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What File Type Is My Image?

Drop in the photo a website refused. See its real format (not just the extension), its size, pixel dimensions and colour mode — and the one-click fix.

Updated September 2026 · Free · Works entirely in your browser

What the error messages actually mean

Upload errors are worded differently on every site, but they are almost always saying the same thing: the file is not one of the two or three formats the form was built to accept.

Message you seeUsual cause
"… instead of an accepted image type"HEIC, WebP or AVIF photo; or a .jfif name
"Image (jpeg) filetype cannot be accepted"The file is named .jpg but is really PNG, WebP or HEIC — or it is a CMYK JPEG
"You can only upload JPG or PNG files"WebP saved from Chrome, or an iPhone HEIC
"Invalid file type. Please convert your image to PNG or WebP"JPEG with an unusual extension, or a HEIC
"File type not supported" (Photoshop, Word, Canva)WebP or AVIF in an older app version, or HEIC on Windows
"Image URL does not have a file type"The link points to a page or a CDN address with no .jpg/.png on the end — download the image and upload the file instead

Why the extension is not enough

The letters after the dot are a hint to your operating system, not a description of the contents. Browsers save WebP images with a .jpg name when a site serves them that way, phones rename HEIC files to .jpg when sharing, and people rename files by hand hoping it will help. A careful uploader opens the file and reads the signature in the first bytes — which is exactly what this checker does, so you see what the website sees.

The fix, in one line

Convert to JPG for photos and PNG for screenshots, logos or anything with transparency. Both have been accepted everywhere for decades. For a full walk-through of each error, read how to fix "file type not supported" and, for Photoshop specifically, why Photoshop says a file is not the right kind of document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about image conversion.

Upload forms check the real format, and sometimes the extension, against a short list — usually JPG, PNG and sometimes GIF or WebP. A photo can be a HEIC from an iPhone, a WebP saved from Chrome, or a JPEG with a .jfif extension, and all three look like normal photos on your screen while failing that check. This tool shows which one you have.

Read its first few bytes. Every image format starts with a fixed signature — JPEGs begin FF D8 FF, PNGs begin with the letters PNG, WebP files contain RIFF…WEBP, and HEIC files carry an ftyp box with a heic or mif1 brand. The extension in the file name is only a label and can be wrong; the signature cannot.

Only when the contents are already the right format — a genuine JPEG saved as .jfif or .jpe, for example. Renaming a HEIC, WebP or PNG to .jpg does not change the bytes inside, so a strict uploader still rejects it and some programs refuse to open it. Convert the file instead.

Three common reasons: it is over the size limit; it is saved in CMYK colour, which many web forms and older browsers reject or display wrongly; or its dimensions are outside the form's minimum or maximum. The checker reports all three.

No. The file is read inside your browser with the File API. Nothing is sent anywhere, so it is safe to use on ID photos, scans and documents.