What this tool does
Choose a JPG, move the quality slider and download a smaller JPG. The page shows the original size, the new size and how much you saved.
How to use it
- Choose a JPG file, or drop it on the page.
- Move the quality slider. It starts at 75%.
- Press Compress JPG.
- Check the original size, the new size and the saving. If the new file is larger, the page tells you, and you should keep the original.
- Press the download button to save the result.
Where it runs
The work happens in your browser, using the canvas feature that every current browser has. The image is not uploaded and nothing is stored on this site’s server.
Why JPEG files can be shrunk so much
Photos straight from a phone or camera are saved with a high quality setting and at very large pixel sizes. Re-saving at a lower quality can cut the file to a third of the size or less without a visible change on a normal screen. Past a point the loss shows as blockiness in smooth areas and ringing around edges.
A sensible method
- Start at 75 and look at the result at 100% zoom.
- Look at the hardest areas: skies, skin, text in the picture and edges.
- If it still looks fine, try lower. When you see damage, go back up.
- Don’t compress the same file again and again. Each save adds loss, so always start from the original.
Bigger savings come from resizing
A 4,000 pixel photo shown 1,000 pixels wide carries sixteen times the pixels it needs. The Image Resizer helps more than quality alone, and the two together work best.
The tool re-encodes the image, so it can’t do lossless JPEG optimisation. Even at 100 the file may not match the original.
Limits
- Metadata such as EXIF, location and colour profiles is not carried over.
- Browsers apply EXIF rotation when they open a photo, so it normally comes out the right way up.
- The page states a 20 MB maximum but doesn’t check it in the browser. Very large images depend on your device’s memory.
- Only one image is handled per run.
For a modern format with smaller files, see JPG to WebP.
What quality should I use?
75 to 80 is a good start for photos. Compare at full size and adjust.
Will compressing hurt my image?
Lower quality always discards some detail. At moderate settings the loss is hard to see on screen.
Why did my file get bigger?
It was already highly compressed, and re-encoding can add overhead.
Does it remove location data?
Yes. Metadata isn’t carried over to the new file.
Is my JPG uploaded?
No. The compression runs in your browser.