# Compress image to 20 KB

Reduce a JPG or PNG photo to under 20 KB for exam forms, signatures and ID uploads. Runs on your device, keeps the face sharp, nothing is uploaded.

Use it: https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/20kb
Runs in the browser. Nothing is uploaded. Free, no account.

20 KB is the strictest limit you will meet on a form. It is the usual cap for scanned signatures and for the small passport-style photo that Indian recruitment portals (SSC, IBPS, railway boards) ask for. A normal phone photo is 2 to 5 MB, so it has to shrink about 150 times.

The widget above is already set to 20 KB. Drop the photo, press Compress, download. It lowers JPEG quality first and reduces the pixel size only when it must, so the result is the sharpest file that fits.

## Who asks for this size

| Where 20 KB is required | Typical rule |
| --- | --- |
| Scanned signature on exam and bank forms | 10 KB to 20 KB, JPG, about 140 × 60 px |
| Photo on SSC, IBPS and state recruitment forms | 20 KB to 50 KB, JPG, about 200 × 230 px |
| Thumbnail or avatar fields on older portals | Under 20 KB, square image |
| Attachments in forms with a 25 KB total cap | Under 20 KB per file |

## What to expect

A face photo at 20 KB stays clear at roughly 300 × 400 pixels. The tool reaches that by dropping quality to about 60 to 70 percent and, if the file is still too big, shrinking the long side in steps of 20 percent until it fits.

Signatures compress well because they are mostly white. Crop tightly around the ink before compressing and the tool rarely needs to shrink the dimensions at all.

## Tips

- Crop first. A tight crop around the face or the signature removes most of the bytes without touching quality.
- Use JPG, not PNG. PNG keeps every pixel exact and cannot reach 20 KB for a photo; the tool converts to JPG automatically in target mode.
- If the portal also fixes the dimensions, for example 200 × 230 px, set Max side to 230 before compressing.

## Questions

### Will a 20 KB photo be rejected for being blurry?

Rarely. Portals check the file size and the pixel dimensions, not sharpness. Keep the face centred and well lit before compressing and the result passes.

### How do I get a signature between 10 KB and 20 KB?

Type 20 in the box, compress, then check the size shown. If it is under 10 KB, raise the target to 15 and compress the original again; the result lands between the two limits.

### Why did my PNG turn into a JPG?

Target mode always writes JPG, because PNG cannot be pushed under 20 KB for a photograph. Signatures and scans look the same in JPG.

### Is the photo uploaded anywhere?

No. The compression runs in your browser. The file never leaves your phone or computer, which matters for ID photos.

## Other limits

- [Image compressor](https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/index.md)
- [Compress image to 50 KB](https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/50kb/index.md)
- [Compress image to 100 KB](https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/100kb/index.md)
- [Compress image to 200 KB](https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/200kb/index.md)
- [Compress image to 500 KB](https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/500kb/index.md)
- [Compress image to 1 MB](https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/1mb/index.md)

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HTML: https://toolovi.com/en/tools/image-compressor/20kb · All tools: https://toolovi.com/tools.json · Guide: https://toolovi.com/llms.txt