How to Convert PNG to JPG on Windows

PNG keeps every pixel exactly and can be transparent. JPG discards detail that the eye barely notices, which makes files much smaller, and it has no transparency.

So it depends on the picture. A photo saved as PNG is usually far larger than it needs to be, and as JPG it gets much smaller with little visible change. Screenshots, text and line art are the opposite: flat colors and sharp edges suit PNG, while JPG leaves fuzzy halos around letters and lines.

• Usually worth it: photos and other photographic images, and anything a form or website accepts only as JPG.
• Usually not: screenshots, text, logos, charts and line drawings. Their edges blur, and the file can even get larger.
• Not if you need transparency: JPG cannot keep it.

Paint and Photos both come with Windows, and each can save a PNG as a JPG, one picture at a time.

• Paint: open the PNG in Paint and choose File > Save as > JPEG picture. There is no quality setting.
• Photos: open the PNG, click See more (…), choose Save as, pick JPG as the file type and save. The PNG original stays as it was.

File Acture's Convert Images turns a batch of PNG files into JPG with one quality setting, on your PC.

Choose JPEG under Format and set Quality; 85 is the default. Keep metadata is off by default, so any camera details and location are removed, while color profiles are always kept so colors don't shift. Each JPG keeps the original file name and goes to the folder you pick under Folder; the originals stay as they were.

JPG can't store transparency, so every converter has to fill transparent areas with a solid color, and tools don't all choose the same one. File Acture fills them with white, and semi-transparent edges and soft shadows blend into white too.

Look at the result before you send it. If white doesn't suit the picture, or a logo has to stay transparent, keep the PNG, or choose WebP in File Acture, which keeps transparency.

The default of 85 is a sensible middle ground for photos: hard to tell apart from the original on screen, without wasting space.

Go up to 90 or more for prints and photos you'll edit again, and down to 70 or 75 for images that only need to look good on a web page. Screenshots and text show flaws first, so use 90 or more for them, or keep the PNG. If a site sets a file-size limit, skip the guessing: Compress Images can write JPEG at a target size such as 500 KB.

A few things are worth checking before you convert.

• Renaming is not converting: changing photo.png to photo.jpg only changes the name. The contents are still a PNG, and a site that checks them can still reject the file.
• Keep the PNG: a JPG that is edited and saved again loses a little more detail each time, so treat the PNG as your master copy.
• Animated PNGs keep only their first frame.
• Other formats: WebP and HEIC images convert the same way; see WebP to JPG and HEIC to JPG.
• Batches: the free version converts up to 5 images per run, with 3 runs on each PC; see pricing for Pro.

Most online converters upload your files, and screenshots often show more than you remember: names, messages, account pages. File Acture converts on your PC and uploads nothing, so your images never leave it.

If the JPG is for a form, it probably has a KB limit too: pixel and KB limits, explained.