Compress image to 500 KB for free
For websites, listings and portfolios: a file under 500 KB that looks almost identical to the original.
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When you need 500 KB
Half a megabyte is the limit where a photo still has to look good: university portals, contests, portfolio sites, marketplace listings, product photos on small online stores, CRM uploads. Detail matters there, and 500 KB leaves room for it.
How to compress an image to 500 KB
- Drop your photos, up to 40 at a time.
- The 500 KB button is already selected.
- Pick a format: JPG for any site, WebP for modern ones.
- Click Compress and download the files.
Quality at 500 KB
For a typical phone photo, 500 KB means compressing it 5-10 times, and we almost always keep the original resolution. On screen it's hard to tell it apart from the original, and it still prints fine at small sizes.
Compression happens in two steps. First the browser's encoder finds the quality level that fits under 500 KB. Then the final JPG is built with mozjpeg, which preserves fine detail and smooth gradients, like sky and skin, better at the same size.
For websites and listings
- Listings. Marketplaces recompress your photos anyway. Uploading a carefully compressed file often looks better than letting the site crush a huge one.
- Your own website. Images under 500 KB load fast even on mobile data. For full-screen backgrounds, WebP is the better choice.
- Portfolios. If the site caps the total upload size, compressing each image to 500 KB lets you show more work.
If you don't need an exact size and just want lighter files, compress images with a simple strength setting is quicker. To change formats, use the image converter.
Need a different size?
"Max 0.5 MB" is the same as 500 KB. For 400 or 600 KB, type the number into Custom size. For a size in megabytes, like 1.5 MB, switch the unit to MB. We always count in thousands of bytes, so the file passes even the strictest check.
On your phone
Open this page in your phone's browser, pick photos from your gallery and tap Compress. Files land in Downloads on Android or in the Files app on iPhone.
Free
No daily limit, sign-up or watermark. Photos stay on your device; everything happens in the browser.
FAQ
Will I see a difference from the original?
Usually not. At 500 KB a phone photo keeps its resolution and the quality drop isn't noticeable.
JPG or WebP?
JPG is accepted everywhere. WebP is sharper at the same size, but some older sites and apps can't open it.
Can I set 400 or 600 KB?
Yes, type the number into Custom size.
How many photos at once?
Up to 40, with no daily limit.