What a WebP file is
WebP is an image format introduced by Google in 2010, built on the compression used in the VP8 video codec. It compresses 25 to 35 percent better than JPEG at matched visual quality and supports transparency, which JPEG does not.
Because of that efficiency, most websites now serve images as WebP to save bandwidth. When you right-click and save an image, you get whatever the site served — which is increasingly a .webp rather than the .jpg you expected.
There is nothing wrong with the file. It is a normal, well-formed image that any current browser displays without complaint.
Why your software refuses it
Browsers adopted WebP quickly because they had a direct incentive: less bandwidth. Everything else adopted it slowly or not at all, because the incentive was weaker and the format was for years perceived as a Google project rather than a standard.
The result is a split. Every current browser reads WebP. Plenty of desktop applications, print services, older office software, and mobile apps do not, and they tend to fail unhelpfully — an error about an unsupported format, a blank thumbnail, or an upload rejected with no explanation.
Windows and macOS have both added system-level support in recent versions, so a fully updated machine often handles WebP fine in the file viewer while a specific application still refuses it.
The fix is conversion
Convert to JPG for photographs. JPEG opens in everything and has done for three decades. The file will be 25 to 35 percent larger than the WebP was, which is the price of universal compatibility and rarely matters.
Convert to PNG if the image has a transparent background you need to keep. PNG is lossless and universally supported, though considerably larger than either alternative.
Either way the conversion decodes the image and re-encodes it in the target format. Pixel dimensions are unchanged and, at a sensible quality setting, so is the appearance.
Do not just rename the extension
Changing example.webp to example.jpg does not convert anything. The file's contents are still WebP; only the label changed.
Software that reads the file header — which is most well-written software — still sees WebP and still refuses, now with a more confusing error because the extension is lying. Software that trusts the extension tries to decode WebP data as JPEG and produces garbage.
This advice circulates widely and works often enough by accident, on applications that sniff content rather than trusting extensions, to keep circulating. It is not a conversion.
Getting a JPEG in the first place
Some sites serve JPEG to clients that do not advertise WebP support, so saving the same image from a different browser sometimes yields a .jpg directly.
Screenshotting the image is the crude alternative. It works instantly and costs you resolution — you get the pixels as displayed, not as stored, and usually a PNG larger than the original.
For a single image where the resolution does not matter, a screenshot is fine. For anything you care about, converting the WebP keeps the full resolution and produces a smaller file.
Transparency needs care
If your WebP has a transparent background, converting to JPEG flattens it onto white, because JPEG has no alpha channel and never will.
For a photograph that is irrelevant. For a logo or an icon it is destructive, and you get a white rectangle where the transparency was — which is usually only noticed after it has been placed on a coloured background.
PNG is the target to pick in that case. Larger than WebP, universally supported, lossless, and the alpha channel comes through intact.
When to keep WebP
If the image is going onto a website, keep it as WebP. It is smaller, every visitor's browser reads it, and converting to JPEG makes your page heavier for no benefit.
The conversion is for files leaving the browser context — going to a printer, into an older application, through an upload form with an extension whitelist, or to a person whose software you do not control.
Keeping both is entirely reasonable: WebP for the web, JPEG for handing out.
Quality when converting
If the source WebP was lossy, converting to JPEG re-encodes it and discards a little more. At quality 90 the extra loss is invisible in normal viewing, which is why converters default high rather than at a typical web value.
If you intend to compress the result anyway, convert at 90 and then compress once to your target rather than converting at low quality and compressing again. Two moderate passes look worse than one deliberate one.
If the source was lossless WebP, you have more headroom and can go lower safely, because the first lossy pass is doing all the work.
Frequently asked questions
Why can I not open a WebP file?
Browsers all support it, but many desktop applications, print services, and older office software do not. The file is fine; the software has not caught up.
Can I just rename .webp to .jpg?
No. That changes the label, not the contents. Software reading the file header still sees WebP, now with a more confusing error.
Should I convert to JPG or PNG?
JPG for photographs. PNG if the image has a transparent background you need to keep, since JPEG has no alpha channel.
Will converting lose quality?
Slightly, if the WebP was lossy. At quality 90 the additional loss is invisible in normal viewing.
Why do websites use WebP at all?
It is 25 to 35 percent smaller than JPEG at the same visual quality, which is a large bandwidth saving at scale.
Should I convert WebP images on my own website?
No. Keep them as WebP — every visitor's browser reads it and converting makes your pages heavier for no benefit.