How to reduce a photo to 100 KB or 200 KB
Get a phone photo under the size limit of an application form, visa portal or school website, without it looking bad.
Job applications, visa and passport forms, school portals and government websites often say something like "maximum 100 KB" or "under 200 KB". A photo straight from your phone is usually 2 to 5 MB, so 20 to 50 times too big. Two changes fix that: make the picture smaller in pixels, and save it with a bit more compression.
How to get a photo under 100 KB or 200 KB
- Open the image compressor and choose your photo. iPhone HEIC photos work too.
- Choose JPG. For photos it gives by far the smallest files that still look good.
- Set the longest side to 1280 px for a 200 KB limit, or 800 px for 100 KB.
- Move the quality slider. The new size updates as you move it, so stop as soon as it's under your limit.
- Download the photo and upload it to the form.
What size to start with
These are typical results for a normal phone photo. Detailed photos, like grass or a busy street, come out a bit bigger; a portrait against a plain wall comes out smaller.
| Limit | Longest side | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| 500 KB | 1920 px | 75 to 85% |
| 200 KB | 1280 px | 65 to 75% |
| 100 KB | 800 px | 65 to 75% |
| 50 KB | 800 px | 45 to 60% |
Does the form also ask for exact pixels?
Some forms want a fixed size such as 600 × 600 px or a passport-style 35 × 45 shape. Crop the photo to that shape first with crop image, or set the exact pixel size with resize image, then compress it as above.
Tip: the saved photo no longer carries the hidden camera details, such as the GPS location of where it was taken. Good to know when you upload a photo to a website.
Questions
How do I reduce a photo to under 100 KB?
Save it as JPG, set the longest side to about 800 px and lower the quality until the size shown is under 100 KB.
Will the photo look worse?
At 800 to 1280 pixels and 65 to 75% quality, a photo still looks sharp on a screen. Forms rarely show photos bigger than that.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. It is resized and compressed inside your browser, on your own device.