JPEG XL

.jxl · image/jxl · 2021 · JPEG Committee (ISO/IEC)

The designated JPEG successor: superb quality, lossless JPEG recompression, HDR. Below is what JPEG XL is best at, where it falls short, and how it compares — plus free, in-browser tools to convert JPEG XL to and from other formats, with nothing uploaded.

JPEG XL is the official successor to JPEG, finalized in 2021. It matches or beats AVIF on photographic quality per byte, encodes much faster, supports lossless mode, progressive decoding, HDR, and can even recompress existing JPEGs losslessly ~20% smaller. Safari supports it natively and Chrome re-added support in 2025 behind its Rust decoder; adoption is growing but not yet universal — check your target platform before shipping JXL.

Compression

Lossy + lossless

Transparency

Yes

Animation

Yes

Browser display

Partial

Strengths & limitations

Strengths

  • Excellent quality-per-byte, fast encoding
  • Lossless mode and lossless JPEG recompression
  • HDR, wide gamut, up to 32-bit per channel

Limitations

  • Browser support still settling (Safari yes; others rolling out)
  • Little support in desktop tools so far
  • Ecosystem momentum currently favors AVIF

Best used for

Tools for JPEG XL

Compress JPEG XLJPEG XL → JPEGJPEG XL → PNGJPEG → JPEG XLPNG → JPEG XL

Frequently asked questions

Is JPEG XL lossy or lossless?+

JPEG XL supports both: a lossy mode that trades a little detail for much smaller files, and a lossless mode that keeps every pixel. You choose per file.

Does JPEG XL support transparency?+

Yes — JPEG XL has an alpha channel, so it can store transparent areas. It also supports animation.

Can browsers open JPEG XL files directly?+

Support is partial and inconsistent across browsers. For reliable viewing, convert JPEG XL to JPG or PNG.

How do I open or convert a JPEG XL file for free?+

Drop your JPEG XL file into the EditItAll converter and choose an output format — it decodes and re-encodes entirely in your browser, with nothing uploaded, no account and no watermark.