Fix: Adobe Photoshop Error ‘Could not complete your request an unknown or invalid jpeg marker type is found’

Several Windows users complain that they get the “Could not complete your request because an unknown or invalid JPEG marker type is found” error when trying to open certain images with Photoshop. Typically, affected users report that they are able to view the image in their browser or open it with a different software. This is not a platform-related issue as it’s also reported on Mac computers.

What is causing the “Could not complete your request because an unknown or invalid JPEG marker type is found” error

We investigated this particular issue by looking at various user reports. We also managed to recreate the issue on our testing machines. Based on what we gathered, there are several different scenarios that will trigger this error message:

If you’re struggling to resolve this particular issue, the steps below will help you to troubleshoot the issue. Next, we’ll show you a couple of methods that other users in a similar situation have used to get the issue resolved.

All the methods presented below will help you achieve the same end result, so feel free to use whichever seems more conveyable to your situation.

Method 1: Using Irfanview to automatically convert the image to the correct extension

Since Photoshop doesn’t like to open images that don’t have the right extension, we can use an application that will automatically fix the error by changing the extension to the correct one.

The most popular way to do this is by using IrfanView – a freeware image viewer. A lot of users facing the same scenario have reported that the following procedure enabled them to resolve the error message indefinitely.

Here’s a quick guide on installing and using IrfanView to fix the issue by changing the image extension automatically:

1. Visit this link (here) and click on the Download button associated with your Os bit version.

   

2. Open the installation executable and follow the on-screen prompts to install it on your computer.
3. Right-click on the image that is showing the error and choose Open with IrfanView.

   

4. IrfanView will automatically show you a Warning prompt telling you that the file has an incorrect extension. Upon clicking Yes, the software will automatically convert the file to the correct extension.

   

5. Now that the file’s extension has been modified, you can open the image with Photoshop. It won’t show the “Could not complete your request because an unknown or invalid JPEG marker type is found” error anymore.

If you’re looking for a fix in which you don’t need to install additional software, move down to the next method below.

Method 2: Saving the image with Microsoft Paint

Another popular method that a lot of affected users have made use of to resolve the “Could not complete your request because an unknown or invalid JPEG marker type is found” error is the Paint trick.

We have tested this ourselves and we can confirm that it works. Turns out that whenever you get this particular error in Photoshop, you can open the same image with Paint, save it in a different location and the problem will be solved.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Right-click on the image that is showing the error and choose Open with > Paint.
   

   

2. In Paint, go to File > Save as and then choose an extension from the list. Then, save the same image file with a different name.

   

3. Open the newly created image in Photoshop. It should no longer show the “Could not complete your request because an unknown or invalid JPEG marker type is found” error message.

Method 3: Opening the image with a Hex Editor

This might seem like an overcomplicated method, but you can actually determine if the extension of the image is correct by opening the file in a Hex editor.

Keep in mind that each graphics files will invariably begin with the same characters if you open them in a Hex editor. If you know the characters of the most common types of image file, you’ll be able to change the extension to the correct one.

Here’s a quick guide on using a Hex Editor to see which extension is correct according to your image file:

1. Make sure that you have a Hex editor at the ready – any software will do. If you don’t have one installed on your computer, we recommend using HXD. You can download the installation archive according to your preferred language from this link (here). To install it, simply extract the .zip archive, open the executable and follow the on-screen prompts to install it on your system.

   

2. Open the troublesome image file in the text editor and check the characters at the very start.

   

   Then, compare them with the list below and see if you get a match among the most common file types:

   JPEG: ff d8 ff e0 00 10 4a 46 TIF,TIFF: TIFF: 49 49 2a PNG: 89 50 4e 47 BMP: 42 4d 38 GIF: 47 49 46 38 39 61 PSD: 38 42 50 53 PDF: 25 50 44 46 2d 31 2e 36 0d 25 e2 e3 cf d3

3. Once you identify what the correct extension should be, close the Hex editor and bring navigate to the location of the file using File Explorer. Then, right-click on the image, and modify the extension accordingly.

   

   Note: If you can’t see the extensions of your files, go to the View tab in the ribbon at the top and check the box associated with File name extensions.

   

4.  Once the extension has been modified accordingly, open the image with Photoshop again. You will no longer encounter the “Could not complete your request because an unknown or invalid JPEG marker type is found” error.