Reduce your photo or image to fit website, app and platform upload limits. Common limits range from 1MB to 5MB. This tool targets 2MB by default.
Last updated: August 2026
2MB
Default Target
JPEG + WebP
Output Formats
1-5MB
Common Limits
Private
No Uploads
Common upload limits:
Drop image here to compress to 2000KB
JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC. All processing stays in your browser.
Default target is 2MB. If the platform states a specific limit, change the target above to match it with a small margin below the stated maximum. The format toggle defaults to JPEG, switch it to WebP if the platform supports it for a smaller file.
Check the limit
If the platform states one, use it. Otherwise 2MB fits most forms.
Drop your image
JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC or HEIF, one at a time.
Let it compress
Binary search finds the highest usable quality, up to quality 90.
Skip if already small
Already under target, download the original instead.
Download and upload
Saves to your device, ready for wherever it's needed.
Almost every platform that accepts user-uploaded images enforces some kind of size limit, whether stated clearly or discovered only after an upload fails.
Forums and community platforms
Many forums limit image attachments to between 1MB and 5MB per post, with some platforms enforcing much smaller limits for free accounts.
App and software submissions
Mobile and desktop apps that accept user-uploaded images, such as profile photos or content uploads, frequently cap individual files at 2MB to 5MB.
Cloud storage and note apps
Free tiers of note-taking and document apps sometimes limit individual image attachments, making compression useful for staying within storage quotas.
Marketplace and classifieds platforms
Listing photos on marketplace and classifieds sites are commonly capped between 1MB and 5MB per image, with multiple photos allowed per listing.
Plenty of platforms enforce two separate limits at once, a maximum file size in kilobytes or megabytes and a maximum pixel dimension, and they rarely mention both in the same error message. A photo compressed to a tidy 1.8MB can still get rejected if it's 6000 pixels wide and the platform caps uploads at 2000 pixels on the long edge.
Compressing a file shrinks its byte size by discarding redundant data, but it doesn't touch the pixel dimensions at all. If a platform's help page mentions a maximum width or height rather than just a file size, pair this tool with a dimension-based resize, something like resize to 2048x2048 covers a lot of common maximums, so the upload satisfies both requirements instead of just one.
Photos straight from a phone or camera often carry EXIF data, GPS coordinates, camera settings and sometimes an embedded thumbnail preview, none of which affects how the image looks but all of which counts toward the file size. Compression strips most of this out automatically, which is part of why a photo can shrink so much without any visible change. You can check what metadata a file is carrying with the image info tool before and after compressing.
HEIC and HEIF files straight from an iPhone can be dropped in directly, this tool decodes them without a separate conversion step first. If a platform specifically rejects HEIC uploads rather than just enforcing a size limit, the HEIC to JPG converter handles that format problem on its own.
Some upload forms fail silently, spinning forever or simply not saving the image, rather than telling you the file was too big. If a platform's limit isn't stated anywhere, aim for well under 2MB rather than right up against a guess, and test with one photo before batching through a whole folder of uploads.
Expecting PNG as an output option
PNG is accepted as input but is never produced as output, this tool compresses to JPEG or WebP only. If a platform specifically requires PNG, this isn't the right tool for that last step.
Assuming compression also fixes a pixel dimension limit
Compression only reduces file size, it doesn't touch width or height. If a platform's help page mentions a maximum resolution as well as a file size, pair this tool with a dimension-based resize like resize to 2048x2048.
Trying to compress a whole folder at once
This tool processes one image at a time, dropping multiple files only picks up the first one. For a batch, run each photo through individually.
Not noticing the already-small confirmation
If a photo is already under the target size, the tool doesn't run compression again, it shows a confirmation with a download link for the original file instead. That's expected behavior, not a stuck or broken state.
Assuming EXIF or GPS data is preserved
It isn't. Compression decodes and re-encodes the image, which strips EXIF and GPS data automatically. This is usually a benefit for privacy, but worth knowing if a workflow expected that metadata to remain.
Websites and apps set upload limits to control server storage costs and processing time. A typical photo straight from a modern smartphone camera can be 5MB to 15MB, which exceeds many common upload limits of 1MB, 2MB or 5MB. The error appears because the platform rejects any file above its configured limit before it is even processed.
2MB is a safe general target that fits comfortably within most website and app upload limits, which commonly range from 1MB to 5MB. If a specific platform states its limit, such as a forum allowing 3MB attachments or an app requiring images under 5MB, compress to slightly below that number to leave a safety margin.
Not at typical upload targets. The binary search that finds your target size caps out at quality 90, so a photo compressed to 2MB usually shows no visible difference from the original at normal viewing sizes. Very aggressive targets well under 100KB are where quality loss starts to show, the 1MB to 5MB range used for most uploads stays well clear of that.
Forums and community platforms often limit image attachments to 1MB to 5MB. Cloud storage and note-taking apps may limit individual file uploads in free tiers. Online marketplaces, social platforms, CMS systems and form builders all commonly enforce per-file size limits to manage storage and ensure consistent performance for all users.
No. All compression happens locally in your browser using WebAssembly. Your photo never leaves your device until you upload the compressed result to the website or app yourself.
The tool checks the file size before doing any compression. If your photo is already smaller than the target you set, it shows a confirmation and lets you download the original file as-is, rather than running it through compression again for no benefit.
JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC and HEIF files can all be dropped in. The compressed output is JPEG or WebP only, PNG is accepted as an input format but is never produced as output, since JPEG and WebP compress far more efficiently for a file-size target.
No, this tool handles one image at a time. For a batch of photos that all need to fit the same upload limit, run each one through individually.
No, it only reduces file size in kilobytes or megabytes, it does not change the image's pixel dimensions. Some platforms enforce a separate maximum width or height alongside a file size limit. If a platform states both, pair this tool with a dimension-based resize, such as resizing to 2048x2048, so the upload satisfies both requirements at once.
No. The image is decoded to raw pixels and re-encoded during compression, so EXIF metadata, including GPS location and camera details, does not carry over to the compressed file. This is a useful privacy side effect for any photo being uploaded publicly.
There's no ceiling below 100. The tool checks quality 100 first, and at generous upload targets like 1MB to 5MB that full-quality encode very often already fits, so a lot of uploads get the maximum quality the format allows with no search needed at all.
Only rarely at loose targets like the 2MB default on this page. If quality reduction alone can't reach a very tight target, the tool falls back to slightly scaling down the pixel dimensions too. At upload-range targets of 1MB or more this fallback is seldom triggered, it's far more common at very tight targets like 50KB or under.
Yes. This tool includes a dedicated decoder for HEIC and HEIF files, so an iPhone photo can be dropped in directly without converting it to JPEG first. The compressed output is still JPEG or WebP, not HEIC.
No sign-up. No upload to server. Drop your image above and download it in seconds.
