The best format for screenshots: PNG, WebP or JPG?

Why your screenshot is a PNG

Apple's Mac User Guide states it plainly: screenshots are saved as .png files, and screen recordings as .mov files. By default they land on the desktop, and the Screenshot app's Options menu lets you choose another place.

Newer Macs add a choice. On supported models running macOS Tahoe 26 or later, Apple's help describes an SDR (Most Compatible) setting that captures in the PNG format, and an HDR setting that saves in the HEIF format instead.

Windows, iPhone and Android phones each have their own screenshot tools, and their help pages don't state which format they save. To find out, look at the file extension in the file's details before you decide what to do with it.

Why PNG suits a screen

PNG is lossless: every pixel comes back exactly as it was captured. web.dev notes that PNG applies no lossy compression beyond the choice of palette size. That is what you want for a screen, where a single misplaced pixel in a letter or a line is noticeable.

MDN's image format guide gives the reason in one sentence: for screenshots, diagrams, logos and line art, prefer lossless encoding, because blurring and coloured fringes around text and sharp edges are very visible.

Why the files are big

A screenshot has as many pixels as the area of screen you captured, and on a sharp, high-resolution display that is a lot of pixels. Lossless means none of them can be thrown away to save space.

web.dev is direct about the cost: PNG gives high quality, but the files are large, so it should be used sparingly. The size grows further when the screenshot shows photos, video frames or gradients rather than plain text on a flat background, because there is more detail that must be kept exactly.

What JPG does to text

JPG is lossy. It saves space by discarding detail that is hard to see, and MDN explains that photographs and other continuous-tone images usually tolerate this well. Text and sharp edges don't. MDN warns that lossy compression on content that needs sharpness, like diagrams or charts, can produce unsatisfactory results.

In practice that means a faint blur or coloured fringe around letters, most visible on small text and on thin lines against a plain background. Lowering the quality makes it worse. JPG also has no transparency, so any transparent area has to be filled with a colour.

Lossless WebP: the same pixels, smaller

WebP can be saved in two ways: lossy, like JPG, or lossless, like PNG. Google's WebP page and MDN both give the same figure for the lossless mode: files are typically 26% smaller than the same images as PNG. web.dev's advice for fine detail is to use PNG or lossless WebP.

So if a screenshot must stay exact but you want it smaller, lossless WebP is worth trying. Check that the place you're sending it to accepts WebP files; some upload forms still only take JPG or PNG.

Which to choose

Match the format to what the screenshot shows and where it is going:

• Text, menus, code, error messages, charts: keep PNG, or use lossless WebP for a smaller exact copy.
• Mostly a photo or a frame from a video: convert to JPG or WebP. web.dev groups this kind of image with photos, where lossy formats work well.
• A form that only accepts JPG: convert, but use a high quality setting and zoom in afterwards to check that the text is still crisp.
• Transparent parts that must stay see-through: PNG or WebP, never JPG.

Converting on your device

Our Image converter reads PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, GIF, BMP and SVG, and saves JPG, PNG, WebP or AVIF. When you save as JPG, the option Background for transparent parts sets the colour that fills any transparent areas. PNG, WebP and AVIF files are always saved without photo details. Everything runs in your browser, so the screenshot, which may show private messages or account details, is never uploaded.