# Easy way to reduce picture file size using Windows 10? Maybe even batch shrink them?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 1, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005 "2021-02-01T17:34:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/1 "2021-02-01T17:34:43Z")
Windows XP had a feature where I could right click on the file(or batch of files maybe?) and choose “resize image”. It would shrink the file to either large, medium, or small. I loved it because it got the job done even if the resolution/quality was somewhat lost along the way.
I am on Windows 10 and don’t see an easy way to do this. I have about 75 pictures to reduce, would love a quick and easy way or a way to reduce them in a batch.
What is the easiest way? Online services seem to limit me to 3-5 at a time. I’d love a neat app that could either do each super quickly or allow me to batch reduce them all at once.
Does this exist?
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/2 "2021-02-01T17:40:20Z")
XnView is a free image viewer/editor app that has batch editing features. You can chose the target size, or the percentage change, and set with dimensions to prioritize. I’ve been using it for … a couple of decades possibly! (Not the most recent version, though it hasn’t changed dramatically.)
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/3 "2021-02-01T17:54:40Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> XnView is a free image viewer/editor app that has batch editing features. You can chose the target size, or the percentage change, and set with dimensions to prioritize. I’ve been using it for … a couple of decades possibly!..
Does it do batch groups of 10+ at a time?
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### Author:  [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/4 "2021-02-01T18:06:37Z")
[FastStone image viewer](https://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/faststone-image-viewer-portable) is free and good, and does all kinds of batch conversions. Any number of files, and many options.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/5 "2021-02-01T18:47:54Z")
Check into ‘PowerToys Image Resizer for Windows’ from a little startup called Microsoft.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/6 "2021-02-01T18:56:45Z")
Microsoft Office 2010 used to have a neat utility called Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which could do what you want. It was dropped from subsequent versions of Office but is available as part of SharePoint Designer 2010. See [here](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/where-is-picture-manager-58837c3e-34db-4904-95e8-4eca7b7c5730) for instructions.
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### Author:  [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/7 "2021-02-01T19:07:45Z")
Paint 3D is built into Windows 10 and it can do this. Right click the photo and click ‘Open with Paint 3D’ then click the ‘Canvas’ button and decrease the number of pixels while leaving the ‘Lock Aspect Radio’ and ‘Resize Image’ boxes checked.
There is no option to choose small-medium-large though; you have to enter the pixel count manually. I usually reduce the width to 1024 if I want to send the picture through email. Experiment with it to see which sizes work best for you.
You can open batches of photos all at once but you still have to select the size for each one so it may not fit your need.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/8 "2021-02-01T20:02:07Z")
I just specified a folder with 461 pictures and there was no protest. I _did_ discover that if you don’t supply it with a different destination folder or a rule for renaming or overwriting it will ask you “Do you want to overwrite this file?” for each of them, and there won’t be enough time between each question to cancel the batch job, but that’s on me. 😃
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/9 "2021-02-01T20:32:41Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> XnView is a free image viewer/editor app that has batch editing features. You can chose the target size, or the percentage change, and set with dimensions to prioritize. I’ve been using it for … a couple of decades possibly! (Not the most recent version, though it hasn’t changed dramatically.)
You are awesome. This resizer did exactly what I needed. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/10 "2021-02-01T20:57:06Z")
De nada. It’s my go-to image app and I used to use it for bulk renaming files.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/11 "2021-02-01T21:06:26Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> De nada. It’s my go-to image app and I used to use it for bulk renaming files
I only downloaded the resizer app. Would you recommend the rest of the apps?
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/12 "2021-02-01T21:24:11Z")
I didn’t realize they’d split the functionality up like that. I just have the original image viewer application that includes resizing etc. as tools.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/13 "2021-02-01T23:00:25Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> I didn’t realize they’d split the functionality up like that. I just have the original image viewer application that includes resizing etc. as tools
Yes, I was surprised. Still, it got the job done magnificently. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/14 "2021-02-01T23:06:32Z")
Years ago I put Picasa (from Google) on my computer. It has lots of features. Suppose I shoot 100 photos…I can select all and have it automatically adjust the contrast. If something isn’t to my liking I can undo the adjustments. I can convert to Black and White, Posterize, make a pencil sketch, and more. You could even have a free account in the cloud and give people permission to download your photos.
And yes it will batch resize.
Then they discontinued support for it. They’re pushing Google Photos. And I can transfer them. But as I understand it, I would lose all editing I’d done. 😳
Just saying it’s a good idea to look forward.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-reduce-picture-file-size-using-windows-10-maybe-even-batch-shrink-them/932005/15 "2021-02-01T23:55:36Z")
I’ve used the free version of [Fotosizer](https://www.fotosizer.com/Download) to reduce 100 or more images at a time in just a few seconds.