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PixSqueeze

Compress JPEG

Cut JPG file size by 5–10× with no visible change — free, in your browser, photos never uploaded.

Drop images here

or click to browse — pasting a copied image works too

Drop a JPG — up to 20 files

What JPEG compression actually does

JPEG is built on a useful truth: human eyes notice brightness far more than fine color detail, and smooth gradients far more than microscopic texture. The encoder breaks the photo into small blocks and describes each with as much precision as the quality setting allows. High quality keeps detail your eye can't resolve anyway; lowering quality discards it — which is why a photo can shrink to a tenth of its size and look identical at arm's length.

This page accepts JPGs only, so a stray PNG or screenshot doesn't silently get the wrong treatment — there are dedicated tools for PNG and WebP. Drop up to 20 JPGs, set the quality dial, or switch to exact size when a form demands a number.

Choosing a quality level

  • 85–95%: portfolio shots, print candidates, anything viewers will zoom into. Modest savings, zero compromise.
  • 70–80%: the everyday range — sharing, listings, web pages, documentation. Large savings, visually transparent.
  • 50–65%: when bandwidth or limits are tight. Inspect skies and smooth gradients for banding before shipping.
  • Below 50%: visible blockiness territory — only for thumbnails or when a hard cap forces it.

A note on re-compression

Every JPEG save is a fresh round of discarding. Compressing an original from your camera once at 75% looks excellent; compressing a file that has already been through WhatsApp, then a screenshot, then another compressor accumulates the damage from every pass. The rule: keep one good original, and produce compressed copies from it as needed — never from previous copies.

Frequently asked questions

Is JPEG the same as JPG?
Yes — same format, same compression. The three-letter .jpg extension is a leftover from old Windows systems that only allowed three characters. This tool treats them identically.
What quality setting should I use for photos?
75% is the workhorse setting: typically a 5–10× size reduction with no difference visible at normal size. Drop to 60% when size matters more than pixel-peeping, stay at 85%+ for images people will zoom into.
Does compressing a JPEG again ruin it?
One re-compression at reasonable quality is fine. Quality loss compounds with each save, so always compress from the best version you have rather than a file that has already been through several tools.
Why is my JPEG huge in the first place?
Cameras save at maximum quality (95%+) so you can edit later — detail your screen never shows. They also embed metadata and a preview thumbnail. Compression re-encodes for viewing instead of editing, which is where the size drop comes from.
Does this strip EXIF metadata like location?
Yes. Re-encoding drops the metadata block, including GPS coordinates and camera details. For photos you share publicly that's usually exactly what you want.

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