Compress Image to 20KB
Upload your photo or signature and get a file at or under 20KB, sized for exam forms, job applications, and portals with a strict upload limit.
Select an image to compress to 20KB
Drag and drop your photo here or click to browse
Built for exam and application uploads
What the tool does to get your file under 20KB.
Exact size, every time
Pick 20KB and get a file at or under that limit. There is no quality slider to set.
Handles large phone photos
Photos straight off a phone camera (usually 2-5MB) are compressed on our server, so your device does the least work.
Resolution kept where possible
Quality is lowered first. Pixel dimensions are reduced slightly only when the size target cannot be met otherwise.
Deleted within 1 hour
Files are auto-deleted from our servers within 1 hour of processing.
Nothing to install
It runs in your browser.
Phone, tablet or computer
Use it from any modern browser.
How to compress your image to 20KB
Upload, compress, download.
Upload your photo
Choose a JPG, PNG, or WEBP file from your device, or drag and drop it in.
We compress to 20KB
Our tool automatically finds the highest quality that fits under 20KB.
Download and submit
Save your compressed photo and upload it directly to your exam or application form.
What to know about hitting an exact 20KB target
The details that matter for the tightest common size limit.
20KB is almost always a signature limit, not a photo one
Very few forms ask for a full photo at 20KB — it's tight enough to visibly degrade a face photo. Most often this exact limit appears for signature scans, which compress well because they're mostly white background with a small ink stroke.
How hitting an exact byte target works
Rather than applying one fixed quality setting, the tool re-encodes your image at progressively lower quality until the output lands at or under 20KB — the highest quality that still fits, not a guess.
Why signatures compress so much further than photos
A signature scan is mostly flat white space with a thin dark line, which JPEG compression handles very efficiently. A face photo has continuous tone and detail throughout the frame, so it needs far more aggressive compression to reach the same 20KB target.
When a photo can't fit 20KB without visible loss
If quality reduction alone isn't enough to reach 20KB without noticeable artifacts, the tool also reduces the image's pixel dimensions slightly — a small resolution drop is usually less noticeable than heavy compression artifacts at full size.
Exam bodies that specify a 20KB signature cap
SSC CGL, UPSC, IBPS bank exams, Railway RRB, and several state PSC recruitment forms commonly cap signature uploads at 20KB. Always check your specific form's instructions, since the exact number can vary even within the same exam body across years.
20KB rejected even though the file size is fine?
Some forms enforce both a KB cap and a minimum pixel dimension at the same time — a heavily compressed image can meet the size limit but fail a dimension check. If your upload is rejected, check the form's stated width/height requirement, not just the KB limit.
Frequently asked questions
Why do forms ask for a 20KB photo or signature?
A 20KB cap keeps application servers fast and storage costs down when thousands of applicants upload photos at once — which is why it's such a common limit on Indian government recruitment portals, especially for signature uploads. SSC CGL, UPSC, IBPS bank exams, and several state PSC and railway recruitment forms specify a signature (and sometimes photo) size limit in this range, and uploads over the limit are simply rejected at submission.
The problem is that a photo straight off a phone camera is usually 2-5MB — 100-250x too large. Resizing dimensions alone doesn't reliably hit an exact KB target, which is what this tool does directly: pick 20KB, upload your photo or signature, and download a file sized right for the form.
How it works
Your photo is re-encoded to land at or under 20KB while keeping it sharp enough to pass photo-verification checks — usually no visible quality loss for a small ID-style or signature image. If you need a different size, the same tool supports custom targets like 50KB or 100KB too.
Need a different file size for a form or exam upload? Try our compress image tool, built for exam and application uploads with strict size limits.
Compress your photo to 20KB
Get a file at or under 20KB. The free plan takes up to 2 images at a time.
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