JPEG File Format (.jpeg)
.jpeg and .jpg are the same JPEG-compressed image format under two different extension spellings, a split that dates to the three-character extension limit of MS-DOS and early Windows.
JPEG at a glance#
| Full name | Joint Photographic Experts Group JFIF format |
|---|---|
| File extension | .jpeg |
| Category | Image Files |
| Developer | Joint Photographic Experts Group |
| First released | 1992 |
| MIME types | image/jpeg |
| Other extensions | .jpe.jfif.jif |
| Compression | Lossy |
| Specification | ISO/IEC 10918-1 / ITU-T T.81 |
| FileFlip support | FileFlip reads and writes this format |
What a .jpeg file can hold#
These are the things a JPEG file either supports or does not, and they are what decides whether a conversion keeps everything or quietly drops something.
| Transparency (alpha channel) | No |
|---|---|
| Animation | No |
| Lossless compression | No |
| Embedded metadata | Yes |
| Colour profiles | Yes |
| High dynamic range | No |
| Multiple images or pages | No |
Strengths and limitations of JPEG#
What JPEG does well
- Identical image quality and compression to a .jpg file, since it's the same format
- The full four-letter spelling matches the standard's own name, so it reads unambiguously on Unix and macOS systems that never had an extension-length limit
- Opens in the same software as .jpg with no conversion needed
- Recognized by every current browser and operating system regardless of which spelling is used
Where JPEG falls short
- Some older Windows software and web forms still only whitelist the three-letter .jpg spelling
- Having two accepted extensions for one format occasionally confuses batch scripts or upload filters that check the extension literally
- Inherits every JPEG limitation: no transparency, no animation, and lossy recompression on every re-save
Save an image as .jpeg over .jpg when a system, script, or personal convention specifically expects the full four-letter extension; the image data itself doesn't care which one is used.
Rename or export as .jpg instead of .jpeg when a target system, upload form, or older piece of software only recognizes the three-letter extension, which is the more common expectation today.
How to open a .jpeg file#
A .jpeg file opens in the programs below, grouped by the platform you are on. If you would rather not install anything, FileFlip converts JPEG into a format your machine already opens, and it does it in the browser tab rather than on a server.
| Platform | Programs that open it |
|---|---|
| Windows | Photos, Paint, IrfanView, Adobe Photoshop |
| macOS | Preview, Photos, Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo |
| Linux | GIMP, eog (Image Viewer), gThumb, ImageMagick |
| iOS | Photos, Files |
| Android | Google Photos, Gallery |
| Web | FileFlip |
JPEG questions people ask#
What's the difference between .jpeg and .jpg?
There is no difference in the image data. Both extensions point to the same JPEG-compressed file format; the file's pixels, compression, and quality are identical either way, only the name on the extension changes.
Why does JPEG have two spellings of its extension?
MS-DOS and early Windows used the FAT filesystem's 8.3 naming rule, which limited every file extension to three characters, so the four-letter '.jpeg' wouldn't fit. Software on those systems saved files as '.jpg' instead, while Unix and early Macintosh systems, which had no such limit, kept the full '.jpeg' spelling the JPEG committee had used in its own 1992 documentation.
Why do people still use .jpg if the 8.3 limit is gone?
Windows removed the three-character extension limit in 1995 with long filename support in Windows 95, but by then .jpg was already the default on the world's most common desktop operating system. Habit, existing software defaults, and camera firmware kept it the more common spelling even after the technical reason for it disappeared.
Does renaming a .jpeg file to .jpg change anything?
No. Renaming the extension only changes the filename, not the bytes inside the file, so a .jpeg renamed to .jpg opens and displays exactly the same image. Any image viewer or editor that reads one extension reads the other.
Which extension should I use, .jpg or .jpeg?
.jpg is the safer default because a few older tools and upload forms still only recognize three-letter extensions, but .jpeg works everywhere modern. Pick whichever a target platform expects, or default to .jpg since it's the more widely assumed spelling.
Converting JPEG files#
Convert JPEG to another format
- JPEG to AVIF
- JPEG to BMP
- JPEG to DOCX
- JPEG to EPUB
- JPEG to GIF
- JPEG to HTML
- JPEG to ICO
- JPEG to JXL
- JPEG to LaTeX
- JPEG to Markdown
- JPEG to ODT
- JPEG to PDF
- JPEG to PNG
- JPEG to PPTX
- JPEG to PSD
- JPEG to RTF
- JPEG to TIFF
- JPEG to TXT
- JPEG to WEBP
- JPEG to AsciiDoc
- JPEG to BBCode
- JPEG to BibTeX
- JPEG to BMP2
- JPEG to BMP3
See every JPEG conversion (34 more)
Convert another format to JPEG
- ARW to JPEG
- AVIF to JPEG
- BMP to JPEG
- CR2 to JPEG
- CR3 to JPEG
- DNG to JPEG
- DOCX to JPEG
- EPUB to JPEG
- GIF to JPEG
- HEIC to JPEG
- HEIF to JPEG
- HTML to JPEG
- ICO to JPEG
- JXL to JPEG
- LaTeX to JPEG
- Markdown to JPEG
- MOBI to JPEG
- NEF to JPEG
- ODT to JPEG
- PDF to JPEG
- PNG to JPEG
- PPTX to JPEG
- PSD to JPEG
- RAW to JPEG
See every image conversion (59 more)
Every conversion runs inside your browser. The file is read from your disk, the work happens on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded. How FileFlip works names the engine behind each family and how to verify that for yourself.