Wrong crop kills good creative. A sharp photo still looks cheap if Facebook slices the headline, Instagram squishes the grid, or a YouTube banner loses the logo on mobile.
This guide is a working reference for 2026. Use it when you build templates, brief a designer, or resize one asset for several networks.
Start here: sizes that travel
If you only remember five numbers, remember these:
- Square feed: 1080 × 1080
- Vertical feed (best default): 1080 × 1350 (4:5)
- Stories / Reels / TikTok: 1080 × 1920 (9:16)
- Link preview: 1200 × 630
- Profile photo: at least 400 × 400 (YouTube wants 800 × 800)
Aspect ratio is the shape (1:1 square, 4:5 tall post, 9:16 full phone screen, 16:9 landscape). Pixels are the resolution. Bigger files look sharper until the platform compresses them.
Phones still run the feed. Vertical 4:5 and 9:16 usually take more screen and outperform landscape.
File types: JPG for photos. PNG for logos, type, and graphics with hard edges. GIF where animation is allowed. WEBP is increasingly accepted.
Cheat sheet
| Platform | Profile | Cover / banner | Feed / pin | Stories | Link preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 320 × 320 | Profile/Page 851 × 315; Group 1640 × 856; Event 1920 × 1005 | Square 1080 × 1080; vertical 1080 × 1350; landscape 1200 × 630 | 1080 × 1920 | 1200 × 630 | |
| 320 × 320 | — | Square 1080 × 1080; vertical 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1440; landscape 1080 × 566 | 1080 × 1920 | — | |
| X | 400 × 400 | 1500 × 500 | Square 1080 × 1080; vertical 1080 × 1350; landscape 1600 × 900 | — | 1200 × 630 |
| 400 × 400 | Profile 1584 × 396; Company 1128 × 191 | Square 1080 × 1080; vertical 1080 × 1350; landscape 1080 × 360 | — | 1200 × 627 | |
| Threads | 320 × 320 | — | Flexible | — | 1200 × 600 |
| 165 × 165 | 800 × 450 | 1000 × 1500 | — | — | |
| YouTube | 800 × 800 | 2560 × 1440 | Thumbnail 1280 × 720 | — | — |
| TikTok | 200 × 200 | — | 1080 × 1920 | 1080 × 1920 | — |
| Bluesky | 400 × 400 | 1500 × 500 | Flexible (up to 4 images) | — | 1200 × 627 |
Profile: 320 × 320 or larger. It displays as a circle, so keep faces and logos away from the corners.
Cover
- Profiles and Pages: 851 × 315 (at least 720 px wide)
- Groups: 1640 × 856
- Events: 1920 × 1005
On profiles and Pages, the avatar overlaps the lower left of the cover. Don’t put text there. Mobile crops the cover tighter (about 640 × 360).
Feed: 1080 × 1350 vertical, 1080 × 1080 square, or 1200 × 630 landscape.
Stories: 1080 × 1920. Leave the top clear for name, avatar, and controls.
Link shares: Set og:image to 1200 × 630, max 8MB. A plugin like Yoast can handle the tag if you don’t want to edit code.
Profile: Upload 320 × 320 or larger. Display is smaller and circular.
Feed
- Square: 1080 × 1080 (1:1)
- Vertical: 1080 × 1350 (4:5) or 1080 × 1440 (3:4)
- Landscape: 1080 × 566 (1.91:1)
Since early 2025, the profile grid uses a tall 3:4 crop. Square and landscape posts get trimmed on the grid. If the grid is part of the brand, design at 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1440.
Stories: 1080 × 1920. Keep roughly 310 px at the top and bottom free of type.
Reels cover: 1080 × 1920. Leave about 480 px at top and bottom empty so the 3:4 grid crop doesn’t clip headlines.
X (Twitter)
Profile: 400 × 400, max 2MB. Most accounts show a circle. Verified Organizations can show a square.
Header: 1500 × 500. Too short and X stretches it.
Posts: 1080 × 1080 square, 1080 × 1350 vertical, 1600 × 900 landscape. Minimum width is 600 px; larger files look better when expanded. 2:1 and 3:4 images usually appear uncropped in the timeline.
You can mix up to four photos, videos, or GIFs in one post.
Link cards: 1200 × 630 (some docs say 1200 × 631). Same Open Graph-style tags many sites already use for Facebook.
Profile photo: 400 × 400. Circle on personal profiles; square logo on Company Pages. Max 8MB personal / 3MB company logo.
Cover
- Personal: 1584 × 396 (4:1), max 8MB
- Company: 1128 × 191, max 3MB — logo covers the left, so keep the message in the center
Posts: Aspect ratios from about 3:1 to 4:5. Practical sizes: 1080 × 360 landscape, 1080 × 1080 square, 1080 × 1350 vertical. Center text; LinkedIn crops aggressively outside those ratios.
Link preview: 1200 × 627
Threads
Profile: Same as Instagram — 320 × 320. You can sync the two.
Posts: No strict official size. Mixed dimensions stay visible; up to 20 photos or videos in one thread. On mobile, users can pinch adjacent photos together, which is useful for split panoramas.
Link preview: Aim for 1200 × 600 (2:1).
Profile: 165 × 165, shown as a circle.
Board / cover: At least 800 × 450, ideally 16:9.
Pins: 1000 × 1500 (2:3). Stay in that ratio. Soft, low-res files and pins taller than 1500 px can get less distribution.
YouTube
Profile: 800 × 800, max 15MB. Display is small and circular.
Channel banner: Upload 2560 × 1440 (minimum 2048 × 1152), max 6MB. Devices crop the sides. Keep logos and type inside a center safe zone of about 1546 × 423.
Thumbnail: 1280 × 720, max 2MB for standard videos (10MB for some podcast thumbnails). Make it readable at postage-stamp size.
TikTok
Profile: Official minimum is tiny. Use at least 200 × 200.
Photo posts and carousels: 1080 × 1920 (9:16). 4:5 also works. Carousels can hold up to 35 images — useful for steps, products, and BTS.
Stories: 1080 × 1920, 24-hour lifespan.
Bluesky
Specs are looser and more technical than consumer apps.
Profile: 400 × 400, 1:1, circular crop.
Banner: 1500 × 500 on desktop (3:1). Mobile crops toward 4:1, so don’t park text on the far left or right.
Posts: Up to four images, about 1MB each, mixed ratios allowed. Timeline previews crop; tap opens the full file.
Link preview: 1200 × 627
Common 1:1, 4:5, and 16:9 files still display more predictably after Bluesky compresses them.
Why sizing is a strategy issue
People skim. A cropped headline or a blurry cover is a skip. Correct dimensions also:
- Protect brand marks from UI chrome
- Keep one master file reusable
- Reduce “why does this look different on my phone?” revision loops
Working rules
- Design vertical first if the same asset must live on several apps.
- Keep type and logos in the center, especially on covers and Stories.
- Start from a high-res master and scale down.
- Preview in the actual app before you publish.
FAQ
What size should most social images be?
1080 px wide. Height depends on format: 1080 square, 1350 tall feed, 1920 full screen.
JPG or PNG?
JPG for photos. PNG for type, icons, and transparency. GIF only when you need motion and the platform allows it.
One size for every network?
1080 × 1350 is the best single feed default for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X.
What if the file is the wrong size?
The app will crop, pad, or squash it. You lose control of the focal point.
Publish note for 3clpst.com: Add a last-updated date, a downloadable one-page PDF of the cheat sheet, and a short CTA (template pack, audit, or design service). Platforms change crops without warning — plan to refresh this page at least twice a year.
Source material referenced for 2026 platform dimensions: Buffer’s social media image size guide.