Three aspect ratios run the entire social web: 1:1 (square), 4:5 / 2:3 (portrait), and 16:9 / 9:16 (widescreen and its vertical twin). Learn which ratio each placement wants and the pixel numbers follow naturally. Below is the full 2026 reference, platform by platform - bookmark it, and when you need to hit a size exactly, our Image Resizer has these presets built in.
Instagram & TikTok
| Placement | Size (px) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram square post | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 |
| Instagram portrait post (best reach) | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Instagram Story / Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| TikTok video / photo | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
| TikTok profile photo | 200 × 200 | 1:1 |
The 4:5 portrait post is the quiet winner on Instagram - it occupies about 25% more feed height than a square with no downside. Keep text away from the top and bottom ~250 px of Stories, where the username and reply box overlay your image.
YouTube
| Placement | Size (px) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | 16:9, keep under 2 MB |
| Channel art | 2560 × 1440 | Safe area 1546 × 423 in the center |
| Profile photo | 800 × 800 | Displayed as a circle - center your subject |
Facebook, X & LinkedIn
| Placement | Size (px) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook profile photo | 720 × 720 (shows ~170 px) | 1:1 |
| Facebook cover | 820 × 312 desktop | Mobile crops sides - center key content |
| Facebook feed / link image | 1200 × 630 | 1.91:1 |
| X (Twitter) post image | 1600 × 900 | 16:9 |
| X header | 1500 × 500 | 3:1 - profile photo overlaps bottom left |
| X profile photo | 400 × 400 | 1:1, shown as circle |
| LinkedIn profile photo | 400 × 400 | 1:1 |
| LinkedIn personal banner | 1584 × 396 | 4:1 - photo overlaps lower left |
| LinkedIn post / link image | 1200 × 627 | 1.91:1 |
| Pinterest pin | 1000 × 1500 | 2:3 - taller pins may get truncated |
Resize to Any of These in One Click
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Open the Image Resizer →Why the Right Size Uploads Sharper
Every platform re-encodes what you upload. Send a 6000×4000 photo to a slot that displays 1080 px wide and the platform must downscale and compress - two lossy steps, performed by a server that optimizes for bandwidth, not beauty. Fine text and edges suffer most, which is why oversized thumbnails come back looking soft. Upload at the exact display size and the platform only applies its light standard compression to pixels you already placed deliberately.
The practical workflow: resize to the target dimensions first, then compress to a sensible file size before uploading - our Image Resizer and Image Compressor cover the two steps, both entirely on your device. Wrong aspect ratio is the other silent killer: a 16:9 image posted to a 4:5 slot loses nearly half its area to the crop, usually including someone's forehead. Match the ratio, then the pixels.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best all-purpose image size for social media?▼
There is no single size, but 1080×1350 (4:5 portrait) is the strongest default for feed posts - it fills the most screen on Instagram and displays well on Facebook and LinkedIn. For anything vertical-first (Stories, Reels, TikTok, Shorts) use 1080×1920, and for link previews and YouTube thumbnails use 16:9 at 1280×720 or larger.
Why do my images look blurry after uploading?▼
Every platform re-compresses uploads to save bandwidth. The worst results come from the platform also having to resize - scaling a 4000px photo down to 1080px and then compressing it stacks two quality hits, and odd aspect ratios get cropped too. Resize to the target dimensions yourself, export at high quality, and the platform only has to do light compression.
Should I upload PNG or JPG to social platforms?▼
For photos, a high-quality JPG - platforms convert most uploads to JPG or WebP anyway, and a huge PNG just gets recompressed harder. PNG is worth it for text-heavy graphics, screenshots, and logos where JPG artifacts smear sharp edges. Either way, upload at the exact display size for the placement.
What is the safe area on YouTube channel art?▼
YouTube asks for 2560×1440, but television is the only place all of it shows. On desktop and mobile only a central strip of about 1546×423 pixels is guaranteed visible - keep your channel name, faces, and schedule inside that zone and treat everything outside as decorative background.
Do these sizes change often?▼
The core sizes are surprisingly stable - 1080×1080 posts, 1080×1920 stories, and 1280×720 thumbnails have held for years because they match common screens. What changes more often is how platforms crop previews in feeds, so re-check the specs for any placement where the crop is ruining your composition, and favor keeping key content centered.
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