How to reduce photo file size
November 4, 2026 2 min read
A single phone photo can weigh several megabytes, while email, job application forms and government portals often want smaller files. Saving the photo again at a smaller size solves the problem.
Compress imageMake photo files smaller.Why is the photo so big?
Phone cameras shoot at a very high resolution. That detail helps for a large print, but you won't notice it on screen or in an application form. File size depends on the resolution and on how much the image is compressed when it's saved.
How to shrink a photo
The Compress image tool saves your photo again to cut its file size. It works with JPG, PNG, WEBP and HEIC. You can compress many photos at once; they all download in one ZIP file.
- 1Open the Compress image tool and pick your photos.
- 2Choose a level: Light, Balanced or Strong.
- 3Press Compress, check the new size and download the file.
Which level should I choose?
Balanced is enough for most photos. If the file is still over the limit, try Strong.
- 1Light: quality stays almost the same, the file gets a little smaller.
- 2Balanced: clearly smaller and hard to tell apart. Very large photos are scaled to 2560 pixels.
- 3Strong: the smallest file. Photos are scaled to 1600 pixels, plenty for email and forms.
What happens to the format?
JPG and WEBP stay in the same format. PNGs without transparency are saved as JPG, which is much smaller for photos, and transparent PNGs as WEBP, which keeps the transparency. An image that is already small never grows; it's left as it is and the tool tells you so.
If you need an exact pixel size
Some forms ask for a specific width as well as a file size. In that case, use the Resize image tool to type the width in pixels; the height follows the aspect ratio. The limits of the site you're uploading to are usually shown next to the upload field.
Everything runs in your browser. Your photos are never uploaded to a server.