Social media image sizes for every platform
Instagram's help page now allows 3:4, YouTube's recommended thumbnail is 4K, and TikTok publishes almost nothing. Here are the numbers each platform actually documents, and where they leave you guessing.
7 minute read
Still-image sizes each platform publishes (2026). Not published means the platform documents no figure, not that no convention exists.
| Platform | Profile picture | Post or feed image | Cover, banner or link preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not published; upload 1080 x 1080 | 1080 px wide, 1.91:1 to 3:4 | No cover image | |
| Facebook Page | Upload 320 x 320 | Link preview 1200 x 630 | Cover 851 x 315, min 400 x 150 |
| LinkedIn Page | 400 x 400 (min 268 x 268) | 1200 x 627 (1.91:1) | Cover 4200 x 700 |
| X | 400 x 400, under 2 MB | Not published; card min 300 x 157 | Header 1500 x 500 |
| YouTube | Renders at 98 x 98 | Thumbnail 3840 x 2160, min 640 wide | Banner 2560 x 1440, safe area 1235 x 338 |
| TikTok | Minimum 20 x 20, nothing else | Not published | No cover image |
Start from one square and one portrait
Most of what you publish is served by two files. A 1080 by 1080 square handles profile pictures everywhere, because every platform crops the avatar to a circle and none of them will thank you for more pixels than that. A 1080 pixel wide portrait handles feed posts, because Instagram caps incoming photos at 1080 wide and the other feeds are happy with the same file. Everything below is the exception list: the covers and banners that get cropped differently on every screen, the link preview that needs its own aspect ratio, and the two platforms that publish almost no numbers at all. Get those two masters right and you are troubleshooting edge cases rather than re-exporting per network.
Profile pictures: one square, six different crops
The published figures are all smaller than people expect. Facebook's help centre says a Page profile picture displays at 176 by 176 pixels on a computer and 196 by 196 on a phone, and asks you to upload 320 by 320. LinkedIn's Page specifications list a logo minimum of 268 by 268 and a recommendation of 400 by 400. X recommends 400 by 400 and caps the file at 2 MB. YouTube's channel branding page is the most honest about it: the profile picture renders at 98 by 98 pixels, whatever you upload, with a 15 MB ceiling. All of them crop to a circle, so keep the subject centred and never put text in the corners.
Instagram's supported range quietly changed
The advice you have probably been following is out of date. Instagram's help page on image resolution now states a supported range of 1.91:1 to 3:4, which it describes as a height between 566 and 1440 pixels at a width of 1080. The old ceiling was 4:5 at 1080 by 1350, and most cheat sheets still say so. The same page explains what happens either side of the range: anything narrower than 320 pixels gets enlarged to 320, anything wider than 1080 gets scaled down to 1080, and an unsupported aspect ratio is cropped to fit. So 1080 by 1440 is now the tallest feed image Instagram will show uncropped, and it matches the taller profile grid.
Stories and vertical cards: the size nobody publishes
This is the first place the documentation runs out. Instagram's help centre publishes feed photo resolution but no dimensions for a Stories image, and neither does Facebook. The working convention is 1080 by 1920 at 9:16, which is the same frame as a Reel, and it is the right file to make. What matters more than the pixel count is what the app draws on top of it. Profile bubbles, reply boxes, sticker prompts, close friends badges and the progress bar all sit over your image, so anything you need read has to live in the middle band rather than the top or bottom of the frame. Design inside the middle, not the full canvas.
YouTube thumbnails: the recommended number went up
For years the answer was 1280 by 720. YouTube's own help page on custom thumbnails now recommends 3840 by 2160 with a minimum width of 640 pixels, accepts JPG, GIF and PNG, and sets the file ceiling at 2 MB when you upload from mobile against 50 MB from desktop. That mobile limit is why a thumbnail that uploads fine on a laptop gets rejected on a phone. Two other cases live on the same page and get missed: a Shorts thumbnail is 9:16 at 2160 by 3840, and a podcast playlist wants a 1:1 image. If you are exporting a cover frame from the video itself, export it at the video's full resolution rather than a downscaled still.
Link previews: one image covers nearly everything
The image on a shared link is a separate asset from anything in the feed, and it is the one place three platforms roughly agree. Meta's developer documentation sets the minimum at 200 by 200 pixels, recommends at least 1200 by 630 for high resolution screens, asks you to stay close to a 1.91:1 ratio so nothing is cropped in feed, and caps the file at 8 MB. LinkedIn's Page image specifications ask for the same 1.91:1 at 1200 by 627, note that an image narrower than 200 pixels renders as a small thumbnail on the left instead of a full card, and limit files to 3 MB. X's card documentation is looser, asking for at least 300 by 157 pixels and under 5 MB.
Where the platforms publish nothing
TikTok is the outlier. Its help page on profile photos states only that an image must be at least 20 by 20 pixels to upload, and mentions that you can use a video of up to six seconds instead. There is no recommended profile size, and no published still-image spec at all, so a 1080 by 1080 square is a convention rather than a rule. Instagram does not publish a profile picture size either. That is worth knowing before you spend an afternoon matching a number you read on a blog. If your stills come out of video anyway, cutting the vertical clip and pulling its cover frame in the same pass saves the resizing round trip, which is what FrameOS does. You can try it on your own footage with 300 credits for 3 days · no card.
FAQ
What image size works across every social platform?
A 1080 by 1080 square covers profile pictures everywhere, since all six platforms crop the avatar to a circle and none render it larger than a few hundred pixels. For shared content, a 1200 by 630 image at roughly 1.91:1 satisfies Meta's and LinkedIn's link preview guidance and clears X's card minimum, so one file handles link previews across all three.
What is the correct Instagram post size in 2026?
Instagram's help page now supports aspect ratios from 1.91:1 to 3:4, which it describes as a height between 566 and 1440 pixels at 1080 pixels wide. That makes 1080 by 1440 the tallest uncropped feed image, replacing the old 4:5 ceiling of 1080 by 1350. Anything wider than 1080 pixels is scaled down and unsupported ratios are cropped.
What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?
YouTube now recommends 3840 by 2160 with a minimum width of 640 pixels, in JPG, GIF or PNG. The file size limit differs by device: 2 MB when uploading from mobile and 50 MB from desktop. Shorts thumbnails are vertical at 2160 by 3840, and podcast playlists need a square 1:1 image.
Does TikTok publish a recommended profile picture size?
No. TikTok's help page only states that a profile photo must be at least 20 by 20 pixels to upload, and notes you can use a video of up to six seconds instead. Any larger figure you see quoted is a community convention, not a documented spec, so a 1080 by 1080 square is a safe default rather than a rule.
Sources
- When I share a photo on Instagram, what's the image resolution? · Instagram Help Centre
- Facebook Page profile picture and cover photo dimensions · Facebook Help Centre
- Image specifications for your LinkedIn Pages and Career Pages · LinkedIn Help
- Add video thumbnails · YouTube Help
- Images in Link Shares · Meta for Developers
Related pages
Keep reading
More Video Basics →Social media video specs for every platform
One 1080x1920 export covers most of short-form. This is where that stops being true — the length caps, file limits, and the platforms where the number changes depending on how you upload.
8 minute readHow to convert landscape video to vertical
A full-height 9:16 crop of a 1920x1080 frame is 607 pixels wide. Which third of the picture you keep, and whether it is allowed to move, is the entire job.
8 minute readHow to crop video for Instagram
Your reel plays at 9:16 and previews on your profile inside a 3:4 rectangle. Anything you centred for one gets cut by the other, which is why so many covers lose their own headline.
7 minute readTurn one long video into a week of posts
300 credits for 3 days · no card.
Start free