Does Chrome Support JPEG XL?
Yes โ since Chrome 155, released on 6 October 2026. JPEG XL is now on by default in Chrome on desktop and Android, with a decoder written in Rust. It took a removal, a comeback behind a flag and ten versions of waiting. Here's what changed, what to do if your Chrome still won't show a .jxl, and why Microsoft Edge, built on the same code, is the exception.
by Robert Castillo ยท Published ยท updated
The short answer
Yes. Chrome 155, which reached the stable channel on 6 October 2026, shows JPEG XL images out of the box. Google announced it the same day on its developer blog, and the Chromestatus entry lists it as shipping on desktop, on Android and in Android WebView, the component many apps use to display web content. There is nothing to install and nothing to switch on.
We checked it ourselves on Windows 11 with Chrome 155.0.8059.40. It displayed a .jxl image opened from a link and one opened straight from disk, picked the JPEG XL version out of a <picture> element, and told servers it understands the format by adding image/jxl to the Accept header it sends with image requests.
That ends a long detour. Chrome removed JPEG XL in version 110, in 2023. It came back in Chrome 145 (10 February 2026) with a new decoder, jxl-rs, written in Rust, but hidden behind a flag that stayed off for ten versions, from 145 to 154. Version 155 is the first in which it's simply on. When we first published this guide, in July, the answer was still no; now it's yes.
Which Chrome do you have?
The version number decides everything. Chrome updates itself in the background, so in most cases restarting the browser is enough to get version 155. Computers that are rarely restarted, or work machines whose updates someone else controls, can lag behind.
| Chrome version | JPEG XL | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome 155 and later (desktop and Android) | On by default | Nothing |
| Chrome 145 to 154 | Built in, but off | Update, or switch on the flag |
| Chrome 110 to 144 | Removed | Update: no setting brings it back |
| Chrome on iPhone and iPad | Yes, through Apple's engine | Needs iOS / iPadOS 17 or later |
To see your version on a computer, open the menu โฎ โ Help โ About Google Chrome, or type chrome://settings/help into the address bar. The same page checks for updates and installs them; press Relaunch when it asks. On Android it's โฎ โ Settings โ About Chrome, and updates come through Google Play. Chrome now ships a new version every two weeks โ Chrome 156 is due on 20 October โ so it's easy to fall a version or two behind without noticing.
Chrome on iPhone and iPad is a special case: it runs on Apple's WebKit engine rather than Chrome's own, so it shows JPEG XL on iOS 17 or later whatever its version number says, exactly as Safari does.
Chrome 145 to 154: switching it on with the flag
If you can update, do that instead: it's the real fix, and you won't have a setting to remember. If you can't, versions 145 to 154 already contain the decoder and only need a switch flipping. It takes under a minute and only affects your own browser.
Open the flag
Paste chrome://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format into the address bar and press Enter. The flags page is in English whatever language Chrome uses, and the right entry is highlighted.
Check the name
It's called Enable JXL image format. Plenty of guides write "Enable JPEG XL image format", which isn't what you'll see; if you search the page, search for JXL.
Set it to Enabled and relaunch
Pick Enabled in the drop-down next to it, then press the Relaunch button at the bottom of the page. Closing the tab isn't enough: flags take effect when Chrome restarts.
Then check it worked: reload the page that wouldn't show the image, or run our browser test, which asks your browser to draw a tiny JPEG XL image by itself and tells you whether it managed.
Opera has the same switch at opera://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format, according to caniuse, because it builds on an older Chromium than Chrome does; we haven't checked its October release ourselves. Microsoft Edge has no such switch at all โ more on that below.
Chrome 155 and still no JPEG XL?
Confirm the version
Open chrome://settings/help. If it says 154 or lower, let it update and relaunch; that alone fixes most cases.
Look at the flag
Open chrome://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format. In Chrome 155 it should read Default, which now means on. If it reads Disabled, someone turned it off by hand: set it back to Default and relaunch. In our test, Chrome 155 with the feature disabled lost JPEG XL completely โ no image, and no image/jxl in its requests.
Know that the flag is temporary
Chromium has the flag due to expire after version 158, so in a few releases it will vanish from the list. Until then, Default is the right setting; there's no reason to force it to Enabled.
Rule out the file and the site
Run the browser test. If it says yes, Chrome is fine and the problem is the image or the website: a file renamed to .jxl that is really something else, for instance, or a site that sends Chrome a different format.
And the other browsers?
| Browser | JPEG XL | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Safari 17+ (Mac, iPhone, iPad) | Yes, by default | Since September 2023; still images only, no animation or progressive loading |
| Firefox 158+ | Yes, by default | Since 13 October 2026, desktop and Android |
| Firefox 152โ157, ESR 153 | Built in, off | Firefox Labs or about:config |
| Microsoft Edge 155 | No | No flag either; a .jxl downloads instead of opening |
| Brave 1.97.56+ | Yes, by default | Built on Chromium 155; we tested 1.97.57 |
| Opera | Behind a flag | opera://flags, per caniuse; not checked in October |
| Vivaldi, Samsung Internet | Not confirmed | Test before you rely on it |
Edge is the exception, and the reason older guides โ this one included, in July โ got it wrong. Edge is built on Chromium, so for months the natural assumption was that it would follow Chrome. It didn't. Microsoft listed JPEG XL in its Edge 155 release notes and then removed the entry on 9 October 2026. In our test, Edge 155.0.4283.45 couldn't display JPEG XL even when we forced Chromium's feature on from the command line, and opening a .jxl simply downloaded it. Guides that tell you to enable it in edge://flags are out of date.
Firefox switched on a week after Chrome. Firefox 158, released on 13 October 2026, shows JPEG XL by default with a Rust decoder from the same family. Versions 152 to 157 and Firefox ESR 153 include it but leave it off: in 152 to 157 you can tick Media: JPEG XL in Settings โ Firefox Labs, and in ESR 153 set image.jxl.enabled to true in about:config. ESR 140 and ESR 115 have no decoder at all. Our Firefox guide covers every build and the Firefox forks.
Safari has had JPEG XL since version 17, in September 2023: on the Mac with macOS Sonoma 14 or later, and on iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 17 or later, where Chrome, Firefox and every other browser run on Apple's WebKit engine and therefore show it too. Safari's support covers still images only, without animation or progressive loading.
How Chrome got here
2021 โ first try
Chrome 91 included an experimental JPEG XL decoder behind a flag, built on libjxl, the C++ reference library. It never left the flag.
2022โ2023 โ removed
In late 2022 Google said the format didn't bring enough over existing ones to justify maintaining it. The code was gone in Chrome 110, in 2023. The decision was deeply unpopular with developers.
2025 โ pressure builds
Safari had shipped JPEG XL in 2023, and in 2025 the PDF Association announced it had chosen JPEG XL as its preferred format for HDR images in PDF. Developers kept asking browsers for it.
Nov 2025 โ the U-turn
The Chromium team said it would welcome a fast, memory-safe JPEG XL decoder. The candidate was jxl-rs, a Rust rewrite from the libjxl project, which answered the security objection to a large C++ decoder.
Feb 2026 โ Chrome 145
jxl-rs reached the stable channel on 10 February, behind enable-jxl-image-format and switched off. It stayed that way for ten versions.
Oct 2026 โ Chrome 155
On by default from 6 October. Google cited consistent requests from web developers and the cross-browser Interop project. Firefox 158 followed a week later.
What Chrome's JPEG XL does โ and what it doesn't
It reads JPEG XL; it doesn't write it. Chrome's decoder only decodes. In our test, asking a canvas for image/jxl with toBlob() quietly returned a PNG, which is what browsers do with a format they can't encode. To create .jxl files you still need an encoder such as cjxl or a converter.
It tells servers it can. With JPEG XL on, Chrome lists image/jxl in the Accept header of its image requests, so a server or CDN can send Chrome a .jxl and other browsers something else. With the feature disabled, that entry disappears.
No speed figures from Google. The announcement explains how the decoder was optimised, and Google tracks its performance on a public dashboard, but it doesn't put a number on how fast JPEG XL decodes compared with other formats. Neither will we: earlier versions of this guide quoted a percentage that we couldn't trace to a reliable source.
Security was the price of entry. Image decoders are among the most attacked parts of a browser. Google says it checked jxl-rs with fuzzing among other techniques, on top of Chrome's sandboxing. Choosing Rust, rather than bringing back the C++ libjxl that Chrome had removed in 2023, was part of that answer.
What this means for you
Someone sent you a .jxl
On a computer with Chrome 155 or later, drag it into a tab and it opens like any picture. On a phone, on Edge, an older Chrome or a computer you don't control, use our viewer: it decodes the file on your device, in any browser, and can save it as JPG or PNG.
You build websites
Use JPEG XL, but with a fallback. Chrome 155+, Firefox 158+ and Safari 17+ show it; Edge doesn't, Samsung Internet is unconfirmed and plenty of people haven't updated. Put the .jxl in a <picture> with AVIF, WebP or JPEG behind it, or choose the format on the server from the Accept header.
You archive photos
JPEG XL made sense here before any browser cared. Lossless re-packing shrinks the JPEGs you already have โ the libjxl project puts it at about 20% โ and the original file can be rebuilt bit for bit. Try it on a JPEG.
FAQ
Does Chrome open .jxl files now?
What is the Chrome JPEG XL flag called?
chrome://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format. In Chrome 145 to 154, set it to Enabled; in Chrome 155, leave it on Default, which is already on. It's due to expire after Chrome 158.Does Microsoft Edge support JPEG XL?
Does Chrome on Android support JPEG XL?
Can Chrome save or convert images to JPEG XL?
Can I use JPEG XL on my website now?
<picture>, browsers that can't show it never even request the .jxl, so nobody sees a broken image. Google's own announcement suggests trying both AVIF and JPEG XL and keeping whichever gives the better result on your images.