Why nothing opens a .webp
WebP is a web format. Every browser reads it, which is why sites serve it, but plenty of software outside the browser still does not: older versions of Office and Photoshop, some printers and photo kiosks, some upload forms, and many things that expect a photograph to be a JPG. Converting to JPG makes the file ordinary again.
This is a copy of a copy
A WebP from a website is often lossy. The site that served you the image already threw detail away to make it small. Saving it as JPG throws a little more away, on top of that — a second approximation of a first approximation.
In practice, at quality 85 or above, it is usually hard to see. But no tool can bring back what the first step removed; an "enhance" step can only invent new detail, not recover the original. What you can do is not make it worse than it needs to be: leave the quality high, and convert once rather than repeatedly.
If you have any way to get the original from whoever made it, that will always beat converting the WebP.
The JPG will probably be bigger
People are often surprised by this, so it is worth saying before you convert: WebP is a more efficient format than JPG. The same picture usually needs more bytes as a JPG, frequently half again as much. The tool shows you both numbers, and a plus percentage here is the expected result, not a fault.
You are not converting to save space. You are converting to get a file the rest of your software will open. If the size then becomes a problem — an upload limit, an email attachment — compress it or cut its dimensions, which saves far more than the quality slider does.
JPG, or PNG?
| Your image | Convert to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A photograph | JPG | Small, universally readable, and the format everything expects a photo to be. |
| Has a transparent background | PNG | JPG has no transparency at all. Transparent areas are filled with white. |
| A logo, diagram or screenshot | PNG | JPG blurs sharp edges and flat colour. PNG keeps them exact. |
| Animated | Neither, really | Both are still images. You get the first frame only, and the tool says so. |
Once it is a JPG
If the file is still too big for wherever it is going, compress it or reduce its dimensions — resizing usually saves far more than the quality slider does. If a form rejected it for its size or shape, the requirements page covers what those forms actually check. And if you want to know whether WebP was even worth it for your pictures, the format benchmark measures all three formats on your own files instead of quoting somebody else's average.