Quick answer: make feed images 1080 px wide (1080 × 1350 for portrait posts), vertical Stories and Reel covers 1080 × 1920, YouTube thumbnails 1280 × 720, and link-preview (Open Graph) images 1200 × 630. Covers and banners differ on every platform, and a few — YouTube's channel banner and LinkedIn's Company Page cover — have hard minimum sizes or file-size limits.
Check your image — not sure your image fits? The free Image Requirements Checker reads your actual file, shows which placements it fits, previews every crop and explains what to change. It runs in your browser; your image is never uploaded.
Quick reference: the sizes most people need
| Platform | Placement | Recommended size | Shape | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feed post (portrait) | 1080 × 1350 px | 4:5 | Official recommendation | |
| Story / Reel cover | 1080 × 1920 px | 9:16 | Third-party recommendation | |
| Feed post | 1080 × 1350 px | 4:5 | Official recommendation (ads) | |
| Cover photo | 851 × 315 px (min 400 × 150) | about 2.7:1 | Official (minimum is a limit) | |
| Post / link preview | 1200 × 627 px | 1.91:1 | Official recommendation | |
| Company Page cover | 1512 × 256 px, max 3 MB | about 5.9:1 | Platform limit | |
| X (Twitter) | Header | 1500 × 500 px | 3:1 | Official recommendation |
| X (Twitter) | Profile photo | 400 × 400 px, max 2 MB | 1:1 | Official |
| YouTube | Video thumbnail | 1280 × 720 px (min 640 px wide) | 16:9 | Minimum is a limit |
| YouTube | Channel banner | 2560 × 1440 px (min 2048 × 1152), max 6 MB | 16:9 | Platform limit |
| Standard Pin | 1000 × 1500 px | 2:3 | Third-party recommendation | |
| Website | Open Graph image | 1200 × 630 px, max 8 MB (Facebook) | 1.91:1 | Practical default |
Not every number on the internet is a rule. In this guide, a platform limit means the upload fails or the platform refuses it; everything else is a recommendation that helps the image look its best.
Instagram keeps photos 320–1080 px wide at their original resolution and resizes wider ones down to 1080 px. Feed photos can be any shape from landscape 1.91:1 to portrait 4:5; anything outside that range is cropped. Portrait 4:5 (1080 × 1350) uses the most screen space in the feed. Stories and Reels are full-screen 9:16. Instagram image sizes in detail →
For feed posts, Meta recommends 4:5 for image ads, and a 1080 px-wide image is a safe choice for organic posts. Cover photos must be at least 400 × 150 px; Facebook recommends 851 × 315 px and says covers display at 16:9 on computers and 2.4:1 on phones, so keep the important part in the middle. Facebook image sizes in detail →
LinkedIn recommends 1.91:1 (1200 × 627 px) for post and link-preview images, with a 5 MB limit for shared link images. Company Page images must be PNG or JPEG under 3 MB, and the Page cover is 1512 × 256 px. LinkedIn image sizes in detail →
X (Twitter)
X recommends a 1500 × 500 px header and a 400 × 400 px profile photo (JPEG, GIF or PNG, up to 2 MB), and warns that about 60 px at the top and bottom of the header can be cropped. For post images, 16:9 (1200 × 675) is widely used. X (Twitter) image sizes in detail →
YouTube
Thumbnails should be 16:9 and at least 640 px wide; 1280 × 720 is the practical standard, and YouTube now lists up to 3840 × 2160. The file can be up to 50 MB from a computer but only 2 MB from the mobile app. Channel banners must be at least 2048 × 1152 px and under 6 MB, with text kept inside the central 1235 × 338 px. YouTube thumbnail and banner sizes in detail →
Pins work best at 2:3, usually 1000 × 1500 px. Pinterest doesn't publish its organic Pin limits in one official place, so treat the widely quoted 20 MB maximum as a guide rather than a guarantee. Pinterest image sizes in detail →
Website link previews (Open Graph)
When someone shares your page, apps read its og:image. 1200 × 630 px (1.91:1) is the practical default that works on Facebook, LinkedIn and most messaging apps — but it is not a rule of the Open Graph protocol itself. Open Graph image size explained →
Shape, cropping and safe areas
Shape (aspect ratio) matters more than pixel size. An image with the wrong shape is cropped — usually from the middle outwards — so faces, logos and text near the edges are the first to disappear. Vertical formats add another problem: buttons, captions and the top bar cover parts of the frame. For Reels and Shorts, see our measured Instagram Reels safe zone and YouTube Shorts safe zone, or check a video with the Social Video Safe Zone Checker.
Formats and file size
JPG suits photos; PNG suits graphics, screenshots and anything with transparency. WebP is great on websites but not every platform accepts WebP uploads, so JPG or PNG is the safest choice for social media. Many platforms convert uploads to JPG, which removes transparency. Keep files reasonably small: some placements allow only 2–3 MB.
Common mistakes
- Designing everything as a square and letting each platform crop it differently.
- Putting text or logos near the edges of covers and banners, where phones crop first.
- Uploading a tiny image: platforms enlarge it and it looks soft.
- Exporting huge files that exceed a 2–6 MB limit.
- Uploading a transparent PNG and getting a black or white background.
- Leaving GPS location in a photo's metadata before publishing it on your own website.
Practical recommendations
- Export at the recommended size, not just the minimum.
- Keep the subject and any text in the middle 80% of the frame.
- Use JPG for photos and PNG for graphics; avoid WebP for social uploads.
- Check the image before publishing, ideally against every placement at once.
Check your image — see every placement your image fits in one go. The free Image Requirements Checker reads your actual file, shows which placements it fits, previews every crop and explains what to change. It runs in your browser; your image is never uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best image size for social media?
There is no single size. For most feeds, a 1080 px-wide image works well: 1080 × 1350 for portrait posts or 1080 × 1080 for squares. Stories and Reels use 1080 × 1920, YouTube thumbnails 1280 × 720 and link previews 1200 × 630.
Which social media image sizes are actual requirements?
Only a few are hard limits, such as YouTube's 2048 × 1152 px minimum and 6 MB limit for channel banners, its 640 px minimum width for thumbnails, Facebook's 400 × 150 px minimum for covers and LinkedIn's 3 MB limit for Page images. Most other sizes are recommendations.
What happens if my image has the wrong shape?
The platform crops it, usually keeping the middle, or shows it with bars. Faces and text near the edges are the most likely to be cut off.
Should I use PNG or JPG for social media?
Use JPG for photos and PNG for graphics, screenshots and logos. Both are accepted everywhere covered here; WebP is not always accepted for social uploads.
How often do social media image sizes change?
Platforms change layouts several times a year. We review these values regularly; this guide and the Image Requirements Checker were last reviewed on 8 October 2026.
Sources and how to read these values
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026, the same review as the Image Requirements Checker.
Each value above is labelled: a platform limit is documented by the platform and uploads outside it fail; an official recommendation comes from the platform's own help pages; a third-party recommendation is widely published but not confirmed on an official page; practical guidance is our advice. Platforms change their layouts without notice, so check important images in the app itself.
- Instagram Help Center: photo resolution
- Meta Ads Guide: Facebook Feed and Instagram Stories image ads
- Facebook Help Center: cover photo sizes
- LinkedIn Help: image specifications for Pages
- LinkedIn Help: make your website shareable
- X Help Center: profile photo and header
- YouTube Help: video thumbnails
- YouTube Help: channel branding
- Meta for Developers: images in link shares
- Pinterest sizes: widely published guides (no single official page found)