After years of on-and-off support, JPEG XL is now a standard part of Chrome. Starting with version 155, Google's browser decodes .jxl files by default — no experimental flag, no extension. The company confirmed the change in a post on its Chrome for Developers blog and in the release notes.
The format had a turbulent history inside Google. Chrome once carried experimental JPEG XL support, then removed it, drawing sustained complaints from photographers and web developers who had begun archiving work in the format. In November 2025 Google signalled a reversal, brought JPEG XL back for testing around Chrome 145, and has now made the support permanent.
The decoder is the notable engineering choice. Rather than wrapping the C++ reference library libjxl, Chrome uses jxl-rs, a pure-Rust implementation. Google cites memory safety: image decoders process files arriving from the open web, and out-of-bounds access and similar memory bugs are a recurring source of browser vulnerabilities. Rust removes whole classes of those errors, with the browser sandbox retained as a second layer. For speed, jxl-rs uses SIMD instructions through an abstraction layer called jxl_simd, and borrows optimisations from libjxl to avoid redundant data copies. Google has published no decoder-speed comparisons.
Google says JPEG XL compresses 30 to 50 percent better than JPEG, handles HDR, animation and progressive rendering, and can transcode existing JPEGs losslessly. It is not, however, pushing the format over rivals: the Chrome team tells developers to test AVIF and JPEG XL against their own image sets, expecting JPEG XL to shine on high-quality or losslessly compressed photos and where finely graded progressive rendering matters.
Web developers had asked for the format repeatedly, and it has featured in browser interoperability testing. Other engines remain behind: reports suggest Firefox could follow, though Mozilla has not confirmed a version or date.
