When a portal says the maximum file size is 200KB, it usually means strictly less than 200KB, not 200KB or less. The distinction matters because of how file size checks work in software. A system that rejects files "over 200KB" might accept exactly 200KB. A system that rejects files "at or over 200KB" won't. And a system built with off-by-one counting bugs, which is more common than you'd expect in legacy portals, might reject a file that reads as exactly 200KB in your file explorer but actually measures at 204,800 bytes, which is 200KB in binary.
This tool targets 192KB by default instead of the full 200KB. That 8KB margin is intentional. It absorbs rounding differences, byte-counting inconsistencies between tools, and the slight file size overhead that some systems add when they process the upload. If your upload is rejected and you've compressed to 195KB, try 192KB or lower and the portal will almost certainly accept it.
Insurance claim photos: why privacy matters here
Insurance claim photos are among the most sensitive images people upload to portals. Vehicle damage photos contain your number plate and location. Property damage photos show the inside of your home. Medical claim photos can contain identifiable health information. Uploading these to a third-party compression website that sends your file to a server is a real privacy concern, not a theoretical one.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. The compression algorithm executes in your device's memory using WebAssembly. Nothing is transmitted to any server at any point. You could turn off your internet connection after the page loads and the tool would still work. For sensitive documents, that matters.
What 200KB actually looks like for a photograph
At 200KB, a JPEG photo displayed at 1200 by 900 pixels looks essentially identical to a much larger original on a screen. The compression needed to reach 200KB from a typical 3 to 5MB phone photo is significant in terms of file size reduction but visually subtle. Insurance portals and online forms don't display your photos at full screen. They store them in a document management system and display them as thumbnails or at reduced resolution for review. A well-compressed 192KB JPEG is genuinely sufficient for these use cases and will display clearly for the person reviewing your claim or application.