Three ways to make files smaller
- Change the format: at the same quality, WEBP is usually lighter than JPG, and JPG lighter than PNG. Start with WEBP and check the result.
- Lower the quality: going from 90 to 80 saves a good amount with almost no visible difference.
- Reduce the size: halving the width and height leaves a quarter of the pixels. For images viewed on screen, this has the biggest effect.
With the format set to Same format, only quality and size change. If the result is larger than the original, you'll see a warning.
Hitting a target size
If the upload limit is fixed, such as "500 KB or less", enter it in Target size. The highest quality that fits is found automatically, and if quality alone isn't enough, the image is scaled down step by step. The quality and size actually used appear next to the result. For document submissions, see meeting upload size limits.
How small is small enough?
Phone photos are usually 2 to 5 MB each. Images for the web rarely need more than a few hundred KB, and profile pictures or thumbnails can be under 100 KB. Change quality and size a little at a time and compare. More in how to reduce image file size.
When a PNG won't shrink
PNG is lossless and has no quality setting. For logos or screenshots that need transparency, switch to WEBP; if the background doesn't matter, switch to JPG for a much smaller file.