# Compress HEIC to 500 KB

> Compress HEIC to under 500 KB for web pages, property and product listings, and online forms. Keeps photos sharp, runs in your browser. Free and private.

URL: https://ihateheic.com/compress-heic-to-500kb  
Updated: 2026-10-04

500 KB is the size where photos still look great on a screen but load fast. Drop in your iPhone shots and get web-ready JPGs or WebPs in one go.

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 one photo or a whole batch of listing shots above.
2. Keep **JPG** for forms, or switch to **WebP** for your own website. Each file is squeezed under **500 KB**.
3. Download them individually or as a ZIP, ready to upload.

## Why 500 KB?

Half a megabyte is a practical ceiling for a photo that people will look at on a screen. It's big enough to fill a laptop display with detail and small enough that a page full of them still loads on a patchy mobile connection. That's why it shows up so often:

- **Property and rental listings**, where you might upload 20 photos per home
- **Marketplace and classified ads** with per-image limits
- **Your own website or blog**, where every image counts towards page speed
- **Online forms** for permits, warranty claims and support tickets

## How we hit the target

For each photo we look for the highest quality that comes in under 500,000 bytes. The search starts at 85 and won't go below about 55. Only when quality alone can't get there do we reduce the pixel dimensions, and then just enough to fit.

Because sizes use decimal units, a "max 500 KB" form will accept the result whether it counts in 1,000s or 1,024s.

## Listing photos: a quick workflow

1. **Shoot in landscape.** Listing sites tend to display wide.
2. **Straighten anything sideways** with [Rotate HEIC](https://ihateheic.com/rotate-heic), so every photo shows upright in the gallery.
3. **Drop the whole set here** and download one ZIP.
4. **Upload your best shot first.** Most listing sites use the first photo as the thumbnail.

## Location data and listings

This one is easy to forget. Photos taken at a property can carry the exact GPS coordinates of where they were shot. That's harmless for a house you're selling publicly, less so for photos taken at your own home for a marketplace ad. Location is removed by default here, so you don't have to think about it.

## JPG or WebP for the web?

| | JPG | WebP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Accepted by upload forms | Nearly all | Some |
| Size at the same quality | Larger | Smaller |
| Best for | Forms, listings, email | Your own website |

Running your own site? See [converting HEIC for website upload](https://ihateheic.com/convert-heic-for-website-upload) for sizing advice, or go straight to [HEIC to WebP](https://ihateheic.com/heic-to-webp).

## All in the tab, nothing in the cloud

There's no server doing the work, so there's nothing to wait for in a queue. Your CPU does the compressing, in parallel across its cores, and the photos never leave the page.

## FAQ

### Is 500 KB a good size for website images?

For a large photo on a web page, yes. It's a common budget that keeps pages loading quickly while the photo still looks sharp on a laptop or phone screen.

### Will my photo keep its full resolution at 500 KB?

Sometimes, if the scene is simple. Busy, detailed photos are usually scaled down a little. For web pages, resizing to around 1920 px first often gives better results.

### Should I use JPG or WebP for my website?

WebP is usually smaller at the same quality, and modern browsers support it. If you're uploading to a form or a listing site you don't control, JPG is the safest bet.

### Can I compress all my listing photos at once?

Yes. Drop the whole set and every photo gets its own size search. Download them all as one ZIP when they're done.

### Does compressing remove the photo's location?

Yes, by default. GPS location is removed while date and camera details stay. That matters for listings, where a photo's coordinates could reveal a home address.

### Do I need to install anything?

No. It runs in any modern browser on a phone or computer. You can also install it as an app from your browser for offline use.