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How to Compress Images for Email Attachments

Reduce image file size before attaching to email. Tips for keeping photos under attachment limits while retaining enough quality.

2026-05-25 - 5 min read

Keep attachments under 5–10 MB

Most email providers allow up to 10–25 MB, but many recipients have smaller mailbox quotas. Aim for 5 MB or less to guarantee delivery.

When in doubt, share large photos via a file link instead and keep the email attachment as a compressed preview.

Resize before compressing

A 12 MP camera photo at full resolution is rarely needed in an email. Resize to 1200–1600 px on the long edge before compression to drop the file size dramatically without noticeable quality loss.

After resizing, export as JPG at quality 75–85. This combination usually brings a multi-megabyte photo down to a few hundred kilobytes.

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