Compress an image to 500KB

Drop images here

or click to choose - JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP. Batch supported.

Your images are processed on your own device and never uploaded to a server.

How to compress an image to 500 KB

  1. Drop one or more images into the box above, or click to browse. JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF and BMP all work.
  2. The target is already set to 500 KB. Change the dropdown if your limit is different - the tool re-fits the quality automatically.
  3. Download the compressed file. PixSquash reports the exact reduction, so you can see whether you hit the limit.

Getting a photo under 500KB is comfortable for large full-width banners that still need to load fast. The trick is not to shrink the image blindly - it is to find the highest quality setting that still fits under the limit, which is exactly what this tool does.

PixSquash runs a quick search over the encoder: it re-encodes your image at a range of quality levels, measures the real output size each time, and keeps the best quality that lands under 500KB. If quality alone is not enough, it steps the dimensions down too, so the result always fits.

The compression happens entirely in your browser - your photo is never uploaded - and you can process a whole folder of images in one go.

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Frequently asked questions

Will compressing to 500KB make my image look blurry?
Usually not. PixSquash starts from the highest quality that still fits the target and only lowers it as far as the file size demands. For most photos the result is visually identical to the original. Very detailed images may soften slightly at the smallest targets - if that happens, try the next size up.
Which formats can I compress?
Any image your browser can open: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF and BMP. JPG and WebP are re-encoded lossily, which is where the biggest savings come from. PNG is converted to WebP internally, because PNG's lossless algorithm simply cannot be squeezed to a target size.
Why is my file still too big?
If a heavily detailed image cannot reach 500KB at any usable quality, PixSquash also reduces the pixel dimensions until the size fits. That is normal - a 4000px photo has more information than 500KB can hold, so some of it has to go.
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. The compression runs on your own device. Nothing is transmitted, so it is safe for confidential scans, ID documents and anything else you would rather not hand to a random website.