How to reduce photo file size on iPhone to hit a limit like 1 MB

Visa forms, job portals and school sites love limits like “JPEG, max 1 MB” or even “max 200 KB”. iPhone photos start at several MB.

What decides file size

1. Pixels. Halving width and height cuts pixels to a quarter.
2. Compression quality. JPEG at 70–80% is much smaller than at 100%, and hard to tell apart on screen.
3. Format. HEIC is smaller than JPEG at the same quality, but many forms won’t take it.
4. The picture itself. Detail (foliage, gravel, text) compresses worse than plain areas.

Targets that usually work

Limit	Try
1 MB	2000 px long side, JPEG 80%
500 KB	1600 px, JPEG 75%
200 KB	1000 px, JPEG 70%

These are starting points. Check one file, then adjust.

In Batchly

Chain Resize → Convert to JPEG → Compress. Export one test file to Files, check its size with Get Info, then run the rest.

Don’t shrink below what’s needed

A passport photo form that says “max 200 KB” often also says “min 600 × 600 px”. Read both numbers.

Related: compress photos for email.