How do I compress a photo to 500KB?

Open it in the tool above and press Download. The tool keeps the highest JPG quality that fits under 500KB, and shrinks the pixels only if quality alone is not enough.

How much does a photo lose at 500KB?

Very little at screen sizes. In our test a 9.4 megapixel photo fitted at quality 87 when 2,048 pixels across, which looks like the original. Kept at full size it needed quality 52.

Should I keep the full resolution?

Only if it will be printed large or cropped later. For email, forms and websites, about 2,000 pixels across is more than enough and looks better at 500KB than a full-size file.

Can I compress PNG screenshots to 500KB?

Yes; they come out as JPG. For screenshots with text, PNG or WebP often stay sharper: try the PNG to WebP converter.

Is my image uploaded?

No. The image is opened, compressed and saved by your own browser. Nothing is sent to Daniotech or any other server, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.

Compress image to 500KB

Get large photos under 500KB with little visible loss. The tool keeps the highest quality that fits, and about 2,000 pixels across usually still fit. Nothing is uploaded.

Free · Runs in your browser · Updated 17 October 2026

Choose images or drop them hereJPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, TIFF · up to 50 at once · nothing is uploaded, the work happens in this browser

Settings

Target size

The file will be at most this size. 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, so it also passes forms that count 1,024.

Width

Height

Optional. Leave both empty to keep the size; fill one to keep the shape; fill both for an exact size a form asks for (the picture is centred and trimmed to that shape, never stretched).

Allow fewer pixels if neededWhen lowering quality is not enough, make the image smaller in pixels. Turn off if the form fixes the dimensions.

How to

Compress an image to 500KB.

1Choose one or more images, or drop them on the box. JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and iPhone HEIC all work.
2Leave the target at 500KB, or type another size. Most phone photos only need their quality lowered a little.
3Download each JPG, or Download all for one ZIP. Every file’s new size is shown, so you can see it is under 500KB before you upload.

What fits

How big a photo fits in 500KB.

Highest JPG quality that fits in 500KB and 1MB, 9.4 megapixel photo
Long side	Under 500KB	Under 1MB
1600 px	94	95
2048 px	87	95
2560 px	74	92
3072 px (full size)	52	86

A 3072 × 3072 (9.4 MP) collage of nine product photos, so detail is spread like a phone photo. At quality 85 the full-size file was 928KB. Pillow 11.3, 17 October 2026; browser encoders give close, not identical, sizes.

Rule of thumb: 500KB keeps a photo near-perfect at about 2,000 pixels across, more than any screen needs. At full phone resolution the quality has to drop to around 50.

Behind the scenes

Best quality that fits, never over.

The tool saves a JPG at quality 92 first. If that is over 500KB, it searches down to quality 40 for the highest setting that fits. Only if quality 40 is still too big does it shrink the picture, choosing a size where quality stays around 75, because fewer pixels at good quality look better than more pixels at poor quality. 1 KB is counted as 1,000 bytes, so the file also passes forms that count 1,024.

FAQ

Questions people ask first.

How do I compress a photo to 500KB?: Open it in the tool above and press Download. The tool keeps the highest JPG quality that fits under 500KB, and shrinks the pixels only if quality alone is not enough.
How much does a photo lose at 500KB?: Very little at screen sizes. In our test a 9.4 megapixel photo fitted at quality 87 when 2,048 pixels across, which looks like the original. Kept at full size it needed quality 52.
Should I keep the full resolution?: Only if it will be printed large or cropped later. For email, forms and websites, about 2,000 pixels across is more than enough and looks better at 500KB than a full-size file.
Can I compress PNG screenshots to 500KB?: Yes; they come out as JPG. For screenshots with text, PNG or WebP often stay sharper: try the PNG to WebP converter.
Is my image uploaded?: No. The image is opened, compressed and saved by your own browser. Nothing is sent to Daniotech or any other server, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.

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