Compress an image to 1 MB
Your files are processed on your device. We never upload them.
Compressed with Squoosh's codecs (MozJPEG, libwebp, OxiPNG) from jSquash, and image-q.
How to compress an image to 1 MB
- 01A ▸Choose your photos, or drop them on the page. JPG, PNG, and WebP work.
- 02A ▸The target is already set to 1 MB. Change it if your limit differs.
- 03A ▸Select Compress, check the sizes, and download them one by one or as a zip.
About 1 MB
The limit
1 MB is a common per-picture limit on marketplaces, forums, school and office portals, and help desks, and a sensible size for photos sent by email so a message with several stays under the usual 20 to 25 MB attachment limit. Phone cameras save 12-megapixel photos at 2 to 5 MB, so most need roughly halving.
How the tool gets there
The tool saves the photo again at different qualities and keeps the best one under 1 MB, at full size whenever that fits. Only if even a low quality is too big does it reduce the pixels, up to three times. PNG images are reduced to fewer colours, then fewer pixels if needed. A file already under 1 MB comes back unchanged.
Measured
Our own sample pictures (a generated photo of sky, hills, and fine grain), in Chrome on a laptop. Phone timings are still to be measured.
| 12-megapixel JPG, 2.1 MB | 664 KB at full size (4032 × 3024), 6.4 s |
|---|---|
| 12-megapixel PNG, 14 MB | 752 KB at 3250 × 2438, 50 s |
| 12-megapixel WebP, 222 KB | Already under 1 MB, returned unchanged |
| Same 12 MP JPG to 2 MB | 1.5 MB at full size, 1.8 s |
If it doesn't fit
- Very detailed photos, such as 48-megapixel shots of foliage or crowds, may come out smaller in pixels. That's usually fine for the web; for print, ask for a higher limit.
- For PNG photos, convert to JPG first with PNG to JPG. It is far quicker and keeps more pixels.
- If a site still refuses the file, try a slightly lower target such as 0.9 MB, as some sites count megabytes differently.
Other options
- Compress image to 100 KB: for forms and profile pictures with a much smaller limit.
- Compress image: to choose a strength instead of a size.
- Resize image: when the limit is in pixels, not megabytes.
Questions
Are my photos uploaded?
No. Your files are processed on your device. We never upload them.
Will my photo get smaller in pixels?
Usually not. A typical 12-megapixel phone photo fits under 1 MB at its full size with only a small drop in quality you'd need to zoom in to see. Pixels are reduced only when quality alone can't reach the target, and the result says so.
Why would a site limit uploads to 1 MB?
To keep pages fast and storage costs down. Marketplaces, forums, school and office portals, and some email systems cap each picture at 1 MB or 2 MB, while phones save photos at 2 to 5 MB, and HEIC photos converted to JPG grow larger still.
Is 1 MB 1,000,000 bytes?
This tool counts 1 MB as 1,048,576 bytes, as Windows does. If a site says 1 MB and still refuses the file, enter 0.95 MB.
Why did my PNG take so long?
PNG keeps every pixel exactly, so a large PNG photo has to lose colours and pixels to fit, and each try takes a while. A 12-megapixel PNG took us about 50 seconds on a laptop. For photos, convert to JPG first; it fits in seconds.
Can I compress many photos at once?
Yes. Choose them all; each is brought under 1 MB on its own and you can download them together as a zip.