Convert WebP to PNG

WebP is a format Google introduced to make web pages load faster. It produces smaller files than JPG or PNG at similar quality, so most modern websites now serve their images this way.

The trouble starts when you save one. Right-click an image on almost any site today and you get a .webp file, then discover that your older photo editor, your office software, or the upload form you are trying to use refuses to open it. The format won the speed argument on the web, but everyday desktop software has been slower to catch up.

Converting back to PNG solves it, because PNG is understood by essentially every piece of software ever written.

Choose PNG when the image has a transparent background, a logo, an icon, a cut-out product shot. PNG supports an alpha channel, which is the technical name for transparency, and WebP does too. The conversion carries it across untouched.

JPG cannot store transparency at all. Convert a transparent WebP to JPG and every see-through pixel has to be filled with something solid, usually white. If your image is a photograph with no transparency and you simply want the smallest file, WebP to JPG is the better choice.

Do not be surprised if the PNG is larger than the WebP you started with. That is expected, not a fault. WebP compresses aggressively, while PNG is lossless, it stores the image exactly, pixel for pixel, without discarding anything.

You are trading file size for compatibility and perfect fidelity. For a logo or a graphic that is usually the right trade. For a large photograph you are only going to email, it may not be.

Most online converters send your file to a server, process it there and send it back. That means your image sits on someone else's computer, however briefly, and you are trusting their retention policy.

This tool does the work in your browser using the same technology your browser already uses to display images. You can verify it. Open your browser's network tab, convert a file, and you will see no upload. Turn off your internet after the page has loaded and it still works.

A side effect worth knowing is that converting an image strips its EXIF metadata, including any GPS coordinates a camera or phone recorded.