How to compress a PNG image
PNG is a lossless format, so it never throws away pixel data the way JPG does. That is great for screenshots, logos, and graphics with sharp edges, but it means a PNG of a photograph is often several times larger than the equivalent JPG. Compressing a PNG in the browser re-encodes it and can strip bulky metadata, and for photographic PNGs the biggest wins usually come from reducing the dimensions or switching to a more efficient format.
This PNG compressor runs entirely in your browser. Drop in a PNG file, adjust the quality until the preview looks right, and download the smaller version — no uploads, no sign-up, and no watermark.
How to use it
1. Drop your PNG image onto the drop zone or click to browse.
2. Use the before/after slider to compare the original with the compressed result.
3. Drag the quality slider until the file is as small as you want while still looking good.
4. Download the PNG image. Everything is processed on your device.
Getting the most out of PNG compression
Because PNG is lossless, the quality slider mainly controls how aggressively the encoder repacks the file rather than degrading the picture. If your PNG is a screenshot, logo, or flat-color graphic it is already close to optimal and will only shrink a little. If it is a photo saved as PNG, you will get far larger savings by converting it to JPG or WebP.
Keep PNG when you need crisp text, hard edges, or transparency. Move to WebP when you want transparency and a much smaller file, or to JPG when the image is a photo and transparency does not matter.
Common mistakes to avoid
A few habits quietly ruin image quality or waste file size:
- Compressing from an already-compressed copy instead of the original, which stacks up quality loss. - Pushing lossy quality so low that edges look blocky just to save a few kilobytes. - Using a lossless format for a photograph, or a lossy format for a logo with sharp text. - Forgetting that resizing a large image to the dimensions you actually display it at often saves more than compression alone.
Frequently asked questions
Will compressing a PNG lose transparency?
No. PNG compression here keeps the alpha channel intact, so transparent areas stay transparent. Transparency is only lost if you convert the PNG to a format that has no alpha channel, such as JPG.
Why did my PNG barely get smaller?
PNG is lossless, so if the file is a screenshot or a flat-color graphic it is already near its minimum size and can only shrink a little. Photographs saved as PNG are the exception — converting those to JPG or WebP typically cuts the size by 70% or more.
Is compressing a PNG the same as reducing its quality?
Not really. Lossless PNG compression rearranges data more efficiently without discarding detail, so the picture is pixel-identical. That is different from JPG, where lowering quality actually removes image information to save space.
Should I compress or resize an image to shrink the file?
They solve the problem differently. Compression lowers the encoding quality so the file is smaller at the same pixel dimensions; resizing reduces the dimensions themselves. If an image is far larger than the space it is shown in, resize it first and then compress — that gives the smallest file with the best on-screen quality.
Is this tool free?
Yes — compressing PNG images here is completely free, with no watermark, no account, and no limit on how many you process.
Will compression change the image dimensions?
No. Compression only changes how the pixels are stored, not the width and height. If you also want smaller dimensions, use the resize tool, which often saves even more space.