WebP Browser Support in 2026: Complete Compatibility Guide

WebP is supported by over 97% of browsers globally as of 2026 — making it safe to use on virtually every modern website without worrying about compatibility. The era of treating WebP as an “experimental” format is over.

But “97% global support” still leaves a gap. That gap matters if your audience uses older browsers, specific mobile environments, or Internet Explorer. This guide gives you the exact browser version cutoffs, mobile coverage data, and a WordPress implementation path so you can deploy WebP confidently — with proper fallbacks where they are actually needed.

Quick Answer: Chrome (32+), Firefox (65+), Safari (14+), Edge (18+), and Opera (19+) all support WebP natively. Internet Explorer does not support WebP at all. For WordPress sites, you can serve WebP automatically using a plugin or via server-level configuration — no JavaScript required.

What Is WebP and Why Does Browser Support Matter?

WebP is an image format developed by Google, released in 2010. It uses both lossy and lossless compression and consistently produces smaller file sizes than JPEG and PNG at equivalent visual quality — typically 25–35% smaller than JPEG and 26% smaller than PNG (Google WebP compression benchmarks).

For a full breakdown of the format differences, see our WebP vs PNG comparison.

Browser support matters for one reason: if a browser cannot decode WebP, it will display a broken image. Unlike font formats or CSS properties that degrade gracefully, an unsupported image format simply fails. That is why knowing the exact version cutoffs — not just “most browsers support it” — is essential before deploying to production.

WebP Browser Compatibility Table (2026)

This is the definitive browser-by-browser breakdown for WebP support in 2026, based on caniuse.com data and vendor release notes.

Global browser support rate as of April 2026: ~97.4% (caniuse.com/webp)

Does Safari Support WebP?

Yes. Safari has supported WebP since version 14, released in September 2020.

This was the last major browser holdout to add WebP support. Before Safari 14, developers had to implement <picture> element fallbacks specifically for Safari users — particularly on iOS, where Apple’s WebKit engine powers all third-party browsers regardless of their brand.

Here is what the Safari support timeline looks like:

• Safari 13 and earlier — No WebP support
• Safari 14 (macOS Big Sur, iOS 14) — Full WebP support added
• Safari 15+ — Full support, including animated WebP
• Safari on iOS 14+ — Full support across all iOS devices running iOS 14+

Practical implication: Any iPhone or iPad running iOS 13 or older cannot display WebP images. According to StatCounter iOS version data, iOS 13 accounts for under 2% of active iOS devices as of early 2026. This aligns with the ~97% global support figure.

If you are building a site where older iOS devices are a meaningful part of your audience — government services, educational platforms, certain emerging markets — a fallback is still worth implementing. For all other WordPress sites, Safari support is a solved problem.

WebP Support in Chrome

Chrome has supported WebP since version 32, released in January 2014.

Chrome was the first major browser to support WebP — which is expected, given Google developed the format. Chrome’s support is the most complete of any browser:

• Lossy WebP — supported since Chrome 23 (2012)
• Lossless WebP — supported since Chrome 25 (2013)
• Animated WebP — supported since Chrome 32 (2014)
• WebP with ICC profiles and metadata — supported since Chrome 32

Chrome for Android matches desktop Chrome support across all modern versions. Chrome’s market share of approximately 65% globally (StatCounter browser market share) means that the majority of your users already load WebP natively, with no fallback needed.

WebP Support in Firefox

Firefox added WebP support in version 65, released in January 2019.

Firefox was notably late to WebP — the format had existed for nearly a decade before Firefox adopted it. The delay was due to Mozilla’s stated preference for royalty-free formats like AVIF, though they ultimately added WebP due to its ubiquity.

• Firefox 65+ — lossy and lossless WebP
• Firefox 90+ — animated WebP added

Firefox for Android mirrors desktop support from version 65 onward. Firefox’s global desktop market share sits at roughly 3–4% (StatCounter). Given that Firefox 65 was released in 2019, virtually all active Firefox users are running a version with WebP support.

WebP Support in Edge

Microsoft Edge has supported WebP since version 18 (EdgeHTML, October 2018). Chromium-based Edge (all versions from Edge 79+, released January 2020) has full WebP support.

The transition from EdgeHTML to Chromium-based Edge in 2020 resolved most compatibility concerns. The legacy EdgeHTML versions (12–18) had partial WebP support from version 18 onward. Chromium Edge has complete parity with Chrome’s WebP implementation.

Internet Explorer — which shares no codebase with Edge — has no WebP support and never will. Microsoft ended mainstream support for IE 11 in June 2022. IE’s global usage share is under 0.5% (caniuse.com usage table). For any modern website, treating IE as a supported browser is no longer justifiable.

WebP Support in Opera

Opera has supported WebP since version 19 (February 2014), mirroring Chrome’s support exactly.

Opera uses the Blink rendering engine — the same engine that powers Chrome — so its WebP support has tracked Chrome’s since Opera 15. All modern Opera versions support lossy, lossless, and animated WebP.

Mobile Browser WebP Coverage

Mobile coverage is where “97% global support” becomes more nuanced.

Key risk area: Opera Mini in “Extreme” mode processes pages on Opera’s servers before delivery. WebP images may or may not be transcoded depending on the server configuration. If you have significant traffic from emerging markets where Opera Mini is common — parts of Africa, Southeast Asia — test explicitly.

For most WordPress-based business or e-commerce sites, these edge cases represent under 1% of traffic.

How to Check caniuse WebP Data

Caniuse.com is the authoritative reference for WebP browser compatibility. The page shows:

• Global support percentage (updated monthly)
• Per-version support breakdown for every major browser
• Regional support variations
• Known bugs and implementation differences

The caniuse WebP page is the source you should cite in technical discussions and link to when documenting your implementation decisions. Current global support is listed there in real time — always check it directly rather than relying on a cached screenshot.

Implementing WebP in WordPress

This is where most guides stop — and where the real value starts. Knowing browser support is useful. Knowing how to deploy WebP on a live WordPress site is what changes your page speed scores.

There are three implementation paths:

Option 1: WordPress Plugin (Recommended for Most Sites)

The fastest path. Plugins handle conversion, serving, and fallback automatically.

ShortPixel Image Optimizer — converts uploaded images to WebP on the fly and serves them via the <picture> element with automatic PNG/JPEG fallback. Free tier available.

WebP Express — converts images server-side and rewrites URLs using .htaccess rules. Good for hosts where you cannot install server modules. Free.

Imagify — integrates with Elementor, WooCommerce product images, and gallery plugins. Handles bulk conversion of existing media library images.

Installation steps (using ShortPixel as the example):

1. Install and activate ShortPixel Image Optimizer from the WordPress plugin directory
2. Go to Settings > ShortPixel > Compression tab
3. Enable “Create WebP versions of the images”
4. Enable “Deliver WebP images in the frontend using the PICTURE tag”
5. Run bulk optimization on your existing media library
6. Verify delivery using your browser’s DevTools Network tab — filter by image type and confirm .webp is being served to Chrome

This configuration serves WebP to supporting browsers automatically and falls back to the original PNG or JPEG for browsers that do not support WebP — including Internet Explorer.

Option 2: HTML <picture> Element With Manual Fallback

If you are not using a plugin — or you are building a custom theme and want full control — use the HTML <picture> element directly. This is the semantic HTML standard for serving multiple image formats.

<picture>
  <source srcset="/images/hero.webp" type="image/webp">
  <source srcset="/images/hero.png" type="image/png">
  <img src="/images/hero.png" alt="Hero image description" width="1200" height="600">
</picture>

How this works:

• The browser reads the <picture> element top-to-bottom
• If it supports image/webp, it loads hero.webp
• If it does not, it falls through to the next <source> and loads hero.png
• The <img> tag at the bottom is the ultimate fallback — it also provides the alt text and dimensions for all browsers

The <picture> element is supported by all browsers that support WebP, plus older browsers that do not. You get progressive enhancement with zero JavaScript.

Option 3: Server-Level Delivery via .htaccess (Apache) or nginx Config

The most performant option for high-traffic sites. The server detects the browser’s Accept header and serves WebP automatically — no HTML changes required.

Apache (.htaccess):

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  # Serve WebP if browser supports it and file exists
  RewriteCond %{HTTP_ACCEPT} image/webp
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} (.*)\.(jpe?g|png)$
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}\.webp -f
  RewriteRule ^ %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.webp [L,T=image/webp]
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
  Header append Vary Accept env=REDIRECT_accept
</IfModule>

nginx:

map $http_accept $webp_suffix {
  default "";
  "~*image/webp" ".webp";
}
location ~* \.(png|jpe?g)$ {
  add_header Vary Accept;
  try_files $uri$webp_suffix $uri =404;
}

This method requires that your WebP files already exist on the server (pre-converted) and that your hosting environment allows .htaccess modifications or nginx config access. Most managed WordPress hosts (Kinsta, WP Engine, Flywheel) handle WebP delivery at the CDN level — check your host’s documentation before modifying server config manually.

WebP Fallback Decision Tree

Use this to decide what level of fallback implementation your site actually needs:

Do you need a WebP fallback?

1. Does your site support Internet Explorer users?

– Yes → You need a full <picture> element fallback or plugin-based delivery – No → Continue

1. Does your analytics show more than 2% of sessions on iOS 13 or older?

– Yes → Implement <picture> fallback – No → Continue

1. Does your site serve significant traffic from regions where Opera Mini (Extreme mode) is prevalent?

– Yes → Test explicitly and consider plugin-based delivery – No → Continue

1. Are you running a standard WordPress site with modern hosting?

– Yes → Install a WebP plugin (ShortPixel, Imagify, or WebP Express) and let it handle fallback automatically — this is the right answer for the vast majority of WordPress sites

Why WebP Matters for Page Speed and SEO

Switching to WebP is one of the highest-ROI changes you can make for page speed optimization. Google’s Core Web Vitals measurement includes Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — and images are the LCP element on most pages.

Smaller images load faster. A hero image that is 400KB as a PNG becomes approximately 280–300KB as WebP. For a site serving 100,000 image loads per month, that is a material reduction in bandwidth and a direct improvement in perceived load time.

Google PageSpeed Insights explicitly flags “Serve images in next-gen formats” as an opportunity when it detects PNG or JPEG images that could be WebP. Addressing this flag directly improves your PageSpeed score and — more importantly — improves real user experience.

For the full picture on image optimization alongside Core Web Vitals, caching, and font delivery, the page speed optimization guide covers the complete workflow.

WebP vs. AVIF: Should You Use AVIF Instead?

A fair question in 2026. AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is the next-generation format after WebP. It achieves even better compression — roughly 50% smaller than JPEG at equivalent quality — and browser support has grown significantly.

As of April 2026, AVIF browser support sits at approximately 92–93% globally (caniuse.com/avif). That is meaningfully lower than WebP’s 97%+.

The practical recommendation:

• Use WebP as your primary format for all images
• Add AVIF as a first <source> in your <picture> element if you want maximum compression for supporting browsers
• Keep WebP and PNG/JPEG as fallbacks

<picture>
  <source srcset="/images/hero.avif" type="image/avif">
  <source srcset="/images/hero.webp" type="image/webp">
  <img src="/images/hero.png" alt="Hero image description" width="1200" height="600">
</picture>

For most WordPress sites, WebP alone is the correct choice in 2026. AVIF adds encoding complexity and limited tooling support in WordPress plugins — the marginal compression gain rarely justifies the added workflow complexity.

FAQ: WebP Browser Support

Should You Use a WordPress Agency to Implement WebP?

If your site is using unoptimized images and you are seeing poor PageSpeed scores, WebP conversion is one part of a broader performance optimization. For complex WordPress sites — particularly WooCommerce stores with large product image libraries — bulk conversion, CDN integration, and server-side delivery configuration are best handled by someone with hands-on WordPress architecture experience.

Our WordPress web design services include performance optimization as part of every build. If you are starting a new site and want WebP, Core Web Vitals optimization, and modern image delivery built in from day one — not retrofitted after the fact — that is the conversation worth having.

You might also want to explore which WordPress SEO plugins integrate with image optimization tools to build a complete on-page SEO stack.

You Might Also Find Useful

• WebP vs PNG comparison — format differences, compression benchmarks, and when to use each
• Page speed optimization guide — Core Web Vitals, caching, font loading, and full performance workflow
• WordPress web design services — performance-first WordPress builds
• Best WordPress SEO plugins 2025 — SEO tooling that pairs with image optimization