Compress Images for Email Attachments
Get your photos under email size limits without making them look terrible.
Drag & drop files here
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100% private — files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.
How to Compress Images for Email Attachments
- 1
Add your image
Upload the photo or image you want to email. Works with JPG, PNG, and WebP formats.
- 2
Review the preset settings
The tool caps the file at 1MB and limits dimensions to 1920px on the longest side — ideal for email. Adjust if your recipient needs a specific size.
- 3
Download and attach
Save the compressed image and attach it to your email as usual.
- 4
Sending multiple photos?
Compress each image individually. Four 1MB photos total 4MB — well within any email provider's limits.
Email Attachment Limits You Should Know
Gmail caps attachments at 25MB total per message. Outlook.com allows 20MB. Yahoo Mail gives you 25MB. Corporate Exchange servers often enforce even tighter limits — 10MB is common. One uncompressed smartphone photo at 8MB eats a huge chunk of that budget.
Beyond the hard limits, there's a practical consideration: your recipient has to download those files. A 15MB email takes noticeably longer to load, especially on mobile data. Keeping each image around 1MB is the sweet spot — good enough quality for viewing on screen, small enough to download quickly.
The tool also caps resolution at 1920px wide, which is Full HD. Nobody viewing an email attachment needs more resolution than that. The dimension reduction alone often cuts file size by 60-70% before compression even kicks in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best image size for email?
Under 1MB per image, with dimensions no larger than 1920x1080. This ensures fast downloads for recipients and stays well within attachment limits even when sending several photos.
Can I send compressed images inline instead of as attachments?
Yes. After compressing, you can drag the image into the email body in Gmail or Outlook. Inline images count toward the same size limit as attachments though.
Why does Gmail say my file is too large even though it's under 25MB?
Email encoding (Base64) increases file size by about 33%. A 19MB attachment becomes roughly 25MB after encoding. Keep actual file sizes under 18MB to be safe, or better yet, under 10MB.
Should I zip images before emailing?
Zipping JPGs barely reduces their size since JPG is already compressed. You're better off compressing each image properly. Zip files also can't be previewed inline, which is less convenient for recipients.