An image that is 1,080 pixels wide and slightly taller than it is wide works in the feed on most platforms. What differs is everything else: profile pictures, cover images, thumbnails and anything shown full screen. That is where the wrong size turns into a cropped logo or a line of text hidden under a button.

Here are the sizes, platform by platform. We have only included sizes the platforms give themselves, and every row links to the help page it comes from. Where a platform gives no size, we say so instead of borrowing a number from a blog. All pages were read on 24 October 2026. Platforms change them without notice, so check the date at the bottom.

Social media image sizes in 2026: the full table

The aspect ratio is the width divided by the height. 4:5 means four parts wide and five parts tall, so a portrait image. The pixel size is how big the file is, for example 1,080 × 1,350 pixels, which is 4:5 at 1,080 pixels wide.

Platform and placementFormat and sizeSource (read 24 Oct 2026)
Instagram, photo post1.91:1 to 3:4, up to 1,080 px wide (1,080 × 566 to 1,080 × 1,440)Instagram Help Centre
Instagram, carouselUp to 20 photos and videos, one format for allInstagram Help Centre
Instagram, Story9:16. Instagram gives no pixel size. Meta: 1,080 × 1,920 or 1,440 × 2,560Meta Business Help Centre, Meta Ads Guide
Instagram, reel1.91:1 to 9:16, at least 720 px. Cover 420 × 654Instagram Help Centre
Instagram, profile pictureNo size givenInstagram Help Centre
Facebook Page, profile picture320 × 320, cropped to a circleFacebook Help Centre
Facebook Page, cover photoAt least 400 × 150. Loads fastest at 851 × 315, under 100 kBFacebook Help Centre
Facebook, photo postNo size in the Help Centre. Ads Guide: 4:5, 1,440 × 1,800Meta Ads Guide
Facebook, eventNo size givenFacebook Help Centre
LinkedIn, profile photo400 × 400 to 7,680 × 4,320, max 8 MBLinkedIn Help
LinkedIn, background photo1,584 × 396LinkedIn Help
LinkedIn Page, logo400 × 400, at least 268 × 268LinkedIn Help
LinkedIn Page, cover image1,512 × 256LinkedIn Help
LinkedIn Page, image in a post with a link1.91:1, 1,200 × 627LinkedIn Help
TikTok, video9:16, at least 720p (advice for ads)TikTok for Business
TikTok, photo postUp to 35 photos. No size givenTikTok Help Centre
YouTube, video16:9, 1,920 × 1,080 for 1080pYouTube Help
YouTube, thumbnail16:9, 3,840 × 2,160, at least 640 px wideYouTube Help
YouTube, Shorts thumbnail9:16, 2,160 × 3,840, at least 640 px tallYouTube Help
YouTube, channel bannerAt least 2,048 × 1,152, recommended 2,560 × 1,440YouTube Help
YouTube, profile pictureRenders at 98 × 98YouTube Help
Pinterest, image ad2:3, 1,000 × 1,500Pinterest Business Help

Four aspect ratios cover most of the table. Portrait 4:5 or 3:4 in the feed, 9:16 full screen, 16:9 on YouTube and 1.91:1 for images that go with a link. Export in the right format from the start and the platform won’t have to crop for you.

Four aspect ratios for social media, as of October 2026: 4:5 for portrait images in the Instagram and Facebook feed, 1,080 × 1,350 pixels, based on Meta's Ads Guide and Instagram's 1,080-pixel width. 9:16 for full screen in Stories, reels and TikTok, for example 1,080 × 1,920 pixels, according to Meta and TikTok. 16:9 for video and thumbnails on YouTube, with the thumbnail recommended at 3,840 × 2,160 pixels. 1.91:1 for images in LinkedIn posts with a link, 1,200 × 627 pixels.
Four formats cover most of the feed, full screen, YouTube and link posts. Instagram also accepts portrait images up to 3:4, which is 1,080 × 1,440 pixels. As of 24 October 2026.

Instagram: posts, carousels, Stories and the profile picture

Photo posts. Instagram uploads photos at up to 1,080 pixels wide. A photo between 320 and 1,080 pixels wide keeps its resolution as long as the aspect ratio is between 1.91:1, which is landscape, and 3:4, which is portrait. That means 1,080 pixels wide and between 566 and 1,440 pixels tall. A photo outside that range is cropped to a supported ratio. Smaller photos are enlarged to 320 pixels wide, and larger ones are reduced to 1,080.

The sources partly disagree. The English help page says 3:4 throughout, while the Swedish version says 4:5 in its tips. Meta’s Ads Guide recommends 4:5 and 1,440 × 1,800 pixels for image ads in the Instagram feed. Our view: 4:5, which is 1,080 × 1,350, is the safe choice if the same image will also go to Facebook or into an ad. 3:4, which is 1,080 × 1,440, gives the most space if the image is only for Instagram.

Carousels. You can share up to 20 photos and videos in one post. The format you choose, square, portrait or landscape, applies to every image in the post. So crop them all to the same format before you upload. Videos in a carousel don’t count as reels and don’t appear in the Reels tab.

Stories. Instagram’s Help Centre gives no pixel size for Stories. Meta’s pages for advertisers give the 9:16 ratio but two different sizes: 1,080 × 1,920 pixels in Meta’s Business Help Centre and 1,440 × 2,560 pixels in Meta’s Ads Guide. The ratio is the same, so both work.

Reels. Instagram accepts reels with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 9:16, at least 720 pixels and at least 30 frames per second. The recommended cover photo is 420 × 654 pixels, and you can’t edit it after uploading. Length, safe zones and everything else about video are in Reels for business.

Profile picture. Instagram’s Help Centre gives no size for the profile picture. It does point out that the picture is public to everyone, including people without an account. Our view is to use the same square image as on Facebook, with the logo in the middle.

How to set up the account and profile is in Instagram for business.

Facebook: posts, cover photo, events and the profile picture

Page profile picture. Facebook recommends 320 × 320 pixels for best quality. It displays at 176 × 176 pixels on computers, 196 × 196 on smartphones and 36 × 36 on most feature phones, and it is cropped to a circle.

Page cover photo. The cover must be at least 400 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall, and according to Facebook it loads fastest as an sRGB JPG of 851 × 315 pixels under 100 kilobytes. The same help page says the cover has a 16:9 aspect ratio on computers and 2.4:1 on mobile devices. Neither matches 851 × 315, which is roughly 2.7:1, so expect the cover to be cropped differently on different screens. The profile picture covers part of the left side, and on mobile it overlaps the cover by about 40 pixels.

Logos and text as PNG. Facebook says profile pictures and cover photos with a logo or text may come out better as PNG files.

Photo posts. We have not found a size for ordinary photo posts in Facebook’s Help Centre. Meta’s Ads Guide recommends 4:5 and 1,440 × 1,800 pixels for image ads in the Facebook feed, with a minimum width of 600 pixels. Our view is that the same 4:5 as on Instagram works for ordinary posts too.

Events. Facebook’s help page on event cover photos gives no size. It only says you can reposition the photo before saving, and that you can’t edit the size once it has been added. Use a landscape image with the subject in the middle, and check the preview before you save.

How the Page, events and Messenger fit together is in Facebook for business.

LinkedIn: posts, banner and the company Page

Your personal profile. The profile photo must be between 400 × 400 and 7,680 × 4,320 pixels, PNG or JPG and no more than 8 MB. LinkedIn doesn’t support GIFs. The background photo, often called the banner, has a recommended size of 1,584 × 396 pixels.

The company Page. The logo should ideally be 400 × 400 pixels and at least 268 × 268. The cover image is 1,512 × 256 pixels. All Page images must be PNG or JPEG and no more than 3 MB. LinkedIn’s advice for the Page:

  • Choose a high-resolution JPEG over a PNG for the best resolution.
  • Keep key details away from the edges, especially the lower-right corner. The cover may be trimmed horizontally or vertically depending on the screen.
  • Test your logo on light and dark backgrounds. It is shown on both, and a transparent logo is shown on a white background.

Posts. For custom images in Page posts with a link, LinkedIn gives a 1.91:1 ratio, which is 1,200 × 627 pixels. The image must be more than 200 pixels wide, or it appears as a small thumbnail on the left of the post. This doesn’t apply to posts with only an image, or an image and text, where the image is enlarged to fit the feed. According to the same section, images aren’t cropped on mobile, and images in other ratios appear in full size with subtle white padding. LinkedIn gives no pixel size for ordinary image posts.

More on Pages and profiles in LinkedIn for business.

TikTok and YouTube: video and thumbnails

We only cover video briefly here. How long a video should be, where text should go and how one clip becomes four posts are in Reels for business.

TikTok

Video. TikTok’s advice for ad videos is vertical 9:16 and at least 720p. The specifications for In-Feed Ads give at least 540 × 960 pixels for 9:16, 960 × 540 for 16:9 and 640 × 640 for 1:1. TikTok’s Creator Academy says both vertical and horizontal video work, the horizontal in Full Screen mode, and that the image should be centred and not covered by the buttons on screen.

Photo posts. You can add up to 35 photos to a post and crop them in the app. TikTok’s Help Centre gives no size for photos, and we have not found a size for the profile picture there either.

More on the account and the rules in TikTok for business.

YouTube

Video. The standard aspect ratio on a computer is 16:9, and for 1080p YouTube recommends 1,920 × 1,080 pixels. If your video has another ratio, the player adapts, and YouTube may add padding around a vertical video on a computer, for example. Don’t add black bars to the video yourself, as that stops the player from adapting.

Shorts. Square or vertical videos of up to three minutes are treated as Shorts. If you don’t want a video to become a Short, YouTube advises a wider ratio such as 16:9.

Thumbnails. YouTube recommends 3,840 × 2,160 pixels at 16:9, at least 640 pixels wide. For Shorts it is 2,160 × 3,840 pixels at 9:16, at least 640 pixels tall. Thumbnails should be JPG or PNG and no more than 2 MB when uploading from a phone, or 50 MB from a computer. Three more things to know:

  • Your account must be verified to upload custom thumbnails.
  • Shorts thumbnails can currently only be added in YouTube Studio on a computer.
  • A vertical video with a 16:9 thumbnail gets an automatic 4:5 thumbnail on the home, explore and subscription pages. Yours still appears in places such as your watch history.

Channel banner. At least 2,048 × 1,152 pixels at 16:9 and no more than 6 MB. At the minimum size, the safe area for text and logos is 1,235 × 338 pixels, because the banner gets cropped on some screens and devices. For TV, YouTube recommends 2,560 × 1,440. Don’t add shadows, borders or frames.

Profile picture. Renders at 98 × 98 pixels. It can be a JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG, but not an animated GIF, and no more than 15 MB.

Whether a YouTube channel, or Pinterest, is worth it for your business at all is covered in YouTube and Pinterest for business.

What gets cropped: profile pictures, the grid and text areas

The wrong size usually shows up as cropping: the platform cuts off what doesn’t fit, or puts a button on top of it.

The profile picture. Facebook crops a Page’s profile picture to a circle, and YouTube renders it at 98 × 98 pixels. Make it square, put the logo in the middle with space around it and avoid text that becomes unreadable at small sizes.

The Instagram profile grid. When Instagram introduced portrait and landscape photos in 2015, it said posts would appear in the grid as centre-cropped squares. How the grid crops today isn’t described in the Help Centre. So keep the subject in the middle of the image and look at your profile after you publish.

Text areas in full screen. In a Story, the profile icon and buttons can cover what sits at the very top and bottom. Meta’s advice for Story ads is to leave about 14 percent at the top and 20 percent at the bottom free of text and logos. Meta’s Ads Guide says 14 percent at the top, 35 percent at the bottom and 6 percent on the sides instead. The advice is for ads, but the buttons are there in ordinary Stories too. Our view is to follow the stricter advice. TikTok gives the same principle without percentages: keep the subject centred and out from under the buttons.

Cover images. Facebook’s profile picture covers part of the cover on the left. LinkedIn may trim a Page cover horizontally or vertically. YouTube gives a safe area for text and logos of 1,235 × 338 pixels in the banner. Keep text and logos in the middle on all three.

Export settings that keep the quality

An image that looks sharp on your computer can turn soft in the app. Usually that is because the platform has had to resize it. This lowers the risk:

If the image is going into an ad or a boosted post, the ad specifications apply, and they are often larger than for ordinary posts. How that works is in Boosting posts.

Save the table

The table at the top prints fine. Choose Print in your browser and then Save as PDF, and you have it on your computer. The sizes you need most often fit on one card:

How to plan your posts a month at a time, so the photos are taken and cropped in one go, is in Social media strategy and content plan.

Last checked

Every size in this article was checked against the platforms’ own pages on 24 October 2026. This is how the platforms date the pages themselves:

  • Instagram and Meta: the help pages and the Ads Guide carry no date.
  • Facebook: the help pages carry no date.
  • LinkedIn: the page on company Page images had been updated about two months before our check, according to LinkedIn. The page on profile photos gives no exact date.
  • TikTok: the 9:16 and 720p advice was updated in June 2025, the In-Feed Ads specifications in June 2026 and the Creator Academy advice on format on 18 August 2026. The help page on photo posts carries no date.
  • YouTube: the help pages carry no date.
  • Pinterest: the ad specs page carries no date.

An out-of-date table does more harm than no table at all. We check the pages again and change the date here only once we have actually done so. If you spot a size that has changed, we’d be glad to hear from you.

Do it yourself or get help

The sizes are the easy part. What takes time is taking your own photos every week, cropping them for each channel and keeping up the pace. How social media fits with the rest of your visibility is in Social media for local businesses.

With us, we plan, photograph, edit and publish, and you approve before anything goes out. The material comes from your business, not from a stock library, and the accounts are yours. What the packages include is on our page about social media help.

Frequently asked questions

What image size should I use on Instagram in 2026?

Portrait. Instagram stores photos at up to 1,080 pixels wide and keeps aspect ratios between 1.91:1 and 3:4, from 1,080 × 566 to 1,080 × 1,440 pixels. Anything outside that range is cropped. Meta’s Ads Guide recommends 4:5 for the feed, which at 1,080 pixels wide is 1,080 × 1,350. As of 24 October 2026.

What size is an Instagram Story?

The aspect ratio is 9:16. Instagram’s Help Centre gives no pixel size for Stories. Meta’s pages for advertisers give 1,080 × 1,920 pixels in the Business Help Centre and 1,440 × 2,560 pixels in the Ads Guide. Keep text and logos away from the top and bottom, where the app’s buttons sit. As of 24 October 2026.

What size should a Facebook Page cover photo be?

At least 400 × 150 pixels. According to Facebook, the cover loads fastest as an sRGB JPG of 851 × 315 pixels and under 100 kilobytes. It is shown in different aspect ratios on computers and phones, and the profile picture covers part of it, so keep text and logos in the middle. As of 24 October 2026.

What image size does a Facebook event use?

Facebook gives no size in its Help Centre. The help page only says you can’t edit the size of the cover photo once it has been added, but that you can reposition the photo before saving. Use a landscape image with the subject in the middle and check the preview. As of 24 October 2026.

What image format do LinkedIn posts use?

For custom images in Page posts with a link, LinkedIn gives a 1.91:1 ratio, which is 1,200 × 627 pixels. For posts with only an image, or an image and text, LinkedIn gives no pixel size, only that the image is enlarged to fit the feed. As of 24 October 2026.

What size should a YouTube thumbnail be?

YouTube recommends 3,840 × 2,160 pixels at 16:9, at least 640 pixels wide, as a JPG or PNG. The file can be up to 2 MB if you upload from a phone and 50 MB from a computer. For Shorts it is 2,160 × 3,840 pixels at 9:16. Your account must be verified to upload custom thumbnails. As of 24 October 2026.

Sources

All pages read on 24 October 2026. The sizes are as of 24 October 2026 and may change.