Social media image sizes that stop your posts being cropped
, 4 min read
Every platform re-crops images to its own shape. If you upload the wrong ratio, the app decides what to cut, and it usually cuts the part you cared about.
The sizes worth knowing
| Where | Pixels | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram square post | 1080 x 1080 | 1:1 |
| Instagram portrait post | 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 |
| Story and Reels cover | 1080 x 1920 | 9:16 |
| Facebook feed and link image | 1200 x 630 | 1.91:1 |
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280 x 720 | 16:9 |
| YouTube channel banner | 2560 x 1440 | 16:9 |
| LinkedIn banner | 1584 x 396 | 4:1 |
| X header | 1500 x 500 | 3:1 |
| WhatsApp profile picture | 500 x 500 | 1:1 |
| Pinterest pin | 1000 x 1500 | 2:3 |
Crop or fit
Crop fills the frame and trims the edges. Use it for photos, where losing some background is fine. Fit keeps the entire image and adds a background colour around it. Use it for screenshots, posters and anything with text near the edges, because cropping text is worse than showing a border.
Social Media Image Resizer covers every preset in one place, and there are dedicated pages such as Instagram Post and YouTube Thumbnail when you want the size locked in.
Two details that catch people out
Banners get cropped differently on mobile. A YouTube banner is 2560 x 1440, but only the middle 1546 x 423 is guaranteed to be visible everywhere. Keep logos and text in the centre.
Thumbnails have file size limits. YouTube caps thumbnails at 2 MB. If yours is rejected, run it through Compress Image before uploading.