Pictures in picture file were JPG andnow are JFIF and cant upload

Hi Robert Karpenko,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A.

After a Windows update, your photos didn’t “turn into a different kind of picture”, in most cases they’re still JPEG images, but Windows (or the app you downloaded/saved them from) is now giving them the .JFIF file extension. Some websites (including For Sale platforms) only accept .JPG/.JPEG, and the upload window may also be filtering to show only those file types. That’s why your .JFIF files may not appear when you browse for them.

What to do

1. Show file extensions, then rename .JFIF to .JPG

• File Explorer > View > Show > File name extensions (so you can see “.jfif”).
• Right-click the photo > Rename > change filename.jfif to filename.jpg > Enter.

2. If the file picker doesn’t show your pictures

• In the upload/browse window, change the file type dropdown to All files (.) or All pictures so .JFIF isn’t hidden by the filter.

3. If you want Windows to open these normally

• Settings > Apps > Default apps > search .jfif / .jpg / .jpeg and set your preferred app.

Notes

• Renaming .jfif > .jpg does not reduce quality (it’s usually just the extension).
• If the files are coming from Teams/Downloads, that can also be why they save as .JFIF—renaming or saving a JPEG copy resolves the upload compatibility issue.

Note: These steps are safe to follow and will restore upload compatibility. While I can't make changes remotely, the instructions above should resolve the issue quickly

I know this is incredibly frustrating, especially because you didn't ask for this change. While I cannot physically fix your computer for you, following the steps in this version you just wrote will solve the problem for the photos you have right now.

Please let me know if this proves useful to you, or if you would like further assistance.

I'm looking forward to your reply.

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Windows can change how JPEG images are handled after certain updates, but this does not change the actual image quality. A JPEG image can legitimately use either the .jpg or .jpeg extension; changing between them only affects the file name, not the picture itself.

If a site only accepts .jpg files and the images now appear as another extension (for example, .jfif or .jpeg), the usual workaround is to save or rename them with a .jpg extension so the site recognizes them. The image data remains the same; only the extension changes.

In Outlook for Mac, for example, when saving a .jpg attachment, a prompt may appear offering to save it as .jpeg. Choosing that option simply changes the extension to .jpeg without affecting image quality or usability as a JPEG file.

If a specific website or app does not show or accept these files after the extension change, the issue is with that site’s upload filter not recognizing all valid JPEG extensions. In that case, saving or renaming the files to .jpg before uploading is required so the site will list and accept them.

References:

• A message is shown about the file name extension when saving a .jpg file attachment
• The Image.Save method in GDI+ does not save JPEG images correctly on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2