Convert to JPG, WebP, or PNG.

Runs in your browser — images never leave your device
Drop your image here or click to upload
JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP · No size limit
80
Original: -- Compressed: -- --
Dimensions: --
Format: --

You're just getting started

PixelPanda does way more than image editing. Create content that sells.

🧑‍🎨
AI Avatars
Create AI models of yourself
📸
Product Photos
Studio-quality in seconds
🎬
AI Videos
Talking head videos with lip sync
Try It — 200 Credits for $5

How It Works

1

Upload Your Image

Drop any image — JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, or BMP. No size limit.

2

Adjust Quality

Use the quality slider to find the perfect balance between file size and image quality. Choose JPG, WebP, or PNG output.

3

Download

Download your compressed image instantly. See exactly how much smaller the file is before you save.

How to Compress an Image

Compression makes your image files smaller — sometimes dramatically smaller — while keeping them looking the same to the naked eye.

A single photo from a modern phone can easily weigh in at 5-15 MB. That's fine sitting in your camera roll, but try uploading it to a website, attaching it to an email, or loading fifty of them on a product page and you've got a problem. Compression takes that 10 MB file and squeezes it down to 500 KB or less — and if you pick the right quality setting, the difference is invisible.

There are two flavors. Lossy compression (JPG, WebP) strategically throws away data your eyes won't miss — subtle color gradients, fine texture details, things like that. You trade a tiny bit of theoretical quality for a massive drop in file size. Lossless compression (PNG) keeps every single pixel exactly the same but can't shrink files nearly as much. Most of the time, lossy at quality 75-85 is the sweet spot.

JPG Compression

JPG has been the workhorse of the internet for decades. It's everywhere, it's compatible with everything, and it handles photographs incredibly well. The way it works — using something called discrete cosine transform — is tuned to exploit the fact that human eyes don't notice tiny color differences. At quality 80, a typical photo looks identical to the original but weighs 5-10x less. The one downside: JPG doesn't do transparency.

WebP Compression

WebP is the newer kid from Google, and honestly, it's impressive. At the same visual quality as JPG, WebP files tend to be 25-35% smaller. It also handles transparency (unlike JPG) and supports both lossy and lossless modes. Every major browser supports it now — Safari was the holdout, but they added it back in 2020. For anything going on a website, WebP is usually the best bet.

PNG Compression

PNG is lossless — what goes in comes out pixel-for-pixel identical. That makes it perfect for logos, screenshots, UI elements, anything with text or sharp edges where JPG artifacts would look awful. It also handles transparency beautifully. The trade-off? PNG files are bigger than JPG or WebP for photographs. But for graphics with flat colors and clean lines, PNG often produces surprisingly small files.

Image Compression Use Cases

Website Speed Optimization

Here's a stat that surprises people: images account for most of the download weight on the average web page. Compress them and your page load time can drop by half or more. That directly affects bounce rates, Google rankings (Core Web Vitals), and whether visitors stick around long enough to actually buy something.

Email Attachments

Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB. Outlook's even stingier at 20 MB. If you're trying to email a handful of high-res photos, you'll hit that wall fast. Compressing them first means you can fit more images per email — and the recipient doesn't have to wait forever to download them on their phone.

E-commerce Product Images

An online store with 500 products and 4 images each? That's 2,000 images. If they're uncompressed, your hosting bill goes up and your pages load slowly — especially on mobile, which is where most shopping happens now. WebP at quality 80 is the move: looks identical to the original, fraction of the size.

Social Media Posts

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter — they all re-compress whatever you upload, and they're not gentle about it. The trick is to pre-compress at the platform's recommended dimensions and quality. That way you control how it looks, instead of letting an algorithm mangle your carefully edited photo.

Cloud Storage & Backup

Paying $10/month for 200 GB of iCloud? Compressing your photo library before backing up could cut your storage usage by 60-80%. A 50 GB collection of vacation photos might shrink to 12-15 GB with no visible quality loss. That's real money saved over time.

Mobile App Performance

Apps that serve images over cellular connections need to be aggressive about file size. Smaller images mean faster load times, less cellular data burned, and smoother scrolling. On lower-end phones with limited RAM, over-sized images can even cause crashes. Compression fixes all of that.

Image Compressor Features

Adjustable Quality

Fine-tune compression from 1-100 with a real-time slider. See the size change instantly.

Multiple Formats

Output as JPG, WebP, or PNG. Convert between formats for optimal compression.

Real-Time Preview

See compressed file size update live as you adjust the quality slider. No waiting.

Size Comparison

Clear before/after file size display with percentage savings shown prominently.

100% Private

Everything runs in your browser. Images never leave your device or touch a server.

Unlimited & Free

No limits, no sign-up, no watermarks. Compress as many images as you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my image uploaded to a server?
No. The compression happens entirely in your browser using the Canvas API. Your image doesn't go anywhere — no server, no cloud, no data collection. It stays on your device.
What quality setting should I use?
For most situations, somewhere between 75 and 85 is the sweet spot. At 80, photos generally look identical to the original while being 5-10x smaller. Doing web images? 70-80 is plenty. Archiving photos you really care about? Bump it up to 90-95, or go with PNG for zero loss.
Which format should I choose — JPG, WebP, or PNG?
Short version: WebP gives you the smallest files for photos. JPG is the safe universal choice. PNG is for when you need pixel-perfect accuracy (logos, screenshots, text). And if transparency matters, you'll need WebP or PNG — JPG doesn't support it.
Will compressing reduce image quality?
With JPG and WebP, technically yes — they're lossy formats. But here's the thing: at quality 70-85, your eyes genuinely can't tell the difference. The slider lets you find the exact point where the file gets way smaller and the image still looks perfect. PNG is lossless, so it's zero quality loss no matter what.
How much smaller will my image be?
It varies a lot. A typical photograph compressed as JPG at quality 80 might shrink by 70-90%. WebP squeezes even harder — often 25-35% smaller than JPG at the same quality. Screenshots and graphics with flat colors compress less dramatically, but still significantly.
Can I compress PNG images without losing quality?
Absolutely. Choose PNG as the output and the compression is 100% lossless — every pixel is preserved exactly. The file won't shrink as much as it would with JPG or WebP, but you keep perfect quality. If you want maximum compression, switch to WebP or JPG.
Does compression change image dimensions?
No. Width, height, pixel count — all stay exactly the same. Compression only changes the file size. If you actually want smaller dimensions (which also shrinks the file), that's resizing, not compression.
Is WebP supported by all browsers?
Yes — Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera all handle it. Safari was the last major holdout, but they've supported WebP since version 14 back in 2020. If you need to support truly ancient browsers, JPG is the bulletproof option.
Can I compress multiple images at once?
This tool does one at a time so you get full control over quality for each image. Compress, download, load the next. For batch processing, the PixelPanda dashboard has bulk tools.
What happens to image metadata (EXIF data)?
It gets stripped out during the Canvas API compression process. Camera model, GPS coordinates, date taken — all gone. That's actually a privacy win for most people (no one needs your location data embedded in a photo you're posting online). If you specifically need to keep metadata, you'd need a different tool.
Is there a file size limit?
Nothing we enforce. Whatever your browser can handle, the tool can compress. Even 50+ megapixel images will work, though they might take a moment to process.
Does it work on mobile?
Yep. Works on iPhones, Android phones, iPads — any device with a modern browser. You can compress photos right from your camera roll before texting or emailing them.
How do I reduce image file size for email?
Upload your image, set quality to 75-80, and choose JPG format. This typically reduces a 5MB photo to 300-500KB — small enough to attach several within Gmail's 25MB limit. For even smaller files, try WebP or lower quality to 60-70.
How do I compress images for my website?
Use WebP at quality 75-80 for photos and PNG for logos/icons. Target under 200KB for hero images and under 100KB for thumbnails. Google's Core Web Vitals penalize slow images, so compression directly affects SEO. Images account for 50-70% of most pages' weight.
What's the difference between compression and resizing?
Compression reduces file size by encoding pixels more efficiently — dimensions stay the same. Resizing changes actual pixel dimensions. For maximum reduction, do both: resize to what you need, then compress. A 4000x3000 photo resized to 1200x900 and compressed at quality 80 can shrink from 10MB to under 100KB.
How do I compress a JPG to under 1MB?
Start at quality 80 and check the compressed size. If still over 1MB, lower to 70, then 60. For very large originals (10MB+), quality 50-60 may be needed. If that's too low, consider resizing the image dimensions first.
How do I compress a PNG without losing transparency?
Select PNG as output — it's lossless and preserves transparency. Expect 10-30% reduction (not 70-90% like JPG). For much smaller transparent images, choose WebP which supports transparency with lossy compression.
What's the best image format for WordPress?
WebP. It produces the smallest files and all modern browsers support it. Many WordPress plugins (ShortPixel, Imagify, Smush) auto-convert to WebP. Upload as JPG/PNG and let the plugin handle format conversion for browser compatibility.
How do I compress photos for Instagram or Facebook?
These platforms re-compress your uploads, so pre-compress for control. Instagram: resize to 1080x1350 (4:5) or 1080x1080, JPG quality 85-90. Facebook: 2048px on longest side, quality 80-85. Go slightly higher quality than web because they'll compress further.
What is lossy vs lossless compression?
Lossy (JPG, WebP lossy) permanently removes imperceptible data for much smaller files (5-10x reduction). Lossless (PNG, WebP lossless) keeps every pixel exact but can't shrink as much. For photos, lossy at 75-85 is usually ideal. For graphics with text/sharp edges, use lossless.
Why are my iPhone photos so large?
Modern iPhones shoot 12-48MP photos at high quality. A single shot can be 3-10MB. When converted to JPG they get even larger (HEIC is more efficient). Compressing to JPG quality 80 or WebP quality 75 typically reduces these to 300KB-1MB with no visible quality loss.
Does compressing affect SEO?
Yes, positively. Google uses page speed as a ranking factor (Core Web Vitals). Images are usually the heaviest page elements. Compressing improves Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores, directly impacting search rankings. Google recommends WebP format and keeping total page weight under 1.5MB.

Compress Images for Websites & Page Speed

Images are the biggest weight on most web pages. Compressing them is the single highest-impact thing you can do for page speed.

Why Image Compression Matters for SEO

Google's Core Web Vitals measure real-world user experience, and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is often determined by the largest image on the page. If that hero image takes 4 seconds to load, your LCP score tanks and your search ranking drops. Compressing that same image from 2MB to 200KB can bring LCP under the 2.5-second threshold Google rewards. This isn't theoretical — sites that optimize images consistently outrank those that don't.

Recommended File Sizes by Image Type

Hero/banner images: under 200KB. Product photos: under 150KB. Thumbnails: under 50KB. Icons/logos: under 20KB. Blog post images: under 100KB. These targets are achievable with WebP at quality 75-80 for photos and optimized PNG for graphics. A typical e-commerce page with 20 product images should aim for under 3MB total image weight.

JPG vs WebP vs AVIF for Web

JPG is universally supported but produces larger files. WebP is 25-35% smaller at equivalent quality and supported by all modern browsers — this is the current best choice for most websites. AVIF is the newest contender, 20% smaller than WebP, but browser support is still catching up (Chrome and Firefox yes, Safari partial). For maximum compatibility with best compression, serve WebP with JPG fallback.

WordPress, Shopify & Squarespace

WordPress: use a plugin like ShortPixel or Imagify for automatic compression on upload. Shopify: automatically compresses images but doesn't convert to WebP, so pre-compress before uploading. Squarespace: has built-in compression but tends to be aggressive — upload at quality 85-90 to give the platform room to compress without degrading quality.

Compress Photos for Email & Social Media

Every platform has file size limits and every recipient has bandwidth limits. Compression makes sharing smooth.

Email Attachment Limits

Gmail caps at 25MB per email. Outlook at 20MB. Yahoo at 25MB. That sounds generous until you try to attach 10 vacation photos at 5MB each. Compressing to JPG quality 75-80 typically reduces each photo to 300-500KB, letting you fit 30-50 images in a single email. For professional contexts (real estate listings, product catalogs), batch compress everything before attaching.

Social Media Compression

Every social platform re-compresses your uploads, and they're not gentle about it. The strategy: pre-compress at slightly higher quality than the platform's target, so the double compression doesn't create visible artifacts. Instagram works best at 1080px wide, JPG quality 85-90. Facebook: 2048px, quality 80-85. Twitter/X: 1200x675, quality 80. LinkedIn: 1200x627, quality 85.

Messaging Apps

WhatsApp auto-compresses images aggressively and caps at 16MB. iMessage handles larger files but burns through cellular data. Telegram supports up to 2GB but most recipients don't want to download a massive file. Best practice: compress to 200-500KB before sending through any messaging app. The recipient sees the same quality but the message arrives faster and uses less data.

Cloud Sharing & Storage

Compressing your photo library before uploading to Google Photos, iCloud, or Dropbox can save significant storage space and money. A 50GB photo collection compressed at quality 80 might shrink to 10-15GB with no perceptible quality loss. At $2.99/month per 200GB tier, that's the difference between needing the next storage plan or staying within your current one.

Related Free Tools

Resize Image

Resize images to exact dimensions or percentage

Convert Image

Convert between JPG, PNG, WebP, and more formats

Image to PDF

Convert images to PDF documents

Rotate Image

Rotate images by any angle or use quick 90° presets
200 credits for $5

Go beyond editing — create content that sells

AI product photography, UGC videos, and custom avatars. Everything you need to scale your brand's content.

Try It — 200 Credits for $5
No subscription required