How to convert WebP to PNG or JPG, and why your downloads are WebP in the first place

What is a WebP file and why is Chrome saving images as WebP?

WebP is an image format Google released in 2010 to make web pages load faster. A WebP photo is 25 to 35 percent smaller than a JPG at the same visible quality, and a WebP graphic with transparency is usually smaller than the equivalent PNG. One format covers both jobs, plus animation, which is why most large websites switched to it. Every modern browser displays WebP, including Safari since 2020.

Chrome is not converting anything when you save a picture. The website is choosing what to send. When your browser asks for an image, it tells the server which formats it can display. If WebP is on that list, the site sends its WebP version, because it is smaller and cheaper to serve. The JPG you expected may exist on the server too, but you were never sent it. Save image as gives you the file your browser received, so the download ends in .webp.

The problem comes afterward. Photoshop before version 23.2, older versions of Office, photo frames, printing services and some upload forms do not read WebP. The file is fine, but the program says the format is unsupported.

Right-click tricks that get you a JPG or PNG without converting

Before you convert anything, try to get the original file from the site. Right-click the image and choose Open image in new tab and look at the address. If it ends in .jpg or .png, the site stores the original and simply served you a WebP version; save from this tab. If the address ends in .webp or contains something like format=webp or f_auto, change webp to jpg or png, or remove the format parameter, and press Enter. On image hosts and online shops this often works, because the WebP is made on the fly from a stored original.

A second trick works on sites where the image is a link to a larger version. Clicking through to the full-size image sometimes gives you the original JPG rather than the resized WebP shown on the page.

If none of that produces a JPG or PNG, save the WebP and convert it with one of the methods below. Keep in mind that saving someone else's image does not give you the right to reuse it; check the license if you plan to publish it.

How to open a WebP file

If all you need is to look at the picture, you may not need to convert at all. Any web browser opens a WebP: drag the file into a Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox window. On Windows 10 and 11, the Photos app and Paint open WebP without any extra download. On a Mac, Preview and Photos have opened WebP since macOS Big Sur in 2020, and Quick Look shows it with the spacebar. The built-in gallery on iPhone and Android displays WebP as well.

Programs that still refuse WebP include Photoshop older than 23.2, some versions of Microsoft Office, most photo printing services, and web forms that only list JPG and PNG. For those, convert the file first.

How to convert WebP to PNG or JPG on Windows with Paint

Paint is already on every Windows 10 and 11 PC and it opens WebP directly. It is the quickest route for a single image. The only thing it lacks is a JPG quality setting, so for a photograph you care about, the online route below gives better control.

The Photos app works the same way: open the WebP, click the three dots in the top bar, choose Save as, and pick JPG or PNG as the file type. Either way the original WebP is left as it was.

1. Right-click the .webp file, choose Open with, and pick Paint.
2. Choose File, then Save as.
3. Pick PNG picture if the image has a transparent background, text or sharp graphics. Pick JPEG picture if it is a photo.
4. Give the file a name and click Save. The new PNG or JPG appears next to the original.

How to convert WebP to PNG or JPG on a Mac with Preview

Preview opens WebP on any Mac running Big Sur or later and exports to either format. For several files, select them in the Finder, right-click, choose Quick Actions, then Convert Image, pick PNG or JPEG and a size, and the copies appear next to the originals. If Convert Image is missing, your Mac is older than Monterey; use Preview instead.

1. Open the WebP in Preview. Double-clicking usually does it; if not, right-click, Open with, Preview.
2. Choose File, then Export.
3. In the Format menu choose PNG or JPEG. If one of them is missing, hold the Option key while clicking the menu to show every format.
4. For JPEG, set the Quality slider to 80 percent or higher. Click Save.
5. To convert many files at once, open them all in a single Preview window, select every thumbnail in the sidebar, and choose File, then Export Selected Images.

How to convert WebP to PNG or JPG online, in batches

An online converter makes sense for a folder of images, on a Chromebook or a phone, or when you want to choose the JPG quality rather than accept whatever Paint picks. It also runs the same everywhere.

On DocGopher, WebP to PNG converts to PNG with transparency kept, and WebP to JPG converts to JPG that opens anywhere. Both are free, need no sign-up and add no watermark. Drop up to 50 files per batch, up to 300 MB in total; the files are processed in memory on DocGopher's own servers and deleted after 30 minutes. The general image converter does the same for HEIC, GIF, BMP, TIFF and ICO if your folder is a mix.

Each file has to upload, so hundreds of large images take a while on a slow connection. For anything sensitive, read the privacy terms and look for a stated deletion time before you upload.

1. Open the WebP to PNG or WebP to JPG page in any browser.
2. Select the .webp files or drag them onto the page.
3. Start the conversion and wait for the batch to finish.
4. Download the result. Several files come down as a single ZIP, so unzip it before you insert the images into a document or upload them.

PNG or JPG: which one should you convert to?

Choose PNG when the image has a transparent background, when it is a logo, icon, chart or screenshot with text, or when you need a lossless copy to edit later. PNG keeps every pixel exactly, so edges stay sharp and transparent areas stay transparent. The price is a larger file: a PNG of a photo can be five to ten times bigger than the same photo as a JPG.

Choose JPG when the image is a photograph with no transparency, and when the file is going to email, a form or a printing service. JPG is accepted by everything made in the last 30 years. Save at 80 to 90 percent quality and the result is indistinguishable from the WebP at normal viewing size.

Transparency is the trap. JPG has no transparent pixels, so a transparent WebP logo converted to JPG ends up in a solid box, usually white. If you are not sure whether an image is transparent, open it in a browser: transparent parts show the page background. When in doubt, convert to PNG; you can always make a JPG from the PNG later, but not the other way around.

When to keep WebP, and how to convert the other way

If the image is going onto a web page you control, keep it as WebP or make one. Smaller files mean faster pages, and page speed is something Google measures. Every current browser shows WebP, so the compatibility concern that applies to email and forms does not apply here.

The reverse conversion is just as easy. JPG to WebP turns JPG photos into lighter WebP files for the web, in the same batch sizes as the other direction. The Finder's Convert Image Quick Action does not offer WebP and Paint cannot save it, so the online route or a dedicated image editor is the practical option.

For everything else, convert to the format the destination asks for and keep the WebP as your small original. If you need the image as a document, WebP to PDF puts WebP images straight into a PDF without the detour through JPG.