Social Media Image Sizes: The Complete Cheat Sheet (2026)

Every platform crops images differently, and none of them warn you before it happens. Upload the wrong size to Facebook and your cover photo gets cut off at the sides. Get it wrong on Pinterest and half your Pin disappears below the fold. The fix isn't complicated; it just means knowing the right pixel dimensions before you export, not after you've already posted.

This page is a single reference for social media image sizes across every platform that matters, plus a fast way to get an image to the exact size you need. Once you have the numbers, resizing is the easy part; our free photo editor can crop and export to any of the dimensions below in a couple of clicks.

Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet

Bookmark this table. It's the fastest way to check a standard social media image size without digging through a platform's own help pages, though the sections below explain the reasoning behind each number and flag the details that trip people up.

Why Image Size Still Matters?

Every platform runs uploads through an automatic crop before it displays them, and that crop follows a fixed aspect ratio, not your original framing. If your image doesn't match, the platform decides what gets cut, not you.

Wrong dimensions cause the same few problems everywhere: subjects or text cropped out of frame, images that look soft because the platform stretched or upscaled a file that was too small, and a feed that looks inconsistent because every post is a slightly different shape. All of it is avoidable once you export at the right size to begin with.

Instagram Image Sizes

Instagram is the platform most people are asking about when they search for social media image sizes, and it also has the most post types to keep straight: feed posts, carousels, Stories, Reels, and profile photos each use their own dimensions.

The short version: 1080 × 1350 (4:5) for feed posts, 1080 × 1920 (9:16) for Stories and Reels, and 320 × 320 for your profile photo. For Stories and Reels specifically, keep text and logos out of the top and bottom of the frame; that's where Instagram's own interface, the caption box, stickers, and the reply bar, sits on top of your content.

Safe zone: For any full-screen vertical format, keep the important part of your image in the middle 1080 × 1420 px of the 1080 × 1920 frame. Anything closer to the top or bottom edge risks sitting behind an interface element.

For the full breakdown, including carousels, landscape posts, and inch/centimeter conversions, see our full Instagram post size guide (link to article Instagram post size); this article keeps things brief and points you there for the platform-specific depth.

Facebook Image Sizes

Facebook supports more image placements than any other platform here, and it's more forgiving about aspect ratio: feed posts display cleanly across several ratios.

• Feed post: 1200 × 630 px (1.91:1) is the safe standard. Facebook compresses images on upload regardless, so starting slightly larger than this rarely helps.
• Cover photo: 820 × 312 px on desktop. Facebook crops this differently on mobile, so keep your subject and any text centered rather than near the edges.
• Profile photo: 170 × 170 px, displayed in a circle, same cropping logic as Instagram's profile photo.
• Story: 1080 × 1920 px (9:16), same safe-zone rule as Instagram Stories applies here too.

Safe zone: For Facebook Stories, keep key content in the middle 1080 × 1420 px of the frame, same margin as Instagram.

Check Meta's Business Help Center if a number here looks off by the time you're reading this. Facebook and Instagram share the same underlying ad and business platform, and Meta updates both without much notice.

TikTok Image Sizes

TikTok is a video-first platform, but photo posts (static slideshows swiped like a carousel) use the same 1080 × 1920 (9:16) vertical frame as TikTok video. No separate dimension to learn if you already know the video spec.

Profile photos are smaller: 200 × 200 px, displayed in a circle. Sources disagree on the minimum here; some cite figures as low as 20 × 20 px, others recommend 720 × 720 px for a crisp result. Those aren't measuring the same thing: one is the smallest file TikTok will technically accept, the other is what actually looks sharp on a phone screen. Export at 200 × 200 px or larger and you won't run into either problem.

Safe zone: On a full-screen TikTok photo post, keep captions, logos, and any text out of roughly the outer 10% of the frame at the top and bottom. TikTok's interface, the caption, sound title, profile icon, and engagement buttons, sits over those edges.

TikTok's Business Help Center has the current specs if you're setting up ad creative rather than an organic post; ad placements sometimes carry stricter minimums than organic uploads.

X (Twitter) Image Sizes

X image specs are more forgiving than most. The platform accepts a range of ratios in-feed and displays them without forcing a single crop shape the way Instagram does.

• In-feed image: 1200 × 675 px (16:9) is the standard recommendation and displays cleanly without cropping in most timeline views.
• Header photo: 1500 × 500 px (3:1), the wide banner across the top of a profile.
• Profile photo: 400 × 400 px, circular crop.

There's no meaningful safe-zone concern here since X doesn't overlay interface elements on top of in-feed images the way Stories-style formats do. If a number above looks outdated, X's own Help Center is the place to double-check it.

LinkedIn Image Sizes

LinkedIn images serve a slightly different purpose than the consumer platforms above. Feed posts and cover photos here tend to carry more text and brand elements, so precision matters more than usual.

• Feed post image: 1200 × 627 px (1.91:1), matches the same ratio most link-preview cards use, so an image built at this size looks right whether someone sees it as a standalone post or a shared link.
• Personal cover photo: 1584 × 396 px (4:1), a wide banner behind your profile photo.
• Company page logo: 300 × 300 px, square, displayed at a much smaller size in the feed, so keep any text large and simple.

Safe zone: For personal cover photos, keep anything important out of the bottom-left corner; that's where your profile photo and name overlap the banner on both desktop and mobile.

LinkedIn's Help Center documents current specs by product; personal profile, company page, and ads each have their own page, so search for the specific placement you're building for.

Pinterest Image Sizes

Pinterest is the one platform on this list built around a tall, vertical format by default. A square or landscape image doesn't get cropped here so much as it just takes up less space and gets less attention while someone scrolls.

• Standard Pin: 1000 × 1500 px (2:3) is Pinterest's own recommended ratio, and it's noticeably taller than most other platforms' default. Pinterest will accept other ratios, but taller Pins consistently take up more room in the feed.
• Profile photo: 165 × 165 px, square, circular crop.

Safe zone: Pinterest overlays the Pin's title, your profile name, and a save button near the bottom of the image on mobile. Keep essential text or logos in the upper two-thirds of a tall Pin.

Pinterest's own Help Center is worth checking before a big campaign. Pinterest has changed its maximum Pin length more than once, and an overly tall image gets cropped rather than shrunk to fit.

YouTube, Snapchat, Threads, and Bluesky Image Sizes

These four see less search demand for image specs, mostly because YouTube and Snapchat are primarily video platforms and Threads and Bluesky are still smaller, but each has its own image requirements worth knowing.

• YouTube: Channel banner at 2560 × 1440 px (16:9). YouTube only shows the center of that banner safely across every device, so keep your logo or key text well inside the middle of the frame. Channel photo at 800 × 800 px, square.
• Snapchat: Snap and Story images use the same 1080 × 1920 px (9:16) full-screen format as everywhere else, with a similar safe zone; keep content out of the top and bottom 15% where captions and interface elements sit.
• Threads: Feed images follow Instagram's own 1080 × 1350 px (4:5) portrait ratio, unsurprising since Meta built Threads on the same infrastructure.
• Bluesky: Feed images display best around 1200 × 675 px (~16:9), close to X's in-feed spec, since both platforms similarly handle link and image previews.

One Universal Size If You Only Want to Design Once

If you don't want to export a separate file for every platform, a square 1080 × 1080 px (1:1) image is the closest thing to a universal social media image size. It displays without cropping on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Threads feeds, works as a Pinterest Pin (though not their preferred ratio), and fits inside Instagram's grid cleanly.

It's a compromise, not a perfect fit anywhere. A square image takes up less room than a proper 2:3 Pinterest Pin and won't fill a phone screen the way a 9:16 Story does. But for one graphic covering five platforms on a tight deadline, square is the safest export, and every major platform already handles it well.

The next best fallback, if a slightly taller image works for your content, is 1080 × 1350 (4:5). It covers Instagram and Threads feeds natively and crops only slightly on platforms built around wider ratios.

How to Resize an Image for Any Platform?

Once you know the target dimensions, getting there is mostly about avoiding one mistake: stretching an image to force it into a new ratio instead of cropping it. Stretching distorts faces, logos, and straight lines in a way that's obvious the moment someone looks closely.

A better process:

• Start with your highest-resolution original. You can scale an image down without losing much quality; scaling a small image up almost always looks soft.
• Crop to the aspect ratio you need rather than stretching the whole frame. Cropping keeps proportions intact.
• Export at the exact pixel dimensions from the cheat sheet above, not just "close enough."
• Keep faces, logos, and text away from the edges, especially for any full-screen vertical format with a safe zone.
• Save as JPG for photos, since most platforms compress on upload anyway, and PNG for graphics with sharp text or logos, where JPG compression tends to introduce visible artifacts.

IMG Search's free photo editor is built for exactly this workflow. It has ready-made social presets for the platforms above, so you crop to the right ratio and export at the correct pixel size without doing any of the math yourself. If you're resizing images for a full content calendar every week rather than the occasional post, our paid plans remove the daily export limits the free tier has.

FAQ

What is the best image size for social media in general?

There isn't one perfect size for every platform, but 1080 × 1080 px (1:1, square) comes closest to a universal answer. It displays cleanly on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Threads feeds and fits Instagram's grid without cropping, even though it isn't the ideal ratio anywhere specifically.

What image size works across most platforms if I only want to design one?

Square, 1080 × 1080 px, is the safest single export if you're producing one graphic for multiple platforms. If your content can afford to be slightly taller, 1080 × 1350 px (4:5) also covers Instagram and Threads natively and only crops a little on wider formats like Facebook or LinkedIn feed posts.

What happens if I upload the wrong image size?

The platform crops or letterboxes your image to fit its expected aspect ratio, and you don't get to choose what stays in frame. Faces get cut off, text runs off the edge, or the platform adds blank space on either side. Uploading at the correct dimensions from the start is the only reliable way to control the final crop.

How often do social media image sizes change?

Not constantly, but platforms do adjust dimensions and safe zones periodically, usually alongside redesigns or new features, and rarely with advance notice. TikTok and Instagram have both changed specs within the past couple of years. Checking a platform's own current help center before a major campaign is worth the two minutes it takes.

What file format should I use, JPG or PNG?

JPG for regular photos; it produces a smaller file and most platforms compress images on upload regardless of what you send. PNG for graphics with text, logos, or sharp lines, where JPG's compression can introduce visible artifacts around hard edges.

Final Thoughts

The numbers in the cheat sheet above cover every platform that matters for a standard social media content calendar, and none of them require guesswork once you know where to look. The pattern that repeats across every platform is the same: match your export to what the platform actually displays, keep anything essential away from the edges, and crop instead of stretching.

When you're ready to put these dimensions to use, IMG Search's free online photo editor has the presets built in already, so getting from a source photo to the right export takes a few clicks instead of a calculator and a guess.