What Is JPEG XL? The Next-Gen Image Format Explained

JPEG has been the dominant image format on the web since 1992. For over 30 years, nothing has managed to replace it. JPEG XL is the format designed to finally do that — and in 2026, it is actually happening.

A brief history

JPEG XL began as two separate projects: Google's PIK and Cloudinary's FUIF. In 2018, the JPEG committee merged them into a single effort. The format was finalized as ISO/IEC 18181 in 2022. The "XL" does not stand for "extra large" — it references the extended capabilities beyond classic JPEG.

Unlike WebP (developed solely by Google) or AVIF (derived from the AV1 video codec), JPEG XL was purpose-built for still images by the same standards body that created the original JPEG. This matters because the format was designed from scratch to handle photography, graphics, medical imaging, and printing — not adapted from video compression as a side project.

What makes it better than JPEG?

The compression improvements are substantial. At the same visual quality, JPEG XL produces files that are 30-60% smaller than JPEG. A 2MB photo becomes 800KB-1.4MB with no visible quality difference. For websites serving thousands of images, this adds up to significant bandwidth savings.

But compression is only part of the story. JPEG XL also supports features that JPEG never could:

• Transparency: Full alpha channel support, both lossy and lossless. No more choosing between JPEG (small, no transparency) and PNG (transparency, large files).
• Lossless compression: Perfect pixel-for-pixel reproduction when you need it, in the same format.
• Progressive decoding: Images load from blurry to sharp, giving users something to see immediately on slow connections.
• HDR and wide gamut: Supports up to 32-bit depth and any colour space, including Display P3 and Rec. 2100.
• Animation: Animated JPEG XL replaces GIF with massively smaller files and better colour depth.

The lossless JPEG recompression trick

This is the feature that makes JPEG XL unique among modern formats. You can take any existing JPEG file and recompress it into JPEG XL with absolutely zero quality loss — the original JPEG can be perfectly reconstructed bit-for-bit from the JXL file. This typically saves around 20% of the file size.

Why does this matter? Billions of JPEG photos exist on the web and in personal archives. With JPEG XL, you can shrink them all by 20% without losing a single pixel of quality. No re-encoding, no generation loss, no quality decisions to make. This alone makes JPEG XL a compelling upgrade path.

Browser support in 2026

The browser support story had a rocky period. Chrome added experimental JPEG XL support in 2022 but removed it in Chrome 110 (February 2023), citing low adoption. This caused significant community backlash, with over 1,500 comments on the Chromium bug tracker protesting the removal.

The situation changed in 2025-2026. Safari added JPEG XL support in version 17, Apple Photos adopted it as a native format, and the ecosystem grew enough for Chrome to reverse course. Chrome 145 re-added JPEG XL support in early 2026. Firefox 152 follows on June 16, 2026.

By late 2026, JPEG XL will work in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge — covering over 95% of global browser traffic. This is the tipping point where web developers can seriously consider JPEG XL as a primary format.

JPEG XL vs WebP vs AVIF

All three are improvements over JPEG, but they have different strengths. WebP is the most widely supported but offers the smallest compression improvement (25-35% over JPEG). AVIF offers excellent compression (especially at low bitrates) but is slow to encode and decode. JPEG XL matches AVIF on compression while being 10x faster to decode and offering features neither format has.

For a detailed comparison with benchmarks, see our WebP vs AVIF vs JPEG XL comparison.

How to use JPEG XL today

The safest approach for websites is progressive enhancement with the picture element:

<picture>
  <source srcset="photo.jxl" type="image/jxl" />
  <source srcset="photo.webp" type="image/webp" />
  <img src="photo.jpg" alt="Description" />
</picture>

Browsers that support JXL get the smallest file. Others fall back to WebP or JPEG. You serve optimal files to everyone without breaking anything.

To convert your images to JPEG XL, use the MiniPx JPEG XL converter. It runs in your browser — your images stay on your device.

Frequently asked questions

Related tools

More from the blog

Compress, convert, and resize images in your browser. Nothing gets uploaded.