Social Media Image Sizes 2026: One-Page Cheat Sheet
Every key image size in one table: Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Discord and Reddit, with file size and format tips.
By PictureToLink Team · · 8 min read
Facts checked against official sources on
On this page
The most-used social media image sizes in 2026 are 400 × 400 pixels for X and LinkedIn profile photos, 1500 × 500 for an X header, 1584 × 396 for a LinkedIn background, 2560 × 1440 for a YouTube banner, and 1080 pixels wide for Instagram feed photos (in a ratio between 1.91:1 and 3:4). Every number in this cheat sheet comes from the platform's own help pages, linked below. Where a platform does not publish a size, we say so rather than guess.
Master size table
| Platform | Image | Recommended size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed photo | 1080 px wide, 1080 × 566 to 1080 × 1440 | Ratio between 1.91:1 and 3:4 | |
| Reel cover | 420 × 654 | Ratio 1:1.55 | |
| Story (ad spec) | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16, minimum 600 × 1067 | |
| Facebook Page | Profile picture | 320 × 320 | Cropped to a circle |
| Facebook Page | Cover photo | 851 × 315 | At least 400 × 150 |
| X | Profile photo | 400 × 400 | JPEG, GIF or PNG, max 2 MB |
| X | Header | 1500 × 500 | |
| Profile photo | 400 × 400 or larger | Up to 7680 × 4320, max 8 MB | |
| Profile background | 1584 × 396 | PNG or JPG, max 8 MB | |
| Photo in a post | 1080 px wide recommended | At least 552 × 276, ratio 3:1 to 4:5, max 5 MB | |
| LinkedIn Page | Logo / cover / post image | 400 × 400 / 1512 × 256 / 1200 × 627 | Max 3 MB |
| YouTube | Profile picture | Displays at 98 × 98 | Max 15 MB, no animated GIFs |
| YouTube | Channel banner | 2560 × 1440 | Minimum 2048 × 1152, max 6 MB |
| YouTube | Video thumbnail | 3840 × 2160 | 16:9, minimum 640 px wide |
| TikTok | Profile photo | Not published | Minimum 20 × 20 |
| Pin | 1000 × 1500 | 2:3 ratio | |
| Discord | Profile banner (Nitro) | 680 × 240 minimum | Under 10 MB |
| Discord | Server banner | 960 × 540 minimum | 16:9, boosted servers |
| Community banner | 1080 × 128 (mobile), 1072 × 128 (desktop) | Minimums | |
| Community icon | 300 × 300 |
The sections below add the details and the official source for each figure.
Profile pictures
Profile pictures are shown small and usually cropped to a circle, so keep the face or logo centred with some space around it.
- X: X's help page on profile photos recommends 400 × 400 pixels, accepts JPEG, GIF and PNG, and sets a 2 MB maximum.
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn's upload help accepts profile photos between 400 × 400 and 7680 × 4320 pixels, up to 8 MB, in PNG or JPG. Animated GIFs are not supported.
- Facebook Page: Meta's Page dimensions article says a Page profile picture displays at 176 × 176 on computers and 196 × 196 on smartphones, is cropped to a circle, and should be 320 × 320 for best quality.
- YouTube: YouTube's channel branding help says the profile picture renders at 98 × 98 pixels and accepts JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG (no animated GIFs) up to 15 MB. Upload something larger and square so it stays sharp.
- TikTok: TikTok's support page only states that photos must be at least 20 × 20 pixels. A square image of a few hundred pixels is a sensible choice.
- Instagram: we could not find a profile picture size on Instagram's own help pages, so we have left it out. Use a square image and keep the subject centred.
Covers and banners
Banners are where most cropping problems happen, because each platform shows a different slice on phones, desktops and TVs.
- YouTube channel banner: upload at least 2048 × 1152 pixels in 16:9. Keep text and logos inside the central 1235 × 338 safe area, because that is all that shows on every device. YouTube recommends 2560 × 1440, "especially for TV", with a 6 MB limit.
- X header: 1500 × 500 pixels, per X's profile customisation help.
- LinkedIn background: 1584 × 396 pixels, PNG or JPG, under 8 MB. Your profile photo covers part of the lower left.
- LinkedIn Page cover: 1512 × 256 pixels and no more than 3 MB, according to LinkedIn's Page image specifications.
- Facebook Page cover: at least 400 × 150 pixels. Meta says it "loads fastest as an sRGB JPG file that's 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall and less than 100 kilobytes." The left side is partly covered by the profile picture, and on mobile the profile picture overlaps the cover by about 40 pixels.
- Discord profile banner: only Nitro members can upload one. Discord's Custom Profiles article requires PNG, JPG or animated GIF files under 10 MB and at least 680 × 240 pixels.
- Discord server banner: available from Server Boost Level 2 (animated from Level 3). Discord's server banner guide asks for at least 960 × 540 in 16:9, suggests keeping the top 48 pixels simple, and advises against logos or text.
- Reddit community banner: Reddit's banner guidelines ask for at least 1072 × 128 on desktop and 1080 × 128 on mobile. The community icon is 300 × 300.
Posts and stories
- Instagram feed: Instagram's image resolution article says photos are uploaded at up to 1080 pixels wide. A photo between 320 and 1080 pixels wide keeps its resolution if its ratio is between 1.91:1 and 3:4, which means a height between 566 and 1440 pixels at 1080 wide. Wider images are scaled down to 1080.
- Instagram Reels: Instagram's Reels article allows ratios between 1.91:1 and 9:16, with a recommended cover of 420 × 654.
- Instagram Stories: Meta's Stories ad requirements recommend 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 (minimum 600 × 1067), JPG or PNG up to 30 MB. That page is for ads, but the same full-screen canvas suits ordinary stories.
- X posts: X's photo posting help says a single photo with a standard ratio between 2:1 and 3:4 displays in full.
- LinkedIn posts: LinkedIn's photo sharing help sets a 5 MB limit and a minimum of 552 × 276, recommends 1080 pixels wide, and accepts ratios from 3:1 to 4:5. Anything outside that range is centred and cropped. LinkedIn Pages recommend 1200 × 627 (1.91:1) for post images.
- Pinterest: Pinterest's ad specs recommend a 2:3 ratio, or 1000 × 1500 pixels, and warn that Pins taller than 2:3 may be cut off in feeds. Its Pin specs accept BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF and WebP, up to 20 MB on the web.
- Facebook feed photos: Meta's help pages we checked do not give a single recommended size for ordinary feed photos, so we have not listed one.
Thumbnails
YouTube's custom thumbnail help currently lists:
- 3840 × 2160 pixels for videos (16:9), with a minimum width of 640 pixels.
- 2160 × 3840 for Shorts (9:16), with a minimum height of 640 pixels.
- JPG or PNG files.
- A size limit that depends on the device: 2 MB when uploading from mobile, 50 MB from a desktop.
- A 1:1 thumbnail for podcast playlists.
If you upload from your phone, the 2 MB limit is the one to watch. A 3840 × 2160 thumbnail can easily go over it, so compress it first. Our YouTube thumbnail guide goes into design tips.
Link previews (the image that appears when you paste a web link) are set by the website, not by you. We cover those in our guide to Open Graph image sizes.
File size and format tips
A few rules hold across every platform:
- Upload at, or a little above, the recommended size. Platforms resize everything. Uploading a 6000-pixel photo does not make it sharper, it just gives the platform more to compress.
- Use JPG for photos and PNG for logos and text. Meta explicitly suggests PNG for profile pictures and covers "with your logo or text". Platforms tend to re-compress uploads, and PNG keeps edges cleaner.
- Respect the safe areas. Banners are cropped differently on phones, desktops and TVs. Keep anything important in the centre.
- Watch the small limits. X profile photos (2 MB), YouTube thumbnails from mobile (2 MB) and LinkedIn Page images (3 MB) are the tightest. Facebook recommends a cover photo under 100 KB for the fastest loading.
- Remove location data before posting. Some platforms strip it, others may not, and the platform itself still receives it. Our comparison of which apps remove photo metadata covers the details.
To hit a size limit, our image compressor resizes and compresses in your browser without uploading anything, and can aim for a target such as 100 KB. In our own pipeline tests, resizing a 3024 × 2016 photo to 1920 pixels wide cut it from 1.6 MB to 450 KB, which is comfortably under every limit above.
Keeping this sheet up to date
Platforms change these numbers without much notice. Discord's free upload limit, for example, changed in August 2026. We re-check each figure against the official pages linked above and update the "Facts checked" date at the top of this page when we do.
For more detail on individual platforms, see our dedicated guides to Instagram image sizes, LinkedIn image sizes and Discord image sizes. If a size here no longer matches what you see in the app, trust the platform's own upload screen and tell us through the FAQ page so we can fix it.
Next step
Find your platform in the master table, resize your image to the recommended size, and run it through the image compressor if the file is close to the platform's limit.