# Compress HEIC to 200 KB > Compress HEIC to under 200 KB for job applications, profile photos and small upload limits. Best quality that fits, done in your browser. Free, no upload. URL: https://ihateheic.com/compress-heic-to-200kb Updated: 2026-10-04 Job portals and profile settings love a 200 KB limit. Drop in your iPhone photo and get a sharp JPG that squeezes under it without a single upload. This tool runs entirely in the browser: photos are decoded and encoded on the visitor’s device and are never uploaded. It is free, needs no sign-up and works offline after the first visit. ## How to use it 1. Drop your HEIC headshot or document photo above. Crop it first if the portal wants a square. 2. The tool finds the best quality under **200 KB**, scaling down only if it has to. 3. Download the JPG and attach it to your application or profile. ## The 200 KB limit, explained 200 KB sits in a sweet spot. It's generous enough for a decent headshot, but strict enough that no phone photo fits as-is. You'll meet it on: - **Job portals and applicant tracking systems** asking for a photo or a scanned certificate - **Profile pictures** on company directories, learning platforms and community sites - **Membership and registration forms** for clubs, gyms and events - **Small attachment limits** on older web forms An iPhone HEIC is usually a few megabytes, and once converted to JPG it grows further. So you need a real compression step, not just a format change. ## How the tool gets you under 200 KB We run a quick search for the highest JPG (or WebP) quality that fits under 200,000 bytes, with a floor of about 55 so faces never turn to mush. Only if quality alone falls short do we scale the photo down, and only by as much as needed. The start quality is 85, so photos that are already small, like a tight crop, stay crisp and often fit without any resizing at all. ## Making a headshot that recruiters actually see well ### Crop to head and shoulders A tightly framed face uses the 200 KB budget on what matters. Use [Crop HEIC](https://ihateheic.com/crop-heic) with a 1:1 or 4:5 preset, then come back here. ### Fix sideways photos before uploading If your selfie appears rotated on the portal, run it through [Rotate HEIC](https://ihateheic.com/rotate-heic) first. Upright pixels look right everywhere. ### Mind the metadata Your photo carries details such as date and camera model, and GPS location is removed by default. Want a completely clean file for a job application? Set Metadata to "remove everything", or use [Remove HEIC metadata](https://ihateheic.com/remove-heic-metadata). ## Quick sizing guide | Use | Suggested crop | Fits in 200 KB? | | --- | --- | --- | | Profile photo | 1:1 square | Easily | | CV headshot | 4:5 portrait | Easily | | Certificate photo | Full page | Usually, with some downscaling | | Full-size landscape photo | None | Only after downscaling | ## No account, no upload, no wait The compression happens on your own device, so there's no upload queue and no copy of your face on someone else's server. Once the page is cached, it even works without a connection. ## FAQ ### How do I compress a photo to 200 KB for a job application? Drop your HEIC here and download the result. We pick the highest JPG quality that fits under 200 KB and only reduce the pixel size if quality alone isn't enough. ### Is 200 KB enough for a good-looking profile photo? Yes. Profile photos are shown small, often a few hundred pixels wide. A cropped headshot at 200 KB looks crisp on any screen it will realistically appear on. ### Will the photo lose resolution? A full 12 MP photo usually needs to shrink a bit to fit 200 KB. Cropping to just your head and shoulders first keeps more detail where it matters. ### My portal says 200 KB. Does that mean 200,000 or 204,800 bytes? It varies by site, so we aim for under 200,000 bytes. That passes both conventions. ### Can I compress a scanned document photo to 200 KB? Yes. Photos of certificates or ID cards work well, because plain paper compresses efficiently. Keep the output as JPG so text edges stay readable. ### Do you keep a copy of my photo? No, because we never receive one. The photo is processed in your browser tab and disappears when you close it.