What kind of image is a WebP?
WebP is an image format designed by Google for the web. A WebP file can be lossy, compressing a photograph the way JPEG does but more efficiently, or lossless, keeping every pixel the way PNG does, and either kind can have a transparent background. It can also hold an animation, which makes it a replacement for GIF as well.
The IETF published the format in 2024 as RFC 9649, an informational specification that defines its file layout and registers the image/webp media type. Its lossy mode is based on the VP8 video codec.
Why do pictures from websites save as WebP?
Because that is what the site sent. Sites serve WebP because it is smaller than JPEG or PNG for the same picture: Google's published comparison found lossy WebP 25 to 34 percent smaller than JPEG at equal measured quality, and Google's WebP overview puts lossless WebP 26 percent smaller than PNG. When you save an image, your browser keeps the file it received, so a picture that looked like any other photo lands on your disk as .webp.
Some sites decide per visitor, sending WebP to browsers that say they accept it and JPEG to the rest, so the same picture can save as .webp in one browser and as .jpg in another.
What opens a WebP file?
| Where | Opens WebP? |
|---|---|
| Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari | Yes, in every current version |
| Windows and macOS | Recent versions usually open it in their built-in photo viewers |
| Image editors | Most current editors open it; older versions may not |
| Upload forms, older software and some email apps | Often not |
| File4Edit | Yes, in every browser, and it makes WebP files in every browser too |
On Safari, iPhone and iPad, File4Edit makes WebP with its own WebP encoder, because Safari's built-in encoder cannot; the encoder is downloaded the first time you save a WebP.
When a WebP will not open where you need it, the quickest way to see it is a current browser: drag the file into a Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari tab, then convert it if a program needs something else.
How do you convert a WebP file?
To a JPG, when a program or form will not take WebP: the WebP to JPG converter fills any transparent areas with a color you choose, since a JPG has no transparency. To a PNG, when you need to keep a transparent background or edit the image losslessly: the WebP to PNG converter.
Going the other way, the JPG to WebP converter and the PNG to WebP converter make lighter copies for a website. An animated WebP is converted from its first frame only, so the result is a still image.
Is WebP better than JPG and PNG?
On a website, usually: smaller files, transparency, and support in every current browser. Outside the browser, less so, because some software still cannot open it. WebP vs JPG and WebP vs PNG compare them in detail, and Compare image formats measures your own image every way.
One limit is worth knowing: Google's WebP FAQ puts the largest WebP image at 16,383 pixels wide or tall, so very long screenshots and panoramas need JPEG or PNG.