In fact, not just social sites, if you write blog posts — irrespective of the platform — you are required to resize the pictures to fit in well, and consequently, improve site loading speeds and prevent large size image files from hogging the disk space on your hosting. While the image resizing process on Windows is pretty straightforward, the problem arises when you need to batch resize images at once. Since, unlike macOS, which comes with Automator (built-in automation service) to let you create scripts and automate your mundane jobs like bulk resizing of images, bulk renaming of images, etc., Windows, unfortunately, does not have a built-in equivalent utility. So, if you need to resize multiple images at once on your Windows machine, you have to resort to other methods and services. In which case, here’s a guide to help you with the same.
1. Bulk Resize Multiple Images on Windows Natively (aka Mail recipient hack)
If you are looking for a native image resizer for Windows that does not require you to download a third-party app or service, there is a workaround to resize multiple images all at once. For this, we will utilize the mail recipient utility. Here’s how: i. Head to the folder where you have the images you want to resize. ii. Select the images to resize and copy them. iii. Now, head to the Desktop and create a new folder. iv. Here, paste the images you copied. [If you have images from different folders to resize, follow the steps till now.] v. Select all images, right-click, and select Send to > Mail recipient.
vi. In the Attach Files window, choose a size for your images and click Attach. [If a pop-up shows up, do not close it.]
vii. Go to the Windows search box and type %temp%. You can now select all the resized images from the temp folder and move them to another location on your computer. That way, you do not lose access to these resized images. While this method works fine, one caveat it has is that, since we are using the mail recipient utility to resize images, not only are your images resized, they are also compressed. As a result, there is a noticeable loss in the image quality when compared to images resized using the conventional way or some third-party image resizer apps. So, unless you are using this method to resize screenshots, the output is still usable in most scenarios.
2. Bulk Resize Multiple Images on Windows Using a third-party app
(1) ImageResizer
If the image quality is a point of concern for you, and since the mail recipient method fails to deliver on that front, you can use Image Resizer. Image Resizer is a third-party, freeware image resizer for Windows that gives you the ability to bulk resize images at once. It recently got incorporated into the Microsoft PowerToys bundle, and you can download it without any concerns. Head over to this page to download ImageResizer on your machine. Once downloaded, here’s how you can use it to bulk resize images. i. Go to the folder that contains the images you want to resize. [If you have images in different folders, move them to a single folder.] ii. Select the images to resize, right-click on it, and choose the Resize pictures option from the list. iii. From the resize window, select the size you want for your images. Moreover, you can also choose to resize the original images or create separate copies. iv. Finally, hit the Resize button at the bottom.
One of the advantages of this utility is the variety of options it offers. For instance, you get pre-set size templates that you can select to resize your images. Or, if you want more control, you can add a custom site and the type of fit for your images. In addition to that, the app also provides advanced options, which you can use to create your preferred size template. This can come in handy if you often resize your images in a particular dimension. Besides size, you also get to choose the encoding settings like the encoder type, quality level, etc., along with the naming scheme for resized images.
(2) IrfanView
IrfanView is one of the popular image viewer apps for Windows. In fact, it is one of our top picks for an alternative to the default Photos app. The app is available for free and offers a clean and simple design, along with a range of features. One of these features is batch processing, which lets you perform operations in multiple images at once. For this, first, download and install the IrfanView app on your Windows machine. Once done, here’s how you can resize multiple images using the app. i. Open IrfanView and go to File > Batch Conversion/Rename.
ii. On the next window, select the Work as option to Batch conversion. iii. Set the Output format to JPG (or your preferred image format) and check the checkbox next to Use Advanced Options. And next, click on the adjacent Advanced button. iv. In the Set for all images window, check the RESIZE checkbox and set a size for your images. Make sure you have the Preserve aspect ratio option checked. And click on the OK button.
v. Now, in the main window, use the file navigation window on the right pane to navigate to the location with your images and click on the Add button to add these images to the app. [If you have pictures stored in different folders, make sure you move them to a single folder for convenience.]
vi. Once the images are added, set the Output folder to where you want the resized images. vii. Finally, hit the Start Batch button to start the image resizing process. Once the processing completes, you can go to the output folder to find all the resized photos. Besides, as mentioned initially, there are a bunch of different features that you get with IrfanView. So, in case you want to get more done on your images, like, for instance, cropping, adjusting colors, and the likes, you can find options for the same in the Advanced section.
(3) XnResize
Another image resizer for Windows that lets you batch resize images is XnResize. It is a free, cross-platform app with all the essential functionalities you need. It sits right in between ImageResizer and IrfanView — where ImageResizer has the bare bone functionalities, and IrfanView goes overboard with a whole host of image processing features. What this means is that, with XnResize, you get some of the missing features from ImageResizer (metadata access and the ability to adjust image properties) without going too overboard with those offered on IrfanView. To get started, download XnResize from here and install it on your machine. With the app installed, here’s how you can resize multiple images using XnResize. i. Open XnResize and click on either Add files or Add folder — depending on whether you want to select images or an entire folder.
ii. Once the images are imported, click on Next. iii. Next, click on the dropdown menu next to Presets and select a dimension for your images. You can choose Custom to add your preferred custom size.
iv. Check the checkbox next to Keep ratio and click Next. [Make sure the checkbox next to Rotate is unchecked.]
v. Now, choose the destination folder for the resized images, select the output format, and click Convert. When the process is complete, you can find the resized images in your set destination folder. Of the two methods listed above, we recommend using the second method — which involves using a third-party image resizer app — to batch resize multiple images on your Windows machine. Furthermore, among the three third-party apps, the easiest (yet reliable) option for most users is ImageResizer, simply because it offers a clutter-free and easy-to-use interface with all the essential features you usually need for image resizing. However, if you need more control over the resizing process and want the ability to tweak certain aspects of the image, IrfanView gives you a host of features for all such requirements. Lastly, there is XnResize, which, as already mentioned, sits in between the two apps, giving you just the essential set of features you would need without over-complicating the experience.
Furthermore, taking into account the quality of images that all these solutions offer, you have ImageResizer on top with very little loss in quality, followed by XnResize in second place, and IrfanView coming in at third. As for the native method, the output quality is way lower than what these third-party apps offer, making it our least recommended method for bulk resizing images on a Windows machine.
