Image Optimization

Last updated April 23, 2026

The Next.js <Image> component extends the HTML <img> element to provide:

Size optimization: Automatically serving correctly sized images for each device, using modern image formats like WebP.
Visual stability: Preventing layout shift automatically when images are loading.
Faster page loads: Only loading images when they enter the viewport using native browser lazy loading, with optional blur-up placeholders.
Asset flexibility: Resizing images on-demand, even images stored on remote servers.

To start using <Image>, import it from next/image and render it within your component.

app/page.tsx

JavaScriptTypeScript

import Image from 'next/image'
 
export default function Page() {
  return <Image src="" alt="" />
}

The src property can be a local or remote image.

🎥 Watch: Learn more about how to use next/image → YouTube (9 minutes).

Local images

You can store static files, like images and fonts, under a folder called public in the root directory. Files inside public can then be referenced by your code starting from the base URL (/).

Folder structure showing app and public folders

app/page.tsx

JavaScriptTypeScript

import Image from 'next/image'
 
export default function Page() {
  return (
    <Image
      src="/profile.png"
      alt="Picture of the author"
      width={500}
      height={500}
    />
  )
}

If the image is statically imported, Next.js will automatically determine the intrinsic width and height. These values are used to determine the image ratio and prevent Cumulative Layout Shift while your image is loading.

app/page.tsx

JavaScriptTypeScript

import Image from 'next/image'
import ProfileImage from './profile.png'
 
export default function Page() {
  return (
    <Image
      src={ProfileImage}
      alt="Picture of the author"
      // width={500} automatically provided
      // height={500} automatically provided
      // blurDataURL="data:..." automatically provided
      // placeholder="blur" // Optional blur-up while loading
    />
  )
}

Images without static imports

If you can't use a static import for your images, you can use a dynamic import() in a Server Component to still get automatic width, height, and blurDataURL:

app/blog/[slug]/page.tsx

JavaScriptTypeScript

import Image from 'next/image'
 
async function PostImage({
  imageFilename,
  alt,
}: {
  imageFilename: string
  alt: string
}) {
  const { default: image } = await import(
    `../content/blog/images/${imageFilename}`
  )
  // image contains width, height, and blurDataURL
  return <Image src={image} alt={alt} />
}

If you have a path alias configured (e.g. @/), you can use it instead of a relative path:

const { default: image } = await import(
  `@/content/blog/images/${imageFilename}`
)

The path must include a static prefix (like ../content/blog/images/). Be as specific as possible, since all files matching that prefix are bundled. Only files in your specified directory are included, so external input cannot reach outside of it.

Remote images

To use a remote image, you can provide a URL string for the src property.

app/page.tsx

JavaScriptTypeScript

import Image from 'next/image'
 
export default function Page() {
  return (
    <Image
      src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/my-bucket/profile.png"
      alt="Picture of the author"
      width={500}
      height={500}
    />
  )
}

Since Next.js does not have access to remote files during the build process, you'll need to provide the width, height and optional blurDataURL props manually. The width and height are used to infer the correct aspect ratio of image and avoid layout shift from the image loading in. Alternatively, you can use the fill property to make the image fill the size of the parent element.

To safely allow images from remote servers, you need to define a list of supported URL patterns in next.config.js. Be as specific as possible to prevent malicious usage. For example, the following configuration will only allow images from a specific AWS S3 bucket:

next.config.ts

JavaScriptTypeScript

import type { NextConfig } from 'next'
 
const config: NextConfig = {
  images: {
    remotePatterns: [
      {
        protocol: 'https',
        hostname: 's3.amazonaws.com',
        port: '',
        pathname: '/my-bucket/**',
        search: '',
      },
    ],
  },
}
 
export default config

API Reference

See the API Reference for the full feature set of Next.js Image.

[

Image Component

Optimize Images in your Next.js Application using the built-in `next/image` Component.

](../../api-reference/components/image/index.md)

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