Chrome 155 Decodes JPEG XL, but Google Images and Discover Still Don't Support It, Google's Mueller Says

Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, 24 October 2026.

Google Images and Google Discover do not currently support the JPEG XL image format, Google Search Advocate John Mueller said in a Bluesky post on 15 October 2026, even though Chrome now decodes it. Mueller pointed site owners to Google's image SEO documentation, which lists seven supported formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG and AVIF. JPEG XL is not on the list.

The timing matters because browser support has just arrived. Chrome's feature tracker shows JPEG XL decoding shipping in Chrome 155 on desktop, Android and iOS, and Google's Chrome release schedule gives Chrome 155 a stable date of 6 October 2026. The same tracker lists Firefox and Safari as shipped or shipping. A site that switches its images to JPEG XL now can look fine in every major browser while its images become ineligible for Google's image surfaces.

What Google says

Format	Listed as supported for Google Search images	Decoded by Chrome
JPEG	Yes	Yes
PNG	Yes	Yes
GIF	Yes	Yes
BMP	Yes	Yes
WebP	Yes	Yes
SVG	Yes	Yes
AVIF	Yes	Yes
JPEG XL	No	Yes, from Chrome 155

Google's image documentation says Search supports images referenced in the src attribute of an img element in the seven listed formats, and advises that the file extension should match the file type. Mueller's post said JPEG XL is not supported if you want images shown in Google Images or as previews in Discover.

Discover is the more sensitive surface for publishers. Google's Discover documentation recommends large images at least 1200 px wide, with more than 300,000 total pixels and a 16x9 aspect ratio, enabled by the max-image-preview:large setting or AMP. If the large preview image is in an unsupported format, that recommendation cannot be met.

The fallback question

In the same thread, Barry Pollard, a Web Performance Developer Advocate at Google Chrome, replied that sites should provide fallbacks anyway, since JPEG XL is newly supported in Chrome and Firefox, and asked whether Search would handle a JPEG XL source inside a picture element. Mueller answered that because the picture element includes an img element, that pattern would work for any search engine or page parser, and that he had not heard of problems with this kind of progressive enhancement.

On 23 October an SEO consultant replying in the thread noted that some files with a .jxl extension do appear in Google Images. Pollard responded that image CDNs often convert files to a supported format automatically without changing the extension, which may explain those results. Google has not commented on those indexed files, and Mueller's statement that JPEG XL is not supported stands.

Context

JPEG XL is standardised as ISO/IEC 18181. Chrome's feature entry describes it as offering progressive decoding, wide colour gamut, HDR, high bit depth and animation, and says Chrome's implementation uses jxl-rs, a memory-safe decoder written in Rust. The current entry marks it as shipping from Chrome 155.

Google Search's format list has changed before. AVIF is now listed alongside WebP. There is no public Google statement on whether or when JPEG XL will be added. Until the documentation changes, Google's position is the one Mueller gave.

Images in Discover also feed into how stories are selected and shown. Our report on Google Discover's staleness filter covers another factor publishers should check alongside image eligibility.

What to do

• Keep a supported format in the img element. If you serve JPEG XL, put it in a source inside picture, and leave a JPEG, PNG, WebP or AVIF file as the img fallback. This is the pattern Mueller said works.
• Check og:image and structured data. Google's Discover documentation says the image named in schema.org markup or the og:image tag can influence which thumbnail is shown. Make sure those point to a supported format, not to a .jxl file.
• Review CDN content negotiation. If your image CDN chooses formats from the browser's Accept header, confirm what it returns to Googlebot. Test key pages with Search Console's URL Inspection tool and check the image resources Google loaded.
• Match extensions to file types. Google's documentation asks for this. A CDN that serves WebP under a .jxl name, or the reverse, makes debugging harder.
• Watch the documentation. If Google adds JPEG XL, the change should appear in the image SEO page and the Search documentation updates log.

Conclusion

Chrome 155 made JPEG XL usable in all three major browser engines, but Google Images and Discover have not followed. Google's documentation still lists seven supported formats, and Mueller has said JPEG XL is not one of them.

Sites can adopt JPEG XL for browsers without losing image search visibility by serving it through the picture element, keeping a supported format in the img tag and in the images named for Discover.

Questions and answers

Does Google Images support JPEG XL?

No. John Mueller said on 15 October 2026 that JPEG XL is currently not supported for Google Images or Discover previews. Google's documentation lists BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG and AVIF.

Does Chrome support JPEG XL?

Yes. Chrome Platform Status lists JPEG XL decoding as shipping in Chrome 155, which Google's release schedule gives a stable date of 6 October 2026.

Can I use JPEG XL without losing Google Images visibility?

Mueller said serving images through a picture element works because it includes an img element. Keep a supported format in the img element and use JPEG XL as a source.

What image size does Google recommend for Discover?

Google's Discover documentation recommends images at least 1200 px wide, with more than 300,000 total pixels and a 16x9 aspect ratio, enabled by max-image-preview:large or AMP.

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