What happens when you convert JPEG to WebP
- The image is decoded and written as a lossy WebP at 90 percent quality, keeping transparency.
How to convert JPEG to WebP online
- Press "Choose JPEG files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. You can add files of any size your device can hold in memory.
- Adjust the settings if you need to. Lower quality gives a smaller file.
- Press "Convert to WebP". Images convert in a second or two each.
- Save each WebP with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert JPEG to WebP?
JPEG files usually come from camera photos, scanned documents and web images. People convert them to WebP because WebP makes images much smaller for websites while keeping transparency.
In short, JPEG is good at what it was made for, and WebP is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. JPEG opens in every browser and image viewer, while WebP opens in all current browsers; older Photoshop and Windows Photo versions cannot open it.
How to convert JPEG to WebP on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your JPEG files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each WebP is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the JPEG files from Finder onto the drop zone and the WebP files land in Downloads.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose JPEG files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted WebP appears in Files, in the Downloads folder; to put it in your photo library, open it there, tap Share and choose Save Image.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose JPEG files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The WebP is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for JPEG to WebP
WebP is lossy, so the Quality setting trades file size against detail. Best is 95, High is 90, Medium is 80 and Small file is 65 on the usual 0 to 100 scale. At High the difference from the JPEG is invisible for photos; at Small file you may see softness around text and fine patterns.
The Maximum width setting shrinks large images before encoding. A 4000 pixel phone photo reduced to 1920 pixels loses three quarters of its pixels and most of its size, yet still fills a laptop screen.
JPEG vs WebP: the differences
| JPEG | WebP | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joint Photographic Experts Group image | WebP image |
| Type | image | image |
| Created by | the Joint Photographic Experts Group | |
| First released | 1992 | 2010 |
| Compression | Lossy | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | No | Yes |
| Animation | No | Yes |
| Vector or raster | Raster | Raster |
| Colour | 24-bit colour, 16.7 million colours | 24-bit colour plus an 8-bit alpha channel |
| In a browser | opens in every browser and image viewer | opens in all current browsers; older Photoshop and Windows Photo versions cannot open it |
| Common uses | camera photos, scanned documents and web images | images served by websites to save bandwidth |
| MIME type | image/jpeg | image/webp |
About JPEG and WebP files
What is a JPEG file?
JPEG and JPG are the same format. The three-letter extension dates from old Windows systems that only allowed three characters after the dot, and both names are still in use.
What is a WebP file?
WebP can be lossy or lossless and still keep transparency, and at the same visual quality it usually lands 25 to 35 percent smaller than JPG. It is the reason so many images saved from websites turn out not to be JPGs.
JPEG to WebP not working? Common problems
- Colours look slightly different. Browsers convert images to the standard sRGB colour space when they decode them, so wide-gamut and CMYK images can shift a little.
- A phone photo comes out upright even though it looked sideways elsewhere. That is correct: the rotation stored in the photo is applied during conversion, so the WebP is always the right way up.
- The file is bigger than expected. It depends on the settings. At the defaults, the WebP usually comes out close in size to the JPEG; lower the quality for a smaller file.
Convert JPEG to WebP from the command line
If you work in a terminal, ImageMagick converts JPEG to WebP in one line:
magick input.jpeg -quality 90 output.webpTo convert every JPEG in a folder at once, use magick mogrify -format webp *.jpeg. The converter on this page does the same job without installing anything.
JPEG to WebP converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting JPEG to WebP?
A little. Both formats are lossy, so re-encoding compounds the loss slightly. Keep the default quality or higher and the difference is rarely noticeable.
Why is the WebP a different size from the JPEG?
It depends on the settings. At the defaults, the WebP usually comes out close in size to the JPEG; lower the quality for a smaller file.
Are my JPEG files uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs inside this browser tab using your browser's own image decoder, so your files stay on your device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page has loaded and it still works.
Can I convert several JPEG files to WebP at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a WebP file?
WebP opens in all current browsers; older Photoshop and Windows Photo versions cannot open it. WebP is common for images served by websites to save bandwidth.
Is this JPEG to WebP converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many files you convert. The site is paid for by advertising, and because conversions run on your device there is no server cost per file.
Can I convert JPEG to WebP on my phone?
Yes. The converter works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. Converted files are saved to the Downloads folder.