JPEG XL returns to Chrome and Firefox - what changes for your images
Chrome 145 and Firefox 152 both restored JPEG XL (JXL) decoding in 2026, three years after Chrome dropped the format. Both browsers still keep it switched off behind an experimental flag, and only Safari opens JXL out of the box. So you cannot publish JXL-only images yet - keep JPG, WebP, or AVIF as the format you actually deliver.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-08
What happened
Google removed JPEG XL support from Chrome on October 30, 2022, citing low interest - a decision that also stalled Firefox's plans for the format. In late 2025 the Chrome team reversed course and said it would accept a memory-safe decoder, and in January 2026 JPEG XL decoding was merged into Chromium using jxl-rs, a decoder written in Rust. The work was led by Helmut Januschka, an engineering lead at Krone Multimedia contributing from outside Google. Chrome 145, released in February 2026, ships that decoder behind the chrome://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format flag. Mozilla followed the same path: Firefox 152, released June 16, 2026, includes JPEG XL support, also disabled by default behind a preference.
The current support picture, checked against the caniuse browser tables on July 8, 2026:
| Browser | JPEG XL status | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Safari (macOS and iOS) | Partial support, on by default | Version 17 (2023) |
| Chrome | Behind an experimental flag | Version 145 (February 2026) |
| Firefox | Behind a preference | Version 152 (June 2026) |
| Edge and Opera | Off by default (follow Chromium) | - |
The practical ceiling: browsers that decode JXL without user action cover roughly 14 percent of visitors today. That number only jumps when Chrome flips the flag to on-by-default, which reporting expects in the second half of 2026 but which has not happened as of this article's date.
Why JPEG XL matters for everyday files
JPEG XL compresses photos to smaller files than JPG at the same visual quality, supports transparency and HDR, and - uniquely among the modern formats - can recompress an existing JPG file losslessly, byte-for-byte reversible, at a meaningfully smaller size. That last feature is the one aimed at the billions of JPG photos already sitting in archives: convert them to JXL for storage, convert back to the identical JPG whenever needed. AVIF and WebP cannot do that reversible round trip; re-encoding a JPG into them always re-processes the pixels.
What to do with your files right now
The safe playbook while JXL stays behind flags:
- Keep delivering universal formats. A photo published only as JXL will not display for most visitors. For sharing and web use, convert camera formats to JPG with the HEIC to JPG converter, or pick between JPG and WebP using the format comparison guide.
- Shrink files with formats every browser opens. If the goal is a smaller upload or a faster page, the image compressor gets you there today without waiting for JXL adoption.
- Test JXL only behind the flag. On Chrome 145 or newer, enable
chrome://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format; on Firefox 152 or newer, switch the JXL preference inabout:config. Treat it as a preview, not a deploy target. - Hold archives, watch the default. The lossless JPG-to-JXL round trip makes JXL a genuine archival option once support is broad. Until Chrome enables it by default, keep master copies in their current format and revisit when that switch lands.