Quick Guides · Guide
What Is a WebP File? (And How to Open One)
3 min read · October 27, 2026 · Mochify Engineering Team
A WebP file is an ordinary picture, like a JPG or PNG, saved in a newer format that Google
released in 2010 so that web pages load faster. The name ends in .webp, and you
usually get one by saving an image from a website. To open it, drag it into any browser tab;
Windows 10 and 11, macOS Big Sur (2020) and later, iOS 14 and Android 4.0 and later can open
it in their own apps too. The file is not broken and it is not a virus: it is a normal photo
in a format some older apps have not caught up with.
Published October 27, 2026 by the Mochify Engineering Team. Based on Google's WebP documentation, Apple, Microsoft and Adobe support pages, MDN and caniuse.com data current to October 2026.
Why your download is a .webp and not a .jpg
Saved a product photo and got shoes.webp instead of shoes.jpg? The
website chose that, because WebP makes the same picture a smaller file, and a smaller file
means a faster page. Every image format shrinks a picture one of two ways: lossy throws away fine detail your eye will not miss, which is what JPG does, and lossless keeps every pixel, which is what PNG does. WebP can do either, and does both more
efficiently: 25 to 34% smaller than a JPEG that looks the same, about 26% smaller than a PNG
(Google Developers).
Your browser helps the site along. When it asks for an image it says which formats it can
display, and Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all include image/webp in that
request (MDN), so the server sends the WebP even when the address ends in .jpg.
Right-click, Save image as, and you keep the file that arrived. That is fine for browsers,
where 97% of traffic can show WebP as of September 2026 (caniuse.com); the trouble starts afterwards, with an older editor, a print service or an upload form
that insists on "JPG or PNG".
How to open a WebP file, by platform
Any browser: drag the file into a tab, or right-click it, choose Open with, and pick your browser.
Windows 10 and 11: Photos and File Explorer open
.webpwhen Microsoft's free WebP Image Extension is present, which on most current machines it already is; if a double-click fails, install it from the Microsoft Store.Mac: Apple added WebP with Safari 14 in macOS Big Sur (Safari 14 release notes); in practice Preview and Quick Look open it on Big Sur and later.
iPhone and Android: iOS 14 and Android 4.0 and later can read WebP, so it opens in the browser and in most gallery apps.
Photoshop: native since version 23.2 (February 2022); 23.1 and earlier need Google's free WebPShop plug-in (Adobe).
Opening it is not converting it
Opening lets you look at the picture. If the form, printer or app you need still refuses it,
convert it to a format it accepts, and pick that format by what the image is. A photo goes
to JPG: Mochify's WebP to JPG converter takes up to 3 files at a time with no signup, 20MB each, and gives back JPGs that look the
same on screen. A logo, sticker or cut-out with a see-through background goes to PNG,
because JPG cannot hold transparency and fills it with white: the WebP to PNG converter keeps the
transparent background pixel for pixel. On both pages a switch appears after upload that
removes the hidden camera data (EXIF), on by default, and an animated WebP comes back as a
still of its first frame. Files travel over HTTPS to api.mochify.app, are
converted in memory and discarded as soon as your download is ready; nothing is written to
disk.
Worked example: shoes.webp opens fine in Photos on Windows 11, but the
marketplace listing form rejects it. Drop it on WebP to JPG, download shoes.jpg, and check the extension in your browser's download bar before you
upload. Doing this often? Our guide to saving a WebP as JPG in Chrome covers every route.
Got a folder of them? Drop the lot on the WebP to JPG converter, or open the Mochify web app and type convert these to JPG and remove the metadata; Magic Flow does the rest.