Compress image to 1 MB for free
For email, portals and applications: a file under 1 MB that keeps the resolution and detail of the original.
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Where you need 1 MB
1 MB limits are common on government and university portals, document upload systems, online visa forms, banks and insurers. It's also handy for email: twenty 1 MB photos fit in one message, while 5 MB originals won't.
How to compress an image to 1 MB
- Drop your photos, up to 40 at a time, each up to 50 MB.
- The 1 MB button is already selected.
- Keep JPG: every portal accepts it.
- Click Compress to 1 MB and download the files individually or as a ZIP.
What happens to your photo
1 MB is generous for a JPG. A 12-megapixel phone photo almost always fits without any loss of resolution, and you won't see a difference from the original even when zoomed in. The result is fine for documents and small prints.
Photos from 24-45 megapixel cameras may not fit even at good quality, so we scale them down. Fine detail stays crisp because the final JPG is encoded with mozjpeg.
How many KB is 1 MB?
For us, 1 MB is 1,000 KB: no more than 1,000,000 bytes. That passes on every site, whether it counts a megabyte as 1,000,000 or 1,048,576 bytes. For 2 MB or 1.5 MB, choose MB in Custom size and type the number.
Many photos by email
Want to send 20 phone photos in one email? Compress them to 1 MB as a batch: 20 files come to about 20 MB, under Gmail's 25 MB attachment limit. Download them as one ZIP and attach it. The recipient gets real photos, not a cloud link that expires.
For documents
- An ID or certificate scan under 1 MB stays easy to read.
- If the site wants a PDF, combine pages with scan to PDF, then compress the PDF to 1 MB if needed.
- For an ID-style portrait that meets document rules, use the passport photo tool.
Already under 1 MB?
If the original is already smaller than the target, you don't need to compress it at all. Re-compressing would only cost a bit of quality for nothing.
Free and private
No sign-up, no daily limit, no watermark. Photos and scans are processed in your browser.
FAQ
Will the resolution go down?
For phone photos, usually not: they fit in 1 MB at full resolution.
How do I compress a photo to 2 MB?
Choose MB in the Custom size field and type 2.
Is it good enough for printing?
Yes, for small prints. For large prints, use the original.
Is it free?
Yes, with no limits and no sign-up.