PNG to WebP converter

Why convert PNG to WebP

Images are usually the heaviest part of a web page, and PNG is a heavy way to store anything photographic. A product cutout, a hero image or a screenshot with a gradient can run to several megabytes as PNG. The same picture as WebP is typically a fraction of that size, and the page loads faster for it, especially on a phone. Unlike JPG, WebP keeps a transparent background, so a cutout on a coloured section of the page still looks like a cutout. PNG vs WebP for websites has the numbers and the cases where PNG is still the better choice.

How to convert PNG to WebP

1. Set the quality if you want. 92 is the starting point; lower it for a smaller file.
2. Drop the PNG files on this page, choose them, or paste a copied image. Several at once is fine.
3. Compare the sizes. Each row shows the PNG's size beside the WebP's, so you can see what you saved.
4. Save. Click Save WebP next to a file, or Save all to get them together in one ZIP. Each WebP keeps the name of the original with the new extension.

What changes, and what does not

Transparency is kept. WebP has a full alpha channel, so soft edges such as hair or a shadow still fade into the page behind them. The width and height stay the same. The file gets smaller, by most for photographs and cutouts, by least for flat graphics that PNG already compresses well.

Treat the WebP as a compressed copy. The encoder built into browsers writes lossy WebP, which rounds off detail the way a JPG does, so do not use the WebP as your master file. Keep the PNG for editing and publish the WebP. The Quality slider decides the trade: at the default of 92 a photograph usually looks the same on screen, and lower values give smaller files with softer detail. Fine coloured lines and small text show compression first, so check a logo or a screenshot closely before you swap it. Moving the slider sets the quality for files you add next; click Apply quality to the list to convert the files already there again.

Metadata is left behind: text notes, dates and other details stored in the PNG are not copied into the WebP, which also saves a few bytes.

Where WebP works, and where it does not

About 97 percent of browsers in use display WebP, according to caniuse.com, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari 14 or newer. WordPress has accepted WebP uploads since version 5.8. It is not accepted everywhere:

• Amazon listings do not take WebP; upload a JPG or PNG. PNG to JPG makes one.
• Email. Some email apps do not display WebP, so newsletter images are safer as PNG or JPG.
• Older desktop software and some upload forms still expect JPG or PNG. If a WebP comes back to you that way, WebP to PNG turns it back.

Saving WebP needs a browser that can encode it, not only display it. Safari older than version 17 may not be able to, and the page shows an error on the file rather than saving a wrongly named one. A recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari works.

Converting without uploading

Most online PNG to WebP converters send your files to a server to be converted. This page uses the encoder already built into your browser, so the images are converted inside this tab and nothing is sent to getPNG or anyone else. Unreleased product photos and client designs never leave your machine. Load the page, switch off Wi-Fi, and it still works.

If a PNG still has a background you do not want on the page, click Remove background on the file. It opens in getPNG's background remover in the same browser, without uploading, and the remover can save the cutout as WebP directly. Reducing PNG file size covers the case where the file has to stay a PNG.