Why are my images saving as WebP?

You right-click a photo, choose Save image as, and get .webp instead of the JPG you expected. Your browser did not convert it, and nothing is wrong with your computer. The website looked at which formats your browser said it could show and sent the smallest one it had. In 2026 that is not always WebP any more: in our tests Chrome was sent AVIF and, from one service, JPEG XL, which Windows could not open at all.

What we found

Every time a browser loads a picture it sends a line called Accept that lists the image formats it understands. We recorded it: Chrome 156 now starts its list with image/jxl (JPEG XL), then AVIF and WebP; Microsoft Edge 156 starts with AVIF. We then asked five image services for the same picture with Chrome’s list, Edge’s list, and a request that accepts only JPEG:

Same address, three different files. The reason is size: the AVIF, WebP and JPEG XL versions were 30 to 65 percent smaller than the JPEG or PNG, so pages load faster. The catch is that Save image as saves exactly the file the site sent, so you end up with whatever format your browser was given. Sites that do no conversion at all, like Wikimedia, send everyone the same JPEG.

This is also why it seems to happen “everywhere” and “suddenly”: many sites put their pictures behind image services like these and switch on automatic formats without telling anyone. We tested the five services above, not every site, but the principle is the same wherever it happens.

Two common tips that do not work

• Opening the image in a new tab first. We loaded the Cloudinary, Unsplash and Shopify pictures both inside a page and directly in their own tab, in Chrome and in Edge. Every time, the tab got the same format as the page: JPEG XL, AVIF or WebP. The browser sends the same list of formats either way.
• Renaming .webp to .jpg. It changes the name, not the file. We renamed a WebP and compared the bytes: identical, still a WebP inside. Windows’ own image decoder looks inside the file, so it opened both names; the older Windows image library that many desktop programs still use (GDI+) refused both with an “out of memory” error. A website that checks what an upload really is can reject it in the same way.

Fix 1: get the JPG from the website

Look at the address of the image (right-click it and choose Copy image address, then paste it somewhere). If it has a part that asks for an automatic format, remove that part, open the shorter address and save from there:

• auto=format (Unsplash, imgix): ?w=800&auto=format → ?w=800
• f_auto (Cloudinary): /upload/f_auto/sample.jpg → /upload/sample.jpg
• format=webp, fm=webp or auto=webp on other sites, the same way

We tried this on Cloudinary, Unsplash and imgix with Chrome’s own format list: without the automatic-format part, all three sent a JPEG. If the address has no such part (Shopify’s did not), the format is chosen on the server and this trick cannot help; use Fix 2.

Fix 2: convert the file you already saved

Converting a WebP or AVIF to JPG gives you a real JPEG that opens everywhere. It is re-saved, so it is not a perfect copy of the site’s original JPEG, but at high quality the difference is not visible.

• WebP: drop it on WebP to JPG. It works in the browser; nothing is uploaded.
• AVIF: use AVIF to JPG, which also reads AVIFs that Windows cannot open.
• JPEG XL (.jxl): open Convert Image Format in Chrome and choose JPG. Chrome can read JPEG XL, so the page can turn it into a JPG; we converted the Cloudinary file this way and got a normal JPEG. Edge does not ask sites for JPEG XL, so you will rarely get one there.
• Several at once: Convert Image Format takes a mixed batch of WebP, AVIF and other images and turns them all into JPG.

Windows can do the first two itself if you prefer. We checked with Windows 11’s own image decoder, the one its Photos and Paint apps build on: it opened the WebP, and the AVIF too because this PC has the AV1 Video Extension installed, and saved both as genuine JPEGs. So opening the file in Paint and choosing Save as → JPEG is a reasonable route. The JPEG XL file was a different story: Windows could not open it at all, because the JPEG XL extension is not installed by default.

Can I make the browser always save JPG?

Not with a setting. Chrome and Edge have no option to stop asking for WebP or AVIF, and if they did, pages would load more slowly. Browser extensions exist that change the format list or add a “save as JPG” menu item; they usually need permission to read every page you visit, so weigh that before installing one. For an occasional picture, editing the address or converting the file is quicker and keeps your browser as it is.

Is it safe to keep the WebP or AVIF?

For viewing, usually yes: Chrome and Edge show WebP and AVIF, and Windows 11 opened both in our test (AVIF with the AV1 extension). Convert when the picture has to go somewhere stricter: an application form that asks for JPG, an older desktop program like the ones that refused our WebP, a print shop, or a website upload that lists only JPG and PNG. A JPEG XL file is worth converting straight away, since Windows could not open it at all.

How we tested

On 29 October 2026 we recorded the Accept header that Chrome 156 and Edge 156 (Windows 11, build 26300) sent for an image inside a page and for an image opened directly, using a small local web server. We then requested one public sample image from each service with curl, sending each browser’s exact header and a JPEG-only header, and identified every response by its first bytes, not by its name. The new-tab test loaded the same addresses in headless Chrome and Edge and read the type of what arrived. The renamed WebP was opened with Windows’ GDI+ (System.Drawing) and with the Windows Imaging Component, which also wrote the JPEG copies; Pillow confirmed the formats. We did not test Safari, Firefox or phones, or the apps themselves (Paint, Photos), only the Windows decoder they rely on.