You right-click an image from the web, hit “Save Image As,” and get a .webp file. Your email client won’t attach it. Your client’s CMS rejects it. Photoshop opens it but your coworker’s older version can’t.

WebP is a great format inside browsers. Outside them, it’s still a headache. Here’s how to turn those files into JPGs on your Mac.

Method 1: Picmal (fastest for batch)

If you have more than a handful of WebP files, or this keeps happening, a dedicated converter pays for itself quickly.

  1. Download Picmal if you haven’t already
  2. Drag your WebP files into the window (or an entire folder)
  3. Select JPG as the output format
  4. Adjust quality if you want (80% is a good default for web photos)
  5. Click Convert

Picmal preserves folder structure, so if you drag in a folder with subfolders, you get the same structure back with JPGs instead of WebPs. Nothing gets uploaded anywhere — it runs entirely on your Mac.

Best for: Batch conversion. Dozens or hundreds of files. Recurring workflows where you’re always getting WebP and need JPG.

Method 2: Preview (free, already on your Mac)

Preview handles single-file conversion without installing anything.

  1. Right-click the .webp file in Finder
  2. Open With → Preview
  3. File → Export
  4. Change the Format dropdown to JPEG
  5. Adjust the quality slider
  6. Save

For a few files, this works fine. For 50 files, you’ll want something else.

Batch workaround: Select multiple WebP files in Finder, right-click, Open With → Preview. Then File → Export Selected Images. Choose JPEG. It works, but you lose control over individual quality settings and the interface gets awkward with many files.

Method 3: Terminal with sips (power users)

macOS has a built-in command-line image tool called sips. It handles WebP to JPG in one line.

Single file:

sips -s format jpeg input.webp --out output.jpg

Entire folder:

for f in *.webp; do sips -s format jpeg "$f" --out "${f%.webp}.jpg"; done

This loops through every .webp file in the current directory and creates a .jpg with the same name. Fast, no installs, no GUI.

Limitation: sips doesn’t let you set JPEG quality. It uses a default that’s usually fine, but if you need control over compression, you’ll need another tool.

Method 4: Online converters (if you don’t mind uploading)

Tools like CloudConvert and Convertio handle WebP to JPG in the browser. Drag in a file, pick JPG, download the result.

The tradeoff is obvious: your images go to someone else’s server. For a random screenshot, fine. For client work or anything confidential, not fine.

CloudConvert gives you 25 free conversions per day. Convertio’s free tier caps at 100MB per file and 10 conversions per day.

Which method to choose

SituationMethod
1-3 images, right nowPreview
10+ images, or you do this regularlyPicmal
You live in the terminalsips
You’re on someone else’s MacOnline converter

FAQ

Does converting WebP to JPG lose quality?

Yes, slightly. WebP and JPG are both lossy formats (for photos). Converting between them means the image gets re-encoded, which introduces a small amount of additional compression. At 80-90% JPG quality, the difference is invisible for most purposes. If you need pixel-perfect preservation, convert to PNG instead.

Can I convert WebP to JPG without installing anything?

Yes. Preview (already on your Mac) and sips (built into Terminal) both handle it. Preview gives you a GUI; sips gives you a command line. Neither requires a download.

Why do websites use WebP instead of JPG?

File size. A WebP photo is typically 25-35% smaller than the same JPG at similar visual quality. For sites serving millions of images, that’s faster loads and lower bandwidth bills. Google developed WebP specifically for this.

How do I batch convert a folder of WebP files to JPG?

Drag the entire folder into Picmal and select JPG. It converts everything and preserves the folder structure. Alternatively, use the sips for-loop in Terminal (see Method 3 above).