Social media image sizes
Platform dimensions change often enough that a stale number costs you a crop. These are the sizes as of 2026, together with the part most size lists leave out: where each platform crops, and what you should keep out of that region.
Open the cropper →Image dimensions by platform and placement
| Placement | Pixels | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram post (square) | 1080 × 1080 | Safe default. Shown uncropped in-feed. |
| Instagram portrait | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 — takes the most vertical space allowed in-feed. |
| Instagram story / Reel | 1080 × 1920 | Keep text out of the top and bottom ~250px; UI overlays sit there. |
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | The duration badge covers the bottom-right corner. |
| YouTube Shorts cover | 1080 × 1920 | Heavily overlaid by UI on all four edges — centre everything. |
| YouTube banner | 2048 × 1152 | Only the central 1235 × 338 is guaranteed visible on every device. |
| Facebook cover | 820 × 312 | Crops differently on mobile than desktop; keep the subject centred. |
| Facebook / X link post | 1200 × 630 | The standard Open Graph ratio, reused nearly everywhere. |
| X / Twitter header | 1500 × 500 | The profile photo overlaps the lower-left corner. |
| X / Twitter post | 1200 × 675 | 16:9. In-timeline previews crop toward the centre. |
| LinkedIn banner | 1584 × 396 | Profile photo covers the left portion on desktop. |
| TikTok cover | 1080 × 1920 | Caption and action buttons cover the bottom third. |
| Pinterest pin | 1000 × 1500 | 2:3 is the ratio Pinterest favours in feed. |
| Twitch banner | 1200 × 480 | Scales down substantially — avoid small text. |
| Discord server icon | 512 × 512 | Masked to a circle. Keep the subject well inside. |
| WhatsApp profile photo | 500 × 500 | Circular crop. |
| Threads post / profile | 1080 × 1350 / 320 × 320 | Follows Instagram conventions closely. |
Design for the crop, not the canvas
Nearly every platform shows your image at more than one aspect ratio — full size when opened, cropped in feed, cropped again as a thumbnail. Anything essential placed near an edge will eventually be cut. The reliable approach is to keep text and faces within the central 80% and treat the outer margin as expendable.
Upload larger than the display size
Platforms re-encode what you upload. Giving them a file at exactly the display dimensions means their compression works on an image with no headroom, and the result often looks softer than you expected. Uploading at roughly twice the display size, in good quality, survives re-encoding better.
Vertical is one canvas, not many
Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok covers and YouTube Shorts covers are all 1080 × 1920. One vertical export covers all four. The differences are entirely about where each platform puts its interface, not about the dimensions.
Common questions
What size works across the most platforms?
1080 × 1080 square for feed posts and 1080 × 1920 vertical for full-screen formats. Between them they cover most placements without a re-crop.
Does uploading a bigger file improve quality?
Up to a point. Roughly double the display size gives the platform's compression room to work. Beyond that the file is simply re-encoded down.
Why does my banner look wrong on mobile?
Banners crop hardest on mobile — Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube all show a narrower slice. Keep the important content in the horizontal centre.