Convert WEBP to JPG
Turn a WEBP into a JPEG that older software can open.
How it works
WEBP is Google's image format, announced in 2010 and built from the intra-frame coding of the VP8 video codec wrapped in a RIFF container.
That container holds two quite different codecs under one file extension: a lossy mode that stores a VP8 keyframe with 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, and a separate lossless mode, added in 2012, that uses spatial prediction and a colour cache and typically beats PNG by 20–30%. Both modes can carry an 8-bit alpha channel, and the maximum dimensions are 16383×16383 pixels.
How you ended up with WEBP
You almost certainly did not choose this file. Sites serve WEBP because it is roughly 25–35% smaller than a JPEG of comparable quality, which is a real bandwidth saving across millions of page views, and content delivery networks now transcode uploads to WEBP automatically based on the browser's Accept header. So you right-click, save, and end up with a file your browser displays perfectly and the rest of your computer treats as unknown data.
Browsers moved, desktop software did not
The gap is between browsers and everything else. Every browser released since 2020 renders WEBP: Chrome for over a decade, Firefox from 65, Safari from 14. Desktop and business software lagged by years. Photoshop only gained native support in version 23.2, in early 2022. Older Office builds, print workflows, DTP software, MLS and marketplace upload forms, and plenty of embedded devices still reject it outright. JPEG, from 1992, is the one raster format that nothing refuses.
A third pass through quantisation
Be clear about what this costs. Your WEBP was very likely transcoded from a JPEG someone had already compressed, and converting it back re-quantises the pixels a third time against a different chroma grid, so fine detail and sharp colour edges degrade even at a high quality setting.
That is generational loss and it cannot be undone by choosing a bigger number. Convert when compatibility is what you need; keep the WEBP as your archive copy if you have any say in it.
Questions
Is my image uploaded to a server?
No. Open developer tools, select the Network tab, then convert a file. You will see requests for code and WebAssembly codecs, and no request carrying your image. Decoding and encoding both happen in a Web Worker on your own machine.
What happens to transparent areas?
They are composited onto the background colour you pick, white by default, using standard source-over blending so semi-transparent edges blend smoothly instead of developing a hard fringe. This is not optional: JPEG has no alpha channel, and an encoder handed transparent pixels writes out the RGB values underneath them, which in most WEBP files are black.
Will the JPG be larger than the WEBP?
Often, yes. JPEG is the older and less efficient codec, so at visually comparable quality the same image usually needs more bytes. The result panel shows the exact delta. If your WEBP was lossless (screenshots, logos, line art), expect a substantial increase and consider PNG instead, which keeps hard edges intact.
Which quality setting should I use?
82 is a sensible default for a file that has already been compressed once. Below about 70 the blocking artefacts of the first encode get amplified into visible mush; above about 92 you spend a lot of bytes preserving compression noise rather than detail.