.webp MIME type
WebP imageimages
image/webpLossy and lossless images with transparency and animation, supported by every current browser.
| MIME type | image/webp |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .webp |
| Content-Type | image/webp |
| Compress in transit? | No — already compressed |
| File signature | 52 49 46 46 xx xx xx xx 57 45 42 50 (RIFF....WEBP) |
Good to know
- Typically 25–35% smaller than JPEG at similar quality.
- To serve WebP only to browsers that accept it, check the
Acceptheader (browsers sendimage/webp) and addVary: Accept— or use<picture>with fallbacks.
Serve .webp files with the right type
The response header to send:
Content-Type: image/webp
Most servers pick the type from the file extension. If yours sends the wrong one, map it explicitly:
nginx (inside the types block in mime.types)
image/webp webp;
Apache (.htaccess or server config)
AddType image/webp .webp
Express
res.set("Content-Type", "image/webp");Python
import mimetypes
mimetypes.add_type("image/webp", ".webp")HTML file input
<input type="file" accept=".webp,image/webp">
Check it
See what a server sends for a file, and what type a local file really is by its contents:
curl -sI https://example.com/file.webp | grep -i '^content-type:' file --mime-type file.webp
Frequently asked questions
What is the MIME type for .webp files?
image/webp.
What Content-Type header should a .webp file be served with?
Content-Type: image/webp. It's already compressed, so servers shouldn't gzip it.
How can I tell if a file is really a .webp?
Check its bytes rather than the extension: WEBP files start with 52 49 46 46 xx xx xx xx 57 45 42 50 (RIFF....WEBP). On the command line, file --mime-type name.webp does this for you.
Related types
Headers that go with it: Content-Type · Content-Disposition · X-Content-Type-Options