Converting a JPG to PNG takes a few seconds. The more useful question is whether you should, because the conversion is often requested for reasons it can't deliver. It won't make a blurry photo sharp, and it won't make a background transparent. What it does do is narrower, and in the right situation genuinely valuable.

What the conversion actually does

JPG is a lossy format: when a photo is saved as JPG, some detail is thrown away to make the file smaller. PNG is lossless: it stores every pixel exactly. Converting JPG to PNG therefore freezes the image as it is right now. Nothing is added back, and nothing further will be lost, no matter how many times you save it afterwards.

That has one very visible side effect: the file gets bigger. In our test, a 4.69 MB JPG photograph became a 7.16 MB PNG. The PNG looked exactly the same as the JPG, just stored without compression shortcuts.

When converting is worth it

You're going to edit the image several times

This is the strongest reason, and we measured it. We took a photo and ran it through 20 rounds of a typical editing cycle: make a small change such as a crop, then save as JPG at quality 85. For comparison, we also re-saved it 20 times without changing anything.

  • Re-saved without changes: almost no further damage. Re-saving an untouched JPG at the same quality is fairly stable.
  • Edited and saved as JPG each time: by round 20, the measured difference from the original had roughly tripled. At full size on screen it was subtle; zoomed in, edges had smeared, colours had bled into each other, and fine texture had flattened out.
  • Edited and saved as PNG, exported to JPG once at the end: indistinguishable from a single JPG save. All twenty edits, no extra loss.

So if an image is going through several rounds of changes, such as a design being revised or a photo being retouched, work in PNG and export a JPG only when you're done.

You're adding text, arrows or graphics on top

Sharp lettering and flat colours are exactly what JPG handles worst. If you're annotating a screenshot or putting a caption on a picture, save the result as PNG so the text stays crisp.

A form or platform specifically asks for PNG

Some systems accept only PNG for certain uploads, such as signatures, logos or stamps. Converting satisfies the requirement, but keep an eye on the size limit, since the file will grow.

When it's not worth it

  • To improve quality. Detail lost when the JPG was created is gone. The PNG preserves the JPG's blockiness and blur exactly, in a larger file.
  • To get a transparent background. PNG supports transparency, but a JPG contains none, so the converted PNG has the same solid background. Removing a background is a separate job.
  • To share or upload a photo. You'd be sending a bigger file for no visible benefit. Stay with JPG, and resize it if it's too large.

How to convert

In your browser, on any device

Our converter runs entirely in your browser, so the image isn't uploaded. It handles several files at once and also accepts WebP images.

JPG to PNG A fast, lossless conversion at full resolution.

On Windows: Paint

Open the image in Paint, choose File → Save as → PNG picture, and give it a name. Paint saves a new file and leaves the original JPG untouched.

On a Mac: Preview

Open the image in Preview, choose File → Export, set the format to PNG, and save. To convert several at once, open them together, select them all in the sidebar, and use File → Export Selected Images.

On a phone

Neither iPhone nor Android has a simple built-in “save as PNG” option. The browser tool above works on phones too: open it, pick the photos, and download the results.

Going the other way

Converting PNG to JPG is the more common everyday need, for shrinking screenshots or photos that were saved as PNG by mistake. Just remember that JPG has no transparency, so transparent areas get filled with a colour you choose. For a broader view of when to use which format, see our JPG vs PNG vs WebP guide.

PNG to JPG Pick a background colour and quality level before converting.