Little Toolworks

Compress an Image to 1 MB

One megabyte is the usual cap on application portals and photo uploads. It leaves enough room that most photos keep their detail — and the picture never leaves this tab.

Drop an image here, or click to choose

JPEG, PNG, WebP or BMP up to 20 MB on Free · one at a time · nothing leaves your device

Free plan

How it works

  1. Your browser reads the image from your disk. No network request carries it.
  2. It keeps the largest dimensions and JPEG quality under 1 MB. The first setting that fits is kept, so detail is spent only where the limit demands it.
  3. You see the final size and dimensions. If 1 MB is out of reach, it reports the smallest honest result instead of claiming a hit.

1 MB, counted strictly

Most photos barely change. A 1 MB budget usually allows a high JPEG quality at or near the original dimensions. That makes it a good choice for job applications, grant portals and photo uploads where the form only cares about the ceiling.

1 MB here means 1,000,000 bytes. Some forms count 1 MB as 1,024 KB (1,048,576 bytes). This tool uses the smaller, stricter number, so a file that fits here also fits the other reading.

It is still an upper bound. The result lands at or just below 1,000,000 bytes. There is no benefit to squeezing further: a smaller file than the form allows only loses quality.

Large originals may still be scaled. A 48-megapixel photo can exceed 1 MB even at a moderate quality, so the tool may reduce the pixel dimensions. The result card shows the width and height used.

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Targets of 2 MB, 1 MB, 500 KB, 200 KB, 100 KB and 50 KB
  • Images up to 20 MB
  • One image at a time
  • JPEG or PNG output, no upload, no watermark

Pro

$5/month

  • Adds 30 KB, 20 KB and 10 KB targets, plus a custom KB target
  • Images up to 100 MB
  • Batch: compress up to 20 images at once
  • One subscription unlocks Pro in every Little Toolworks tool

Billed by Creem. Cancel any time with Manage or cancel subscription. Access is activated automatically after payment.

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Questions

Will 1 MB look the same as the original?

Usually close, especially at normal viewing size. A very large or noisy original may be scaled down to fit; the result card shows the dimensions.

Is 1 MB the same as 1024 KB?

Not here. This tool counts 1 MB as 1,000,000 bytes, which is smaller than 1,024 KB. A result that fits here also fits a form using the 1,024 reading.

Why not compress below 1 MB?

Because that would throw away detail the limit does not require you to lose. The tool stops at the first setting that fits.

Can I keep the original resolution?

If the photo fits at that resolution, yes. Otherwise it is scaled down, and the card reports the final width and height.

What if my photo is HEIC?

Safari can usually decode it; Chrome and Edge on Windows may not. If the page cannot decode the file, export it as JPEG and try again.

Is anything uploaded?

No. The image is read and re-encoded in the browser.