WebP is a modern image format developed by Google, first announced in September 2010. It was designed to offer superior lossless and lossy compression for web images, and today it’s supported by every major browser, along with most modern image-editing tools.
WebP has spread widely across the web because it’s genuinely SEO-friendly: smaller image files mean faster page loads, and page speed is one of the ranking factors Google’s algorithm weighs when ranking search results.
It’s also well established that image size significantly affects how fast a page loads. So using WebP images on your website is a practical way to help improve your site’s search visibility and ranking.
WebP files are typically much smaller than equivalent PNG or JPG files, and the format supports both lossy and lossless compression.
Most PNG images, once converted to WebP, end up 70 to 90% smaller. That significantly reduces total page weight, which translates directly into faster load times and a better user experience, both core parts of search engine optimisation (SEO).
The catch: most images already on the internet, in stock photo libraries, or generated with design tools like Canva, still aren’t in WebP format by default. That’s where taking a screenshot in WebP comes in handy.
How to Take a Screenshot and Save It as WebP
You can capture any image as a screenshot and end up with a clean WebP file without losing meaningful quality. The most reliable method doesn’t depend on a specific browser extension staying available, since extensions come and go. Here’s the straightforward way to do it.
Step 1: Take the Screenshot Normally
Use whatever screenshot tool you already have. On Windows, that’s the Snipping Tool or Win+Shift+S. On Mac, it’s Cmd+Shift+4. In Chrome, you can also use DevTools (F12 > Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P > type “Capture screenshot”) for a clean capture of a page or element. Any of these will save your screenshot as a PNG.
Step 2: Open Squoosh
Go to squoosh.app, a free image compression tool built by Google’s Chrome team. It runs entirely in your browser, nothing gets uploaded to a server, so it’s safe to use even for sensitive screenshots.
Step 3: Upload Your Screenshot
Drag your PNG screenshot into Squoosh, or click to browse and select it.
Step 4: Choose WebP as the Output Format
On the right-hand panel, select “WebP” from the format dropdown. Squoosh will show you a live before/after comparison, along with the resulting file size, so you can fine-tune the quality setting before exporting.
Step 5: Download the WebP File
Click the download icon to save your image as a genuine WebP file, ready to upload to your website or wherever you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I convert an existing screenshot to WebP without retaking it?
Yes. Any PNG or JPG screenshot you already have can be converted to WebP using Squoosh or a similar browser-based converter, no need to retake the screenshot.
Do all browsers support WebP images?
Yes, every major modern browser, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, supports displaying WebP images.
Will converting to WebP noticeably reduce image quality?
At reasonable quality settings, no. WebP’s compression is efficient enough that most images look visually identical to the original while being significantly smaller in file size.
Is there a way to batch-convert multiple screenshots to WebP at once?
Squoosh handles one image at a time, but for bulk conversion, desktop tools like ImageMagick or dedicated batch-conversion apps can convert entire folders of images to WebP in one pass.
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