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Why Are My Images Not Showing as WebP? Common Issues and Solutions

63 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Converter for media – optimize images | convert webp & avif

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If you've installed 'Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF' and your images still appear as PNG or JPG, you're not alone. This is one of the most frequently reported issues on support forums. Based on community discussions, here are the most common reasons and their solutions.

1. You're Checking Incorrectly (The Most Common Issue)

The Problem: You save an image on an Android device, and it downloads as a JPG/PNG, not WebP. This leads you to believe the conversion failed.

The Reason: This is standard Android behavior. When you download an image, the browser typically fetches the original file. However, the website is likely loading the WebP version for display within the page to improve performance.

The Solution: Don't use the "Save image" function to test. Instead, use your browser's Developer Tools (often opened by pressing F12). Go to the "Network" tab, reload the page, and look at the list of loaded files. Filter by "Img". You should see many images being loaded with the "webp" type. This confirms the plugin is working correctly.

2. The WebP File Was Larger and Deleted

The Problem: During conversion, you see the message: "[image] converted to WebP is larger than original and has been deleted." Some images remain in their original format.

The Reason: The plugin's core function is to save bandwidth. If a particular image does not result in a smaller file size when converted to WebP (which can happen with already well-optimized images), the plugin will automatically delete the larger WebP copy and keep the original to avoid making the page heavier.

The Solution: This is intended behavior. You can disable the "Automatic removal of WebP files larger than original" option in the plugin settings to keep all converted images, regardless of size. However, this is not recommended for performance. Alternatively, try converting images to the newer AVIF format, which often provides better compression, especially for these problematic images.

3. Server or File Permission Errors

The Problem: The conversion process fails with errors like "An error occurred creating destination directory."

The Reason: This is typically a server permissions issue. The plugin does not have the necessary write permissions to create the folder where it stores the converted WebP files (/wp-content/uploads-webpc/).

The Solution: You or your hosting provider need to adjust the file permissions for the /wp-content/ directory to allow the web server (e.g., www-data user) to create and write to new folders and files within it.

4. CDN or Offload Plugin Conflicts

The Problem: Images are converted, but the website still loads the original JPG/PNG URLs, often from a different server or CDN (like Amazon S3).

The Reason: The plugin's URL rewriting rules (usually in the .htaccess file) only work on the same server where WordPress is installed. If your images are served from a completely separate CDN domain, these rules are bypassed.

The Solution: Ensure your images are served from the same domain as your WordPress site. If you use an offload plugin, check its settings for an option to serve WebP images. The 'Converter for Media' team suggests using the "via .htaccess" loading mode and having WordPress files and images on the same server for correct operation.

5. Caching Issues

The Problem: You've confirmed the conversion worked, but you still see old images.

The Reason: A powerful caching layer (server, plugin, browser, or CDN) is serving a saved version of the page with the old image URLs.

The Solution: Clear all levels of cache: your WordPress caching plugin, your CDN cache, and your browser cache. Test in a private/incognito browser window to avoid browser cache issues.

If none of these solutions resolve your issue, it's recommended to seek help from the wider community on the official WordPress support forum for the plugin, ensuring you provide your server configuration details from the plugin's settings page.

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