How do I open a .jpg file?

On Windows use Photos (built in); on macOS use Preview (built in); on Linux use Image Viewer / Loupe (built in). The lossy photo format that every camera, phone and website has used since the 1990s.

Can I convert a .jpg file?

Yes. It is usually converted to .png, .webp, .pdf, .tiff or .heic, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.

.jpg files

.jpg file

JPEG Image

The lossy photo format that every camera, phone and website has used since the 1990s.

What opens a .jpg file

Windows: Photos (built in), Paint (built in), IrfanView, Adobe Photoshop
macOS: Preview (built in), Photos (built in), GIMP
Linux: Image Viewer / Loupe (built in), GIMP, gThumb
In a browser: Any web browser

What a .jpg file is

JPEG was published by the Joint Photographic Experts Group in 1992 and is still the default for photographs everywhere. It throws away detail to make files small, and it does so again every time you re-save, so repeated editing slowly degrades the picture. Nothing needs installing to view one — every operating system and browser has read JPEG for decades.

Converting it

A .jpg file is commonly converted to .png, .webp, .pdf, .tiff or .heic. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.

Details

Extension: .jpg
Full name: JPEG Image
Category: Images
MIME type: image/jpeg
Created by: Joint Photographic Experts Group
Format: Binary

Common questions

How do I open a .jpg file?: On Windows use Photos (built in); on macOS use Preview (built in); on Linux use Image Viewer / Loupe (built in). The lossy photo format that every camera, phone and website has used since the 1990s.
What is a .jpg file?: JPEG Image. JPEG was published by the Joint Photographic Experts Group in 1992 and is still the default for photographs everywhere. It throws away detail to make files small, and it does so again every time you re-save, so repeated editing slowly degrades the picture.
Can I convert a .jpg file?: Yes. It is usually converted to .png, .webp, .pdf, .tiff or .heic, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.

.png — Portable Network Graphics Lossless image format with transparency, made for screenshots, logos and web gra
.jpeg — JPEG Image (four-letter form) The same format as .jpg — the longer spelling, kept alive by Macs and Unix syste
.heic — High Efficiency Image Container The format an iPhone saves photos in — about half the size of a JPEG at the same
.webp — WebP Image Google's web image format — smaller than JPEG or PNG, and now supported everywhe
.gif — Graphics Interchange Format The 256-colour animation format from 1987 that refuses to die.
.psd — Adobe Photoshop Document Photoshop's working file, keeping layers, masks and text editable.
.svg — Scalable Vector Graphics An XML text format describing shapes rather than pixels, so it stays sharp at an
.ai — Adobe Illustrator Artwork Illustrator's vector working file, used for logos, icons and print artwork.
.avif — AV1 Image File Format A royalty-free image format built on the AV1 video codec, smaller than JPEG or W
.tiff — Tagged Image File Format The lossless, multi-page image format used in printing, scanning and archiving.
.raw — Camera Raw Image Unprocessed sensor data from a camera — and, confusingly, a literal extension us
.ico — Windows Icon A container holding one icon at several sizes, used by Windows and by website fa

Sources

Media Types Registry — IANA
Official vendor product documentation — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked