WebP to PNG
A file the rest of your software will actually open.
The short answer
A WebP that will not open is the usual reason to be here: older versions of Photoshop, some Office builds and a few upload forms still refuse the format. PNG is the safe answer, because everything reads it, transparency survives the trip, and nothing further is thrown away.
Downloaded a WebP and found nothing will open it? This converts it to PNG in your browser, transparency and all, without sending it anywhere.
The formula
decode the WebP → draw it onto a canvas → encode as PNG, losing nothing further
Worked examples
- A WebP saved from a web page
- a PNG any editor will open
- A WebP with transparency
- transparency preserved
- A lossy WebP
- its existing softness is kept as-is
Reference table
| Format | Browsers | Older desktop software | Upload forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| WebP | All current | Patchy | Often rejected |
| AVIF | All current | Rare | Usually rejected |
| PNG | All | Yes | Almost always accepted |
| JPEG | All | Yes | Almost always accepted |
How to use it
- 01Drop the WebP inOr pick a file. Your browser already knows how to read WebP, which is why this needs no upload.
- 02Save the PNGThe result is lossless, so nothing further is discarded, and the alpha channel comes across intact.
Also searched for
Searches that land here include webp to png, convert webp to png, webp to png converter, open webp file and webp to image.
Getting out of WebP
The compatibility gap is outside the browser
WebP won the browser argument years ago. The gap is everywhere else: desktop editors that have not been updated, corporate document software, print bureaux, and forms that check the file extension against a list written in 2015. When something refuses your image, converting to PNG is almost always the fastest way past it.
Nothing further is lost on the way
PNG stores every pixel, so this conversion adds no new degradation. It also cannot undo any. A WebP saved in lossy mode has already given up detail, and the PNG records the result exactly as it stands, artefacts included. That is the correct behaviour, even though it sometimes surprises people who expect a lossless format to look better.
If you only need it once
Consider whether you need the file at all, or just the picture. Most image editors will paste a WebP straight from the clipboard even when they refuse to open the file, which is quicker than converting. Where the file itself has to be handed over, PNG is the format to hand over.
Questions people ask
Why will nothing open my WebP?
Because the format is newer than a lot of software. Browsers all read it, but older versions of Photoshop, some Office builds, plenty of photo printers and a fair number of upload forms do not. PNG is the safest thing to hand over: it has been universally supported for decades.
Will the PNG look the same as the WebP?
Pixel for pixel, yes. PNG is lossless, so it records exactly what the WebP decoded to. If the WebP was a lossy one, whatever softness it already had is faithfully preserved as well, because there is no way to invent detail that was thrown away earlier.
Why is the PNG larger than the WebP was?
That is the trade you just made. WebP was designed to be small; PNG was designed to be exact. If the size is a problem and the file does not need to be lossless, a JPEG will be much smaller, though it will not keep transparency.