How to size images for every social platform (2026)
Social media image sizes for 2026: current pixel dimensions and aspect ratios for Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest posts.
Every platform crops to its own shape, so a single exported image that looks right on one feed gets its edges shaved or its subject squashed on the next. The fix is not memorizing a wall of pixel numbers — it is designing to the aspect ratio first, keeping the important part inside a center safe zone, and exporting at a resolution high enough that each platform's downscale stays sharp. Get those three habits right and the exact pixel figure becomes a detail, not a trap.
This guide gives the current recommended dimensions and ratios for the seven platforms most creators post to, grouped so you can build once and adapt fast. A note on trust: platforms change these specs quietly and third-party guides lag, so treat every number here as a strong current default and confirm the few that matter most to your layout — banners and covers especially — by previewing on the actual device before you publish. Figures below follow Sprout Social's 2026 size guide, cross-checked against current platform guidance where it was available.
The steps
Design to the aspect ratio, then export to pixels. The ratio is what a platform enforces; the pixel count is just how crisp it renders. Build your layout to the target shape — 1:1 square, 4:5 or 9:16 vertical, 16:9 or 1.91:1 landscape — then export at the recommended pixels (or higher, letting the platform downscale). An image at the right ratio but low resolution looks soft; one at high resolution but the wrong ratio gets cropped. Ratio decides the crop, resolution decides the sharpness, and you need both.
Keep load-bearing content inside a center safe zone. Because the same upload is re-cropped per surface and per device, anything near an edge is at risk. Keep logos, faces, text, and CTAs inside the center of the frame so no single crop can clip them. This matters most on multi-crop assets — a Facebook cover, a YouTube banner, an Instagram post that also previews in your grid — where the platform shows different slices of one image on desktop, mobile, and (for YouTube) TV.
Instagram: one 4:5 portrait covers the feed, plus 9:16 for Stories and Reels. Post feed images at 1080×1350px (4:5 portrait) — it takes the most vertical space in the feed — or 1080×1080px (1:1) for a square; landscape maxes at 1.91:1. Stories and Reels covers are 1080×1920px (9:16). The profile photo is 320×320px. One catch worth checking on your own account: the profile grid now previews posts at a taller crop than the old square, so center your subject or the grid trims the sides.
Facebook: 1080×1080 or 4:5 feed images, 851×315 cover. Shared feed images work at 1080×1080px (1:1) or 1440×1800px (4:5) for vertical; link previews render landscape near 1.91:1. The profile picture is 320×320px and Stories are 1080×1920px (9:16). The cover photo is designed at 851×315px but shown at different ratios on desktop (~2.7:1) and mobile (~2.4:1), so keep the cover's key content centered and preview both.
X (Twitter): 1500×500 header, 16:9 in-stream images. The header (banner) is 1500×500px (3:1) and the profile photo is 400×400px. In-stream images display cleanest at a 16:9 landscape ratio, commonly exported at 1600×900px, though X accepts much larger files. As with every banner, X's header is overlaid by the profile picture and some UI, so leave the lower-left corner clear.
LinkedIn: 1584×396 personal cover, 1200×627 link image. Your personal profile photo and a company logo are both 400×400px, and the personal background/cover banner is 1584×396px (4:1). Shared images post at 1080×1080px (1:1) square or ~1200×627px (about 1.91:1) landscape, which is also the right size for a link-preview image. Company page cover dimensions have shifted between LinkedIn updates, so confirm the current spec in LinkedIn's own uploader before finalizing a company banner.
YouTube: 2560×1440 banner with a centered safe area, 3840×2160 thumbnail. Upload channel art at 2560×1440px (16:9), minimum 2048×1152px, under 6MB. Only TVs show the full canvas; desktop, tablet, and mobile each crop to a narrower centered strip, so keep your channel name and logo inside the safe area — roughly 1546×423px on the 2560-wide canvas (1235×338px if you export at the 2048 minimum). Video thumbnails are 16:9, recommended at 3840×2160px (minimum width 640px), kept under YouTube's thumbnail file-size limit (2MB from mobile, 50MB from desktop).
TikTok and Pinterest: 9:16 full-screen video, 2:3 pins. TikTok is a vertical-first app: video and photo-mode posts are 1080×1920px (9:16) and the profile image is 200×200px — keep captions and your handle clear of the right-side action rail and bottom UI. Pinterest's standard Pin is 1000×1500px (2:3); taller pins get truncated in the feed. The Pinterest profile picture is uploaded around 280×280px and displays smaller, so it must read at a glance.
Export, compress, and preview on a phone before publishing. Export in sRGB (wide-gamut profiles like Adobe RGB can look dull after a platform recompresses them), use PNG for text- or logo-heavy graphics and JPG/WebP for photos, and respect each platform's file-size ceiling. Then do the step everyone skips: open the draft on an actual phone before you post. A layout that looks balanced on a desktop monitor is exactly where a mobile crop quietly clips your logo or headline.
Common gotchas
Reusing one export everywhere. A single file at the wrong ratio gets cropped differently on every surface — build to each platform's ratio instead of forcing one image to fit all of them.
Designing banners and covers to a single crop. Facebook covers, YouTube channel art, and X/LinkedIn headers are shown as different slices on desktop, mobile, and (YouTube) TV. Keep text and logos in the center safe zone and preview on each device.
Trusting any one third-party pixel figure as permanent. Platforms change specs quietly and guides lag; verify banner, cover, and company-page dimensions in the platform's own uploader before relying on them.
Edge-to-edge text or logos. Profile pictures, timestamps, and action rails overlay parts of every banner and vertical video — anything in a corner or along an edge can be covered or cropped.
Exporting low-resolution or wide-gamut files. Below the recommended pixels an image looks soft after the platform's downscale, and Adobe RGB can shift or dull once the platform recompresses to sRGB.
Ignoring the Instagram grid crop. A 4:5 post can preview differently in your profile grid than in the feed; center the subject so the grid's crop doesn't cut it, and check it on your own profile.
Where Kompozy fits
The slow part of this is not knowing the numbers — it is producing the same idea at six different ratios, over and over, so your Instagram portrait, LinkedIn link image, Pinterest pin, and Facebook square all exist and all stay on-brand. That multiplication is exactly what [Kompozy](/) removes. It is a full AI content generation and multi-platform publishing engine, so the image formats it generates are rendered to the posting surface's shape at creation time — you are not exporting one file and then re-cropping it seven ways by hand.
Concretely: Photo Posts and Infographic Photo produce the scene or poster image, Quote Graphics build a server-side quote card, Persona Photos give you a face-locked avatar image, [Persona Tweets](/glossary/persona-tweet) composite a tweet card, and Carousel Posts render multi-slide sets as brand-exact compositions through [HyperFrames](/glossary/hyperframes). A written [Persona Brief](/glossary/persona-brief) plus your brand kit governs every one, so the palette, type, and logo lockup stay consistent whether the output lands as a 1:1 square or a 4:5 portrait — the center-safe-zone discipline this guide teaches is baked into the templates instead of re-checked per asset.
Then [autopilot](/glossary/autopilot) fans the correctly-sized versions across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the rest — eight social platforms plus blog and email — through a per-post review gate, so you approve a set once rather than doing a resize-and-upload pass per platform. Honest boundary: Kompozy generates feed and post images, not the one-off profile and banner chrome — you still design your YouTube channel art or Facebook cover at the dimensions above in a tool like Canva or Photoshop. Where it earns its place is the recurring, multi-ratio volume that fills the feed under that chrome. A solo creator fits Starter ($199/mo, 5,500 credits); a team running several brands fits Pro ($499/mo, 18,000 credits); agencies managing client accounts use custom Enterprise.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best all-purpose image size for social media?
There isn't one size that fits every platform, because each enforces its own aspect ratio. The closest to a universal default is 1080×1080px (1:1 square) — it posts cleanly to Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn feeds without cropping. For maximum feed space, 1080×1350px (4:5 portrait) works on Instagram and Facebook, and 1080×1920px (9:16) is the standard for Stories, Reels, and TikTok.
What size should a vertical/Story image be?
1080×1920 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio) is the standard across Instagram Stories and Reels, Facebook Stories, and TikTok. Keep text and key elements away from the top and bottom edges, where platform UI and action buttons overlay the frame.
What is the correct YouTube banner size in 2026?
Upload channel art at 2560×1440px (16:9), with a minimum of 2048×1152px and a file under 6MB. Only TVs show the full canvas — desktop, tablet, and mobile crop to a narrower centered strip — so keep your channel name and logo inside the safe area (about 1546×423px on the 2560-wide canvas, or 1235×338px at the 2048 minimum).
Do I need different images for each platform, or can I reuse one?
You can reuse the same visual concept, but you should re-export it to each platform's ratio rather than uploading one identical file everywhere. A square or 4:5 image covers Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn feeds; vertical 9:16 covers Stories, Reels, and TikTok; landscape 16:9 or 1.91:1 covers link previews and in-stream images. Keeping the subject centered lets one design adapt across the crops.
What file format and resolution should I use?
Export in sRGB color. Use JPG or WebP for photographs, and PNG when the graphic is mostly text or a logo so hard edges stay crisp. Match or exceed each platform's recommended pixel dimensions and stay under its file-size limit — higher resolution downscales cleanly, but the wrong aspect ratio always gets cropped.