PNG
Also known as: png file, png vs jpeg, portable network graphics
PNG (.png) is a lossless image format that keeps every pixel exact and supports transparency. That makes it ideal for screenshots, logos, and graphics, but files are much larger than JPEG or WebP — so a folder full of PNG screenshots can quietly fill storage.
- Lossless with full transparency support
- Best for screenshots, logos, and graphics
- Much larger than JPEG for photographs
Lossless and transparent
PNG is lossless: it compresses without throwing any detail away, so an image looks identical to the original no matter how many times you save it. It also supports an alpha channel for transparency, which JPEG lacks.
Those strengths suit sharp-edged content — text, screenshots, icons, line art — where JPEG compression would smear edges. They are a poor fit for photographs, where lossless compression yields needlessly huge files.
Why PNG fills storage
Because nothing is discarded, a PNG of a detailed photo can be several times the size of the same image as JPEG. On phones, every screenshot is saved as PNG, so screenshot-heavy camera rolls add up fast. Converting old screenshots to JPEG or WebP, or deleting them, reclaims meaningful space.