What Is a WebP File (and How to Open One)?
Updated August 11, 2026
What a WebP file is
A WebP file is an image saved in the WebP format, which Google released in 2010. The file extension is .webp. It was designed for one purpose: to make images on the web smaller without making them look worse.
WebP does that well. It compresses photos around 25-35% smaller than JPG, and graphics around 25% smaller than PNG, at comparable quality. That is why you increasingly download images as .webp files — many websites now serve every image that way.
What WebP can do
WebP is a capable, modern format:
- Lossy or lossless compression. Lossy for photographs, lossless when every pixel must be preserved.
- Transparency. A full alpha channel, like PNG.
- Animation. Multiple frames in one file, like GIF, but far smaller.
In other words, a single format that covers what JPG, PNG, and GIF each do separately — usually at a smaller size than any of them.
How to open a WebP file
In a web browser, just open it — every current browser displays WebP directly. Drag the file into a browser tab and it appears.
On a computer, modern versions of Windows and macOS preview WebP in their built-in image viewers, and most current image editors open it too.
The friction comes with older software: some long-standing apps, a few editors, and the occasional website still do not accept WebP. When that happens, the fix is to convert the file to a universal format.
How to convert a WebP file
Use the image converter to turn a WebP into PNG when you need a lossless copy or transparency, or into JPG for the most universally compatible photo file. It runs entirely in your browser — the file is never uploaded to a server.
Going the other way, converting a PNG to WebP shrinks an image for use on a website.
Should you use WebP?
If you publish images on a website, yes — the bandwidth saving is real and every visitor's browser supports it. If you are sending a file to someone, or you do not know which software will open it, a JPG or PNG is the safer bet.
For the full comparison, see WebP vs PNG and WebP vs JPG.