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Compress SVG files online for free. Optimise SVG code to reduce file size without affecting rendering. No upload — runs in your browser.
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How to Compress SVG Images
SVG files exported from design tools like Figma, Illustrator, or Sketch often contain a significant amount of unnecessary data: editor-specific metadata, unused definitions, redundant attributes, inline styles that duplicate CSS properties, and floating-point coordinates with excessive precision. Removing this cruft can reduce SVG file sizes by 30–70% without any change to the rendered output.
SVG is a text-based XML format. Unlike raster formats where compression works on pixel data, SVG compression works on the code itself. The key techniques include: removing the XML declaration and DOCTYPE, stripping editor metadata (Inkscape, Illustrator, Sketch namespace attributes), collapsing inline styles into presentation attributes, reducing decimal precision on path coordinates (4 decimal places is imperceptible; 1 or 2 is often sufficient), removing empty groups and unnecessary defs elements, and collapsing simple path segments.
For icons and logos exported from Figma, file sizes of 5–15 KB are common before optimisation. After optimisation, the same icon might be 2–5 KB — a reduction that adds up significantly when you have hundreds of SVG icons on a site.
SVG compression is also important for Core Web Vitals. SVGs used as hero graphics, illustrations, or inline images contribute to page weight. An unoptimised SVG hero illustration at 80 KB can often be reduced to 30 KB, cutting LCP time and improving performance scores.
After compression, always verify that your SVG renders identically in a browser. Aggressive optimisation can occasionally break complex SVGs with certain path types or CSS animations. Test visually before deploying optimised SVGs.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much can SVG files be reduced in size?
- Typically 30–70% for design-tool exports. The reduction depends on how much unnecessary metadata the exporter included. Figma and Illustrator exports tend to have significant optimisation potential; hand-coded SVGs are often already lean.
- Does SVG compression change how the image looks?
- When done correctly, no. Removing metadata, unused definitions, and reducing coordinate precision does not affect the rendered output. Always test visually after optimisation to confirm the rendering is identical.
- Should I use SVG or WebP for icons on the web?
- SVG is almost always better for icons and logos. SVG scales to any size without quality loss, supports CSS animations, and can be styled with CSS. WebP is better for photographic content. Use SVG for vector graphics and WebP/AVIF for rasterised images.
- Can I further compress SVG with gzip or brotli?
- Yes. SVG as XML text compresses extremely well. Enable gzip or brotli compression on your web server for SVG files (Content-Type: image/svg+xml) and you can achieve an additional 60–80% reduction on top of code-level optimisation.