What is MIME type "image/webp"?

What is a MIME Type?

A MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) type is a standard that indicates the nature and format of a document, file, or assortment of bytes. MIME types are defined and standardized in IETF's RFC 6838.

MIME types are important because they help browsers and servers understand how to process a file. When a browser receives a file from a server, it uses the MIME type to determine how to display or handle the content, whether it's an image to display, a PDF to open in a viewer, or a video to play.

MIME types consist of a type and a subtype, separated by a slash (e.g., text/html, image/jpeg, application/pdf). Some MIME types also include optional parameters.

About image/webp

Description

WebP Image

Image format developed by Google that provides both lossless and lossy compression.

Category

image

Details

MIME Type:image/webp
File Extensions:

Usage Examples

HTTP Header

When serving content with this MIME type, set the Content-Type header:

Content-Type: image/webp

HTML

In HTML, you can specify the MIME type in various elements:

<img src="file.webp" alt="Description" />

Browser Compatibility

Most modern browsers support the image/webp MIME type and will display the image.

Supported Browsers

  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Safari
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Opera

Handling

Browsers will display the image inline within the page or in a new tab depending on how it was requested.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related MIME Types

Official reference for the image/webp MIME type

https://mime-type.com/image/webp