How to Open WebP Images in Windows 11
PNG and JPG remain the dominant image formats on websites. However, Google’s relatively new WebP alternative image format is becoming more prevalent on the web. It’s a high-quality lossy compression format that reduces images’ file sizes. WebP files are estimated to be 34 percent smaller than JPGs on average.
WebP is not as universally supported as the PNG and JPG formats. It’s harder to find software with which you may open WebP images saved from websites. Nevertheless, you can open WebP images in Windows 11 with the methods below.
How to Open WebP Images in Paint
Paint is a pre-installed Windows 11 app that natively supports the WebP format. So, it’s easy to open files of that format in that app. This is how you’re able to open WebP images in Paint:
How to Rename WebP Images and Open Them in Photos
The Photos app is the default image viewer in Windows 11, but it doesn’t support the WebP format. However, you can still open a WebP image in that app by changing its file name to include a JPG extension. The file will still retain its original size after editing its title. You can rename a WebP image and open it in Photos like this:
How to Open WebP Files With Windows Photo Viewer
Google released a WebP Codec that enables users to open WebP images in software based on the Windows Imaging Component when installed. Windows Photo Viewer is one such program, but that’s not enabled by default in Windows 11 and 10. However, you can still activate Photo Viewer in Microsoft’s latest desktop OS with Winaero Tweaker in the following steps:
Now you’ve activated Windows Photo Viewer, proceed with installing the WebP Codec pack. This is how you can download and install WebP Codec in Windows 11:
You can now open a WebP file with Windows Photo Viewer. To do so, right-click a WebP image in File Explorer and selectOpen with>Windows Photo Viewer.
Open WebP Images With Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge
Chrome and Edge are two Chromium browsers that support the WebP format. So, you can open a WebP image in either of those web browsers. You can open WebP files in Edge or Chrome with this drag-and-drop method:
You can also set Edge or Chrome to be the default software for opening WebP files via Settings. Then a WebP image will automatically open in its default browser software when you double-click its file. Our guide onsetting the default file associations on Windows 10provides further details about how to configure default software in Windows.
How to Open WebP Images With ImageGlass
ImageGlass is a third-party image viewer app for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7 that supports the WebP format along with more than 80 others. It incorporates various zoom and window modes and unique customization features you won’t find in many alternatives. This is how you can open your WebP files in ImageGlass:
View Your WebP Images in Windows 11 Without Converting Them
So, don’t ever consider converting WebP images to PNG or JPG formats for the sake of opening them in Windows 11. Instead, you’re able to open and view WebP images with Paint, ImageGlass, Edge, Google Chrome, Windows Photo Viewer, or even Photos (albeit after renaming files). Open WebP files with whichever of those software packages you prefer.
A lot of websites use WebP images, but you usually need to convert them to something else to use them. Here’s how to do that.
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