Twitter Small JPEG Image

Despite using a different extension, JPG_SMALL files are just normal JPG files that have been resized using Twitter's small JSON entity size specification. Twitter appends the small specification to the image's URL when a Twitter user opens it in a new tab, creating a URL that ends in .jpg:small . When a user downloads the image in Chrome, the web browser saves it with the .jpg_small file extension, producing a JPG_SMALL file.

For example, when you open a small-sized image stored on Twitter's media server in a new Google Chrome tab, Chrome accesses the image at a URL that looks like this:

https:/​/​pbs.twimg.com/​media/​FHpjz6vX0AQekFS.jpg:small

If you download the image from this page, Chrome saves the image as a JPG_SMALL file.

NOTE: Twitter now uses the following URL structure to prevent the creation of JPG_SMALL files: https:/​/​pbs.twimg.com/​media/​FIcYYapXIAUy6Lz?format=jpg&name=small

You can open a JPG_SMALL file with any image viewer or web browser that supports JPEG images, such as Google Chrome (multiplatform) or Adobe Photoshop (multiplatform). However, some applications that support JPEG images may not recognize the .jpg_small file extension and not open the image. If this is the case, rename the file extension to .jpg then open it as a .JPG file.

Programs that open JPG_SMALL files

Updated: January 5, 2022