Compress Image: Free Online Tool for JPG, PNG and Photos
By Bruce Li · Founder of PicWay. A heavy iPhone user with more than 100,000 photos, he tests every feature on a real iPhone.
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How to do it
Choose your images
Choose up to 50 images with the box above, or drop them on it. JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, BMP and TIFF files all work.
Pick how much to compress
Under “Compress by”, choose Quality and move the slider, or choose Target file size and type a size such as 500 KB. To make the pixel size smaller too, pick a value under “Longest side”.
Download
Each row shows the old and new size. Download each file, or take them all in one ZIP.
The short answer
This is a free online image compressor for JPG, PNG, WebP and iPhone HEIC photos. Choose your images on this page, then set a quality or a target size such as 500 KB, and the smaller files are made in your browser. You can also cap the longest side or switch to JPG or WebP, and the location is removed by default.
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Quality or target size
There are two ways to say how small you want the file.
Quality is the quick way. The slider starts at 80%, and every image is compressed at the level you set. Sizes differ from image to image, because a busy photo needs more data than a plain one.
Target file size is for upload forms and email limits that say “under 500 KB” or “no more than 2 MB”. The tool tries several quality levels for each image and keeps the best one that fits. When the lowest quality is still too big, it shrinks the pixel size as well.
Both work with Longest side. Capping a large photo at 2048 or 1600 pixels can cut its size a lot.
PNG files
PNG has no quality setting. To make a PNG smaller, the tool reduces it to 256 colors by default. Screenshots, logos and drawings use few colors, and they usually shrink a lot this way. A photo saved as PNG has many more colors, and 256 colors can show banding, so save photos as JPG or WebP instead. If 256 colors is not the smallest result, the tool keeps the smaller version.
What stays and what changes
Rotated photos come out upright. A Display P3 color profile is kept in JPG, PNG and WebP results. The location is removed by default, and Remove all camera and date info clears the rest of the EXIF. HEIC, BMP and TIFF files are saved as JPG.
Limits
You can add up to 50 images at a time, up to 200 MB each. GIF files are not compressed here. On iPhone and iPad, very large images are scaled down to fit the device’s memory, and the row says so.
Compress photos on your iPhone with PicWay
If the photos are in your iPhone library, PicWay can compress them there: pick the photos or videos to compress. Compression saves space but may reduce detail. A compressed Live Photo stays a Live Photo, with a smaller photo and motion. Check the new version first, then delete the original; only deleting the original frees up space.
It depends on the image, so the page shows you instead of guessing. Each row lists the old size, the new size and the change in percent, and a total appears once two or more files are done. If a result is not smaller than the original, the row says so and suggests a lower quality or a smaller longest side.
Set “Compress by” to Target file size, type the number and choose KB or MB. For JPG, WebP and AVIF, the tool tries quality levels from 92% down to 30% and keeps the highest one that fits. If even 30% is too big, it also shrinks the pixel size and tells you. A PNG has no quality slider: it is shrunk in pixel size to reach the target, and the 256-color option, on by default, still applies. A number below 10 KB is treated as 10 KB and one above 50 MB as 50 MB. The row says when a file could not get under the target.
Start with the default, 80%. The slider runs from 30% to 95%, and it applies to JPG, WebP and AVIF results. Lower numbers give smaller files with less detail. If you see blocky edges or banding in smooth areas like the sky, move the slider up and compress again.
Under “Save as”, choose Same format as the original, and PNG files stay PNG. PNG has no quality slider, so the tool reduces it to 256 colors, which is on by default and works best for screenshots, logos and drawings. Turn that off to keep every color and only repack the file. The tool keeps whichever version is smallest. For photos saved as PNG, choosing JPG or WebP usually saves far more.
Yes. Add the HEIC photos like any other image. HEIC cannot be written in a browser here, so the compressed copy is saved as JPG, and a Display P3 color profile is kept when the photo has one. BMP and TIFF files are saved as JPG too.
Keep the format when the file has to stay the same type, for example a PNG with transparency. Choose JPG when the image must open anywhere. Choose WebP when it goes on a web page, because WebP is usually smaller than JPG at a similar look. JPG has no transparency, so see-through areas get a background color, white by default.
Yes. Pick a value under “Longest side”, from 4096 down to 800 pixels, and the image is scaled so its longer edge is no more than that. The other side follows, so the shape stays the same. Images that are already smaller are not enlarged. The row shows the old and new pixel size.
It can. JPG, WebP and AVIF compression drops some detail, and lower quality drops more, so open the result at full size before you delete anything. Reducing a PNG to 256 colors can show banding in photos with smooth gradients. If a result looks off, raise the quality or choose a larger longest side; for a PNG, turn off the 256-color option.
This web tool has no server that receives the image file: it is opened and compressed inside this browser tab. The code that writes WebP is loaded when you choose WebP.
Yes, by default. The location (GPS) is removed from the compressed copy, and the row says when a location was removed. Turn on “Remove all camera and date info” to remove the rest of the EXIF too. AVIF results carry no camera or date info at all.
Up to 50 images at a time, 200 MB each. When two or more are done, one button downloads them all as a ZIP. If you change any setting, the finished results are thrown away and redone with the new setting, so the ZIP never mixes old and new results.
Yes. Phones have less memory for this, so on iPhone and iPad an image bigger than about 16.8 million pixels (16,777,216) is scaled down to that size first, and the row says so. On a computer the limit is much higher.