Windows 11 24H2 users can now enable the JPEG XL image extension on their PCs. This new file format, with the extension “jxl”, promises to be better than the usual JPEG format in many ways.

What is JPEG XL format?

JPEG XL is a new and royalty-free image format that gives significantly better image compression than typical JPEG files while maintaining high quality.

As opposed to some of the newer image file formats like HEIC, AVIF and webp, JPEG XL was specifically designed as an image format to give more control to photographers. The aforementioned file extensions actually originated from video codecs.

Interestingly, Apple added native support to JPEG XL format in its iPhone 16 series, probably to make it more enticing to photographers. Now, Microsoft did the same.

A similar story occurred at the beginning of 2018 when Microsoft added support for HEIF and HEVC file formats just a few months after Apple made them default in iOS 11. This pattern goes to show that Microsoft is willing to make it easier for iOS users to keep using Windows PCs.

The addition of JPEG XL format comes at a time when the macOS user base has been in a steady growth and Apple just launched the Macbook Air M4 which is $100 cheaper than its predecessor.

However, unlike Apple which provided native support to JPEG XL via OS updates, Microsoft chose to provide it through extensions in the Microsoft Store.

How to enable JPEG XL in Windows 11?

Go to the Microsoft Store and type JPEG XL or JXL in the Search column. From the list of apps, you’ll see one named “JPEG XL Image Extention”. It’s easy to notice as it’s the only one without a featured image.

But remember that this image extension currently only works with Windows 11, version 24H2. Chances are that you’ll get an error message if you try to install it on earlier versions of Windows 11 or Windows 10. As of now, it’s unclear whether Microsoft will bring support for JPEG XL to older Windows versions.

In the Store description for the extension, Microsoft acknowledges the libjxl open source project in GitHub that made this package possible.

Benefits of using JPEG XL

The JPEG XL format is like a spiritual successor to the dated JPG format. It’s as easy to use as JPG and doesn’t have compatibility issues associated with other formats like HEIF and AVIF.

However, it does have excellent compression capabilities and helps you save up to 75% of storage space while supporting a wider color gamut. It also supports faster encoding and decoding times.

We got the extension installed on our PC and in our tests, Windows Latest observed that the same image in jpg and jxl formats has more or less the same image quality, but the jxl file is 47.90% smaller file size.

But for some reason, we can’t seem to open the file in the Photos app. Interestingly, the thumbnail and file preview are visible in the File Explorer.

This leads us to believe that while Windows 11 now supports jxl file format, as of writing this article, the Photos app still doesn’t support it.

JPEG XL now joins the exhaustive list of image formats supported by Windows 11, including JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, HEIF, ICO, WEBP, RAW.

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