Resize Image to 20KB — Free Online Compressor
Compress any image to 20 KB or less. Works with JPG, PNG, WebP and HEIC — the tier used by recruitment systems that process applications by the million.
Opens the resizer with a 20 KB target already set
How to Resize an Image to 20KB
Upload your image
Drop it in or select it — a HEIC straight from an iPhone is fine. At 20 KB expect to cut the dimensions as well as the quality, and the tool does both in the same pass.
Tick "Compress to target file size"
The 20 KB target is already filled in when you arrive from this page, so there is nothing to type. The tool then works upward to the best quality that still fits inside 20 KB.
Download your 20 KB image
Click Resize and save the file. It will be at or below 20 KB, and you will get a warning instead of an oversized file if the target is out of reach.
Features
Where Do You Need a 20KB Image?
20 KB is what you get when a recruitment system expects millions of applications in a short window. The pattern shows up wherever public-sector hiring runs at national scale, whatever the country:
- Indian Competitive Exams unverified — The Staff Selection Commission is commonly cited as asking for candidate photos under 20 KB for CGL, CHSL and MTS, with IBPS at a 1–20 KB band for PO, Clerk and SO applications. These are set per notification and change between cycles, so treat them as the usual shape of the requirement rather than this year's figure.
- Indonesian Civil Service (CPNS) unverified — The SSCASN system behind CPNS registration caps the applicant photo well above this tier — reported at 200 KB — but the supporting document scans that accompany it sit far lower, which is the same logic at different numbers.
- Signature and Thumb Impression Fields — Where a form asks for a signature or thumb impression next to the photo, that file is limited separately and usually to 10–20 KB, because it is a line drawing rather than a photograph.
- Legacy and Low-Bandwidth Portals — Older systems — district recruitment sites, municipal applications, transport department forms — often never had their upload ceilings raised, and 20 KB is where many of them sit.
- Bulk Identity Verification Systems — Any workflow that stores one photo per person across millions of records keeps the per-record cost low deliberately, so the ceiling tends to be far tighter than the image quality would suggest.
The Indian Competitive Exams and Indonesian Civil Service (CPNS) figures above are marked unverified: widely repeated, but not confirmed on the issuing portal's own page. Portals revise their limits without notice, so confirm the 20 KB figure on the official page for your own form before you submit.
Tips for the Best Quality at 20KB
- Use JPEG — it compresses photographs far better than PNG at small sizes.
- Reduce the dimensions to around 200×250px; fewer pixels compress more efficiently.
- Crop tightly around your face to remove unnecessary background.
- A plain white or light background gives noticeably better compression.
- A good starting point for this size is around 200×250px.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I resize a photo to 20KB for an exam application?
Upload your photograph, set the dimensions to roughly 200×250px, tick "Compress to target file size", enter 20 and choose JPEG. That fits any portal stating a 20 KB ceiling, which covers the SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS forms as they are usually specified. Confirm the figure in your own exam notification first — exam boards set these per cycle and the number does move. If your form is in the requirement picker on the home page, choose it there instead and every field is filled in for you.
The portal wants both a photo and a signature — can I do both here?
Yes. Process them one at a time, since they need different dimensions: around 200×250px for the photograph and around 140×60px for the signature. You can also select both files at once and the tool will process them as a batch at shared settings.
Will a 20KB photo still be accepted as a passport-size photo?
Yes, as long as your face fills the frame and the dimensions match what the portal asks for. Exam portals check dimensions and file size, not the compression quality. At 200×250px a 20 KB JPEG remains clearly legible.
Can I compress an iPhone HEIC photo to 20KB?
Yes. HEIC files are converted in your browser first, then compressed. Upload the HEIC, keep JPEG as the output format and set the target to 20 KB.
Which format gives the smallest file at 20 KB?
JPEG, and at 20 KB the choice matters more than it does at any larger target. PNG is lossless, so it ignores a 20 KB instruction completely — a PNG export comes out whatever size the image dictates, which at this tier is many times over. WebP would be smaller again, but most government forms asking for 20 KB name JPEG explicitly, so use JPEG unless yours says otherwise.
Will the image still look acceptable at 20 KB?
Only if you bring the dimensions down to about 330×330 pixels along with it. That is roughly what 20 KB carries at decent quality; asked to cover a full 12-megapixel photo, the same 20 KB shows visible blocking around edges and in skin tones. Shrink the pixels first so the budget covers fewer of them, and convert to grayscale if your form permits it — that alone frees a useful share of 20 KB.
Can I upload a HEIC photo from my iPhone and get 20 KB out?
Yes — HEIC, JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TIFF, GIF, AVIF and SVG all work as inputs, so an iPhone photo goes straight to a 20 KB JPEG with no separate conversion step. That matters here because an untouched HEIC is usually a few megabytes, roughly 150× over 20 KB. Save as JPEG for the 20 KB target; PDF, PNG, WebP, BMP and TIFF are available too, but PNG cannot be compressed to a size.
Are my images uploaded anywhere?
No. The compression to 20 KB happens in your browser through the Canvas API, so the photo never leaves your device — nothing is sent to a server and nothing is stored. Open your network tab while the 20 KB target is applied and you will see no upload request at all. Squeezing a phone photo roughly 150× down to 20 KB is exactly the kind of job people hand to an unknown upload site while filing a form on a patchy portal connection; here the 150× reduction happens on your own machine, which is why it still works when the connection drops out mid-form and why it is safe for an identity document.
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