What is WebP?
WebP, created by Google in 2010.
WebP came out of Google's acquisition of On2 Technologies and the VP8 video codec that came with it. The insight was the same one that later produced HEIC and AVIF: a still image is a video keyframe, and video compression had improved enormously since JPEG was standardised in 1992. WebP's lossy mode is essentially a VP8 intra frame in a RIFF container.
Google then did something JPEG never did and added a completely separate lossless mode, using a different algorithm entirely — one closer in spirit to PNG, with a transform-based predictor and entropy coding. That is why WebP can credibly replace both JPEG and PNG rather than just one of them, and why "is WebP lossy" has no single answer.
Adoption was slow and then sudden. Chrome supported it from 2010, but Safari held out until version 14 in 2020, which meant a decade where serving WebP required a fallback. Once Safari shipped it, WebP became the default output of most image pipelines almost immediately.
Outside the browser the picture is very different, and that gap is what drives most conversions away from it. Windows added support in recent releases, macOS handles it in Preview, but a great deal of desktop software, print workflow and corporate tooling still does not open a .webp file.
Technical specification
| Property | WebP |
|---|---|
| Compression | Both — lossy (VP8 intra) and a separate lossless mode |
| Bit depth | 8 bits per channel |
| Transparency | Yes, in both lossy and lossless modes |
| Animation | Yes — this is what replaced GIF for short loops |
| HDR | No |
| Maximum dimensions | 16,383 × 16,383 px |
| Colour spaces | sRGB; ICC profiles supported in the extended format |
| Metadata | EXIF and XMP supported, though tooling often drops them |
WebP support in browsers and operating systems
Checked on 2026-08-10. We re-verify this table every quarter.
| Platform | Support |
|---|---|
| Chrome | 32+ (2014); earlier builds from 2010 |
| Safari | 16+ fully; 14+ on macOS Big Sur and later |
| Firefox | 65+ (2019) |
| Edge | 18+ (2018) |
| iOS | 14+ |
| Android | 4.2+ |
| Windows | 10 1809+ shows previews in Explorer |
| macOS | 11 Big Sur+ opens in Preview |
WebP compared with nearby formats
Against JPEG. WebP wins on nearly every axis: 25–30% smaller at matching quality, plus transparency and animation JPEG cannot do at all. JPEG's advantage is compatibility, and outside the browser that advantage is still decisive.
Against PNG. WebP's lossless mode is roughly 25% smaller than PNG on the same image with identical alpha support. For web delivery it is simply the better format. PNG wins where anything might open the file, and in software that predates 2020.
Against AVIF. AVIF compresses better — often half the size — and adds 10-bit colour and HDR. WebP's advantages are encoding speed, measured in milliseconds rather than seconds, and a few more years of accumulated support. For a site serving many images, AVIF with a WebP fallback is the usual answer.
Against GIF. Not really a contest. Animated WebP is a fraction of the size with full colour instead of 256 palette entries. GIF survives on inertia and on platforms that only accept it.
When to use WebP, and when not to
Use WebP for images on a web page. Every browser reads it, the files are meaningfully smaller than JPEG or PNG, and transparency and animation work. If you are choosing one format for a website and do not want to maintain multiple versions, this is the pragmatic choice.
Use it in place of animated GIF for short loops — smaller, full colour, and no dithering.
Do not use WebP for files you will send to other people. The gap between browser support and desktop support is exactly where the frustration lives: the recipient's software may simply refuse to open it. JPG for photographs, PNG for graphics.
Do not use it for archiving or as a working format. Its lossless mode is fine, but PNG and TIFF have decades more tooling behind them.
Frequently asked questions
Why do websites give me .webp files when I save an image?
Because that is what the site actually served. WebP is typically 25–30% smaller than JPEG at the same quality and every current browser supports it, so most image pipelines now output it by default. Saving the image gives you the file the server sent, which is often not the format your other software expects.
Is WebP lossy or lossless?
Either. WebP has two independent modes: a lossy one derived from VP8 video compression, and a completely separate lossless one. Most WebP images on the web are lossy. There is no way to tell by extension — you have to inspect the file.
Why will Photoshop not open my WebP?
Support arrived late in desktop software. Recent Photoshop versions handle WebP natively; older ones need a plugin. This gap between universal browser support and patchy desktop support is why converting away from WebP is such a common need.
Should I use WebP or AVIF on my website?
AVIF where you can, WebP as the fallback. AVIF is roughly half the size at comparable quality but encodes far more slowly, which matters for a pipeline processing thousands of images. Serving AVIF with a WebP fallback covers essentially every visitor.