Image Sizes for Social Media in 2026: The Complete Guide
Every social media platform has its own set of image dimensions. Upload the wrong size and your image gets cropped, stretched, or compressed in ways you did not intend. A profile photo that looks great on Instagram may be cut off on LinkedIn. A YouTube thumbnail optimized for desktop may lose its text on mobile.
This guide lists every important image dimension for the major platforms in 2026, with pixel sizes, aspect ratios, and practical tips for getting the best results.
Why Image Dimensions Matter on Social Media
Social media platforms process every uploaded image. If your image does not match the expected dimensions, the platform will resize, crop, or pad it automatically. This automated processing often produces poor results:
- Text gets cut off. A banner designed at 1920x1080 may be center-cropped to a square on mobile, removing text placed near the edges.
- Quality degrades. Uploading an oversized image forces the platform to downscale and recompress it, adding compression artifacts.
- The preview looks wrong. Link previews (Open Graph images) that are the wrong aspect ratio get either letterboxed or cropped unpredictably.
Designing your images at the correct dimensions avoids all of these problems and ensures your content looks professional across devices.
Instagram Image Sizes
| Type | Dimensions (px) | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 320 x 320 | 1:1 |
| Square post | 1080 x 1080 | 1:1 |
| Portrait post | 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 |
| Landscape post | 1080 x 566 | 1.91:1 |
| Story / Reel | 1080 x 1920 | 9:16 |
| Carousel | 1080 x 1080 or 1080 x 1350 | 1:1 or 4:5 |
Tip: portrait posts (4:5) take up more screen real estate in the feed than square posts, which increases engagement. Use 1080 x 1350 as your default for feed posts.
Profile photos are displayed as a circle, so keep important content centered and away from the edges.
Facebook Image Sizes
| Type | Dimensions (px) | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 170 x 170 (desktop), 128 x 128 (mobile) | 1:1 |
| Cover photo | 820 x 312 (desktop), 640 x 360 (mobile) | Variable |
| Feed post image | 1200 x 630 | 1.91:1 |
| Story | 1080 x 1920 | 9:16 |
| Event cover | 1200 x 628 | 1.91:1 |
| Link preview (OG image) | 1200 x 630 | 1.91:1 |
| Ad image | 1080 x 1080 or 1200 x 628 | 1:1 or 1.91:1 |
Tip: the cover photo displays differently on desktop and mobile. Design at 820 x 462 and keep critical content (text, logos) within the center 640 x 312 area to ensure nothing important is cropped on either device.
Link previews use the Open Graph meta image (og:image). Always use 1200 x 630 in JPG format for maximum compatibility across platforms and messaging apps.
LinkedIn Image Sizes
| Type | Dimensions (px) | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 400 x 400 | 1:1 |
| Background / banner | 1584 x 396 | 4:1 |
| Feed post image | 1200 x 627 | 1.91:1 |
| Article cover | 1200 x 644 | 1.86:1 |
| Company logo | 300 x 300 | 1:1 |
| Company cover | 1128 x 191 | ~6:1 |
| Link preview | 1200 x 627 | 1.91:1 |
Tip: LinkedIn's banner image has an extreme landscape ratio (4:1). Avoid placing text or logos near the top and bottom edges, as the profile photo overlaps the bottom-left corner on both desktop and mobile.
YouTube Image Sizes
| Type | Dimensions (px) | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Channel profile photo | 800 x 800 | 1:1 |
| Channel banner | 2560 x 1440 | 16:9 |
| Video thumbnail | 1280 x 720 | 16:9 |
| Community post image | 1200 x 675 | 16:9 |
Tip: the channel banner displays very differently across devices. The safe area (visible on all devices including TV) is 1546 x 423, centered within the 2560 x 1440 canvas. Keep all text and logos inside this zone.
Thumbnails are critical for click-through rate. Use 1280 x 720 with large, readable text and high-contrast colors. YouTube recommends a minimum width of 640px.
X (Twitter) Image Sizes
| Type | Dimensions (px) | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 400 x 400 | 1:1 |
| Header / banner | 1500 x 500 | 3:1 |
| Single image post | 1200 x 675 or 1200 x 1200 | 16:9 or 1:1 |
| Two images | 700 x 800 each | 7:8 |
| Link preview (card) | 1200 x 628 | 1.91:1 |
Tip: X supports images up to 4096 x 4096. The timeline preview crops images to 16:9 on desktop and approximately 1:1 on mobile. For photos, design at 1200 x 675 to avoid unexpected cropping.
For link cards (tweets with a URL), use 1200 x 628 in the twitter:image meta tag. This is the same size as Facebook's Open Graph image, so one image works for both platforms.
How to Resize Images for Social Media
Resizing images manually for each platform is tedious. Here are two approaches:
Online converter: use a tool like Morphix to resize images to exact pixel dimensions. Go to Resize for Social Media, select your target platform and placement, and the tool applies the correct dimensions automatically.
API automation: if you publish content at scale, use the Morphix API to resize images programmatically. Send the image with target width and height parameters, and receive the resized file in the response.
When resizing, always start from the highest resolution source available. Upscaling a small image creates blurry results. If your source is smaller than the target size, consider cropping instead to avoid stretching.
Resize Your Images
Morphix resizes images for every major social media platform directly in your browser. No registration required for the free plan.