JPG Compressor: Compress JPEG Photos Online

JPEG is the format of almost every camera and phone photo, and it is built for lossy compression: the encoder discards fine detail your eyes barely register, and the quality setting decides how much. This JPG Compressor re-encodes your JPG and JPEG files at 78% quality by default, a level where photos typically shrink a lot while faces, text and edges still look clean. The output is always JPG, so the files stay compatible with every device, email client and upload form.

Because each result is rebuilt from the pixels, the camera's hidden metadata goes too: EXIF details, GPS coordinates and the embedded preview thumbnail, which on phone photos can add a noticeable amount on its own.

How to use it, step by step

1. Drop JPG or JPEG photos onto the upload area, click it to pick files, or paste an image with Ctrl+V. You can add several files at once.
2. Keep the preset 78% or drag the quality slider. 70 to 85% is the sweet spot for photos; 90% and above is only worth it for images you will print or edit again.
3. For upload limits, choose Target size and enter the maximum in KB. The compressor searches for the highest JPEG quality that fits and reduces the dimensions only when the quality floor is reached.
4. If the photo is much larger than needed, open Resize and set a Max width and height, for example 1920 px. Fewer pixels save far more than extra compression.
5. Compare the result with the before/after slider and check the size badge, then click Download, or Download all (ZIP) when you processed several images.

How JPEG quality really works

The quality number is not a percentage of the original. It controls how coarsely the encoder rounds away detail in small 8×8 pixel blocks. Going from 100 to 90 often halves the file, 90 to 78 saves another big chunk, and below about 50 the extra savings get small while artefacts become obvious: blocky skies, halos around text and smeared skin. Every re-save adds a new round of loss, so always compress from the best copy you have rather than from a file that was already compressed.

Practical tips for JPG files

• Portraits and landscapes: 75 to 82% is usually invisible to viewers.
• Scanned documents or screenshots with small text: stay at 85% or higher, or keep them as PNG.
• JPG has no transparency. If you drop a transparent PNG here, the empty areas are filled with the background colour you pick (white by default).
• Need a fixed size fast? Compress to 50 KB is preset for strict forms, and the TinyJPG optimizer is a quick one-click alternative.

Private, free and instant

Everything runs inside your browser: images are decoded, re-encoded and zipped on your own device and never uploaded, with no sign-up and no watermark. For websites the same photo saved as WebP is often smaller again, and the Format switch lets you compare both without leaving the page.