Convert WebP Images to JPG When Your Software Won't Open Them

Last month I downloaded a bunch of product images for a client presentation. Everything looked fine in my browser, but when I tried to drop them into PowerPoint 2016, nothing happened. The files just wouldn't open.

Turns out they were all WebP files. My version of Office had no idea what to do with them.

Why won't my software open WebP files?

WebP is Google's image format from 2010. It creates smaller files than JPG, which is why websites love it. A WebP image can be 25-35% smaller than the equivalent JPG at the same quality level.

The problem is adoption. Photoshop only added WebP support in version 23.2 (February 2022). Microsoft Office apps started supporting it in 2019, but only if you're on Microsoft 365 with updates enabled. If you're running Office 2016 or 2019 standalone, you're out of luck.

I've run into this with:

• Older versions of Photoshop and Lightroom
• PowerPoint and Word (pre-2019)
• Email clients like Outlook 2016
• Print shop software
• Some social media scheduling tools

The annoying part is that WebP files often don't even show the right icon. They just look broken.

How to convert WebP to JPG without installing software

You have a few options here. I'll start with the fastest.

Browser-based converters

I use WebP to JPG on my own site because it runs entirely in your browser. You drag in your WebP files, they convert locally, and you download JPGs. Nothing uploads to a server.

This matters if you're dealing with client work, medical images, or anything sensitive. The conversion happens on your machine using JavaScript and the Canvas API.

CloudConvert and Convertio are solid alternatives if you need batch processing of 100+ files. They upload to their servers, convert there, and send back a zip. Faster for huge batches, but you're trusting them with your files.

Using an image editor

If you already have GIMP installed (it's free), you can open WebP files directly and export as JPG. File > Export As, choose JPG, done.

Paint.NET on Windows also supports WebP with a plugin. XnView is another free option that handles basically every image format ever created.

The downside is you're doing this one file at a time unless you set up batch processing, which takes some learning.

Command line with cwebp

Google provides command line tools called cwebp and dwebp. If you're comfortable with terminal commands, you can convert entire folders: