Compress an image to 1 MB
Drop a photo and get it back just under 1 MB — the size asked for by email attachments, forums and support tickets. Free, and the photo is never uploaded.
Each file lands just under this size.
If quality alone can't reach the size, the image is scaled down until it fits. The new size is shown on the file.
How did this tool do?
About compressing to 1 MB
Plenty of portals that accept scanned documents cap uploads at 1 MB per file. A phone photo of a document is often 3 to 6 MB, so it needs reducing — but at 1 MB a full-page scan stays completely legible, small print included.
It's also the practical limit for email in many workplaces, where a 25 MB mailbox cap disappears quickly once a few attachments are involved.
Because 1 MB is a generous budget, you rarely need to reduce dimensions to reach it. Quality alone usually does the job, which preserves fine detail better than scaling the image down would.
You'll meet a 1 MB cap on support ticket systems, community forums, and document uploads for banks, insurers, landlords and letting agents. These are usually photos of paperwork or screenshots of a problem, where legibility matters and a phone's full-resolution original is many times larger than needed.
When photographing a document for one of these, lay it flat in good light, hold the phone directly above it and fill the frame with the page. HEIC photos from an iPhone work too: they're read in your browser and saved as JPG, which is the format these systems expect.
Where you'll meet it
Document uploads
Portals commonly cap scanned documents at 1 MB.
Email attachments
Send several files without hitting mailbox limits.
Support tickets and forums
Screenshots and photos that stay under the limit.
Other sizes
How to use it
- 01Drop your image, or paste one with Ctrl+V. JPG, PNG, WebP and HEIC all work.
- 02The target is already set to 1 MB — change it if your form asks for something else.
- 03Tap Compress. Quality is lowered step by step, and the photo is scaled down only if that's the only way to reach 1 MB.
- 04Compare the result with the original, then download.
Compressing images, answered
Why is my phone photo 4 MB when the limit is 1 MB?
Phones save 12 to 50 megapixel photos at high quality, far more detail than a document or support ticket needs. The compressor can usually reach 1 MB by lowering quality alone, without shrinking the picture, so the text stays as sharp as it was.
How do I make a photo exactly 1 MB?
Drop it above and tap Compress. The target is already 1 MB, and each file comes back just under that — the quality that was needed is shown on the file, so you can see how hard it had to work.
Will my photo still look good at 1 MB?
Usually yes. At 1 MB a full-size photo keeps its detail, and most people can't tell it apart from the original.
What if the form also wants exact dimensions?
Resize first, then compress. The resize tool has presets for passport photos (35 × 45 mm) and common pixel sizes, and compressing afterwards keeps those dimensions unless the size target can't be met any other way.
Why does the form ask for 1 MB?
Upload limits keep storage and bandwidth predictable — 1 MB is a common one for email attachments, forums and support tickets. The limit is about the file size in kilobytes, not how large the photo looks on screen.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. Compression runs in your browser, so the photo never leaves your device — which matters when you're sending ID documents to a form.