Social media image sizes for brands and agencies: the 2026 guide

When you run social for several brands across every network, a single sizing standard is what keeps each account looking sharp all the way into the queue.

This is the cross-platform spec sheet for social media managers at agencies, brands, and multi-location businesses. It covers social media image sizes for Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Threads, and Google Business Profile, with a short summary for each network and a link to our full guide where we have one.

Key takeaways

• Feed posts: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5) is the size that travels. It fits the published limits for scheduled Instagram feed posts, LinkedIn, X, and Threads. 1080 x 1080 px (1:1) is the safe square.
• Vertical: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16) for Stories, Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and video Pins. Keep text inside each platform's safe zone (on Meta Stories: 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% sides).
• Link previews: 1200 x 630 px (1.91:1) on Facebook, 1200 x 627 px on LinkedIn.
• Profile photos: upload a square of at least 400 x 400 px. Every network shows it small, and most crop it to a circle.
• Covers and banners: there's no shared size. Facebook's cover loads fastest at 851 x 315 px, YouTube banners are 2560 x 1440 px, X headers 1500 x 500 px, and LinkedIn covers 1584 x 396 px (profile) or 1512 x 256 px (company page).
• For teams: build two masters per asset, 4:5 and 9:16, and crop everything else from them. Don't use 3:4 as a master if you schedule to Instagram.

Specs checked against each platform's own help pages and developer docs in October 2026.

Why social media image sizes matter in 2026

Every network resizes, crops, or letterboxes images that miss its specs. LinkedIn crops anything taller than 4:5. Pinterest can cut off Pins taller than 2:3. YouTube crops channel banners on some devices.

For one account, that's one bad post. For an agency with 10 clients or a brand with 30 locations, one wrong export turns into a dozen re-exports and a client asking why their logo got cut off. Getting the spec right once is cheaper than fixing it everywhere.

Platform-specific image size recommendations for 2026

Here's what each network asks for. For Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and TikTok, this is the short version: follow the link to the full guide for every format. Where a size is our recommendation rather than the platform's own figure, we say so.

Instagram image sizes 2026

• Feed, portrait: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5). The default for anything you schedule, because Meta's publishing API accepts feed images from 4:5 to 1.91:1.
• Feed, tall: 1080 x 1440 px (3:4), for posts published from the Instagram app only.
• Feed, square and landscape: 1080 x 1080 px (1:1) and 1080 x 566 px (1.91:1).
• Stories and Reels: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16). Instagram recommends 420 x 654 px for a Reel cover.
• Profile photo: a square, uploaded at 1080 x 1080 px. Instagram shows it as a small circle.
• Carousels: one ratio for every slide. Up to 20 items in the app, or 10 through Meta's publishing API.

Full guide: Instagram image and video sizes for brand teams

Facebook image sizes 2026

• Feed photos: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5) or 1080 x 1080 px (1:1). Meta doesn't publish an organic feed size, so these are our recommendation. They match Meta's 4:5 feed ad spec.
• Link previews: at least 1200 x 630 px, as close to 1.91:1 as possible, up to 8 MB. Below 600 x 315 px, the preview shows much smaller.
• Page cover: shown full bleed at 16:9 on computers and 2.4:1 on mobile, at least 400 x 150 px. An 851 x 315 px sRGB JPG under 100 KB loads fastest. On mobile the profile picture overlaps the cover by about 40 px, so keep text clear of it.
• Profile picture: 320 x 320 px for best quality. Facebook crops it to a circle and shows it at 176 x 176 px on computers and 196 x 196 px on phones.
• Stories and Reels: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16), our recommendation. Meta's Stories ad guidance keeps about 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom, and 6% on each side free of text.

Example: a retail group posting one product launch to 12 store Pages exports a 4:5 file for the feed and a 9:16 file for Stories. No product gets cropped on any store's Page.

X (Twitter) image sizes 2026

• Post images: 1200 x 675 px (16:9), 1080 x 1080 px (1:1), or 1080 x 1350 px (4:5), our recommendations. X shows any single photo between 2:1 and 3:4 in full. Photos up to 5 MB, as JPG, PNG, or GIF.
• Profile photo: 400 x 400 px (1:1), 2 MB maximum.
• Header: 1500 x 500 px (3:1). Up to 60 px at the top and bottom can be cropped, so keep text and logos in the middle.
• Video: 1280 x 720 px (16:9) or 720 x 1280 px (9:16). Without Premium, videos run up to 140 seconds and 512 MB.

Full guide: X (Twitter) image size guide for brand accounts

LinkedIn image sizes 2026

• Feed images: any ratio from 3:1 to 4:5, at least 552 x 276 px, up to 5 MB. 1080 x 1350 px (4:5) and 1080 x 1080 px (1:1) both post unchanged. Anything taller than 4:5 gets cropped.
• Link images: 1200 x 627 px (1.91:1).
• Profiles: photo 400 x 400 px, background 1584 x 396 px, each under 8 MB.
• Company pages: logo 400 x 400 px (at least 268 x 268 px) and cover 1512 x 256 px, as PNG or JPEG up to 3 MB.
• Video: any ratio from 1:2.4 to 2.4:1, from 3 seconds to 15 minutes.

Full guide: LinkedIn post sizes for company pages and B2B brands

TikTok image and video sizes 2026

• Video: 9:16 is TikTok's recommended ratio. Export at 1080 x 1920 px, our recommendation rather than a TikTok rule. TikTok also accepts 16:9 and 1:1, but neither fills a phone.
• Length: every creator can post three-minute videos, and some accounts can post five- or 10-minute videos. Uploads through TikTok's posting API max out at 10 minutes and 4 GB.
• Cover: TikTok publishes no separate cover size. The TikTok app has its own cover tools. Through TikTok's API, the cover is a frame of the video, the first frame unless another is set.
• Profile photo: TikTok doesn't publish an organic profile photo size. Upload a clear square.

Full guide: TikTok video size and aspect ratio guide for brands

Pinterest image sizes 2026

• Standard Pins: 2:3 at 1000 x 1500 px. Taller Pins may get cut off in feeds.
• Image files: BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or WEBP, up to 20 MB on the web.
• Video Pins: 9:16 (1080 x 1920 px) for full-bleed. 1:2, 2:3, 3:4, 4:5, and 1:1 also work. Four seconds to five minutes, as MP4, MOV, or M4V.
• Safe zone: keep text out of the top 270 px, the bottom 790 px, the left 65 px, and the right 195 px.

YouTube image sizes 2026

• Channel banner: 2560 x 1440 px recommended, at least 2048 x 1152 px (16:9), 6 MB or smaller. YouTube crops the banner on some devices, so keep text and logos inside the central 1235 x 338 px.
• Thumbnails: 3840 x 2160 px (16:9) for videos and 2160 x 3840 px (9:16) for Shorts. At least 640 px wide for videos, or 640 px tall for Shorts. JPG or PNG, up to 2 MB from mobile or 50 MB on desktop.
• Profile picture: shows at 98 x 98 px. JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG (no animated GIFs), under 15 MB.
• Shorts: square or vertical videos up to three minutes long, uploaded on or after October 15, 2024, count as Shorts. A 1080 x 1920 px export fills the screen (our recommendation).
• Watch out: a vertical video with a 16:9 custom thumbnail gets an auto-generated 4:5 thumbnail on the home, explore, and subscriptions feeds.

Threads and Google Business Profile image sizes 2026

Threads

• Images: JPEG or PNG, up to 8 MB, 320 to 1440 px wide, at any ratio up to 10:1. These are the limits in Meta's Threads API, which scheduling tools use.
• Video: up to five minutes and 1 GB. 9:16 avoids cropping.
• Carousels: two to 20 items.
• Our recommendation: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5), the same file as your Instagram feed post.

Google Business Profile

• Photos: JPG or PNG, 10 KB to 5 MB. 720 x 720 px recommended, 250 x 250 px minimum.
• Videos: up to 30 seconds and 75 MB, at 720p or higher.
• Logo and cover: no separate pixel spec, and Google doesn't guarantee your cover shows first.
• For multi-location brands: one 720 x 720 px file carries the same offer to every location's profile, so build it once at head office.

Mobile-first design and aspect ratios: the 2026 standard

Aspect ratio is width to height. Get the ratio right and the pixel size follows.

• 4:5 (1080 x 1350): feed posts on Instagram (scheduled), Facebook, LinkedIn, X, and Threads.
• 1:1 (1080 x 1080): one square that works in every feed.
• 9:16 (1080 x 1920): Stories, Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and video Pins.
• 16:9 (1920 x 1080): YouTube videos and thumbnails, landscape video, and X's 1200 x 675 post image.
• 1.91:1 (1200 x 630): link previews.
• 2:3 (1000 x 1500): Pinterest Pins.
• 3:4 (1080 x 1440): Instagram posts published from the app. Tools that auto-publish through Meta's API top out at 4:5, and LinkedIn crops 3:4 to 4:5.

Step by step:

1. Design for the largest size you need, for example 1080 x 1920 px.
2. Keep key content centered, away from the edges and inside each platform's safe zone.
3. Preview every post at phone size before it's scheduled.

Social media image size best practices for 2026

• Upload at least 1080 px wide. For Meta image ads, Meta recommends 1440 px.
• Save photos as sRGB JPGs. Meta's fastest-loading cover is an sRGB JPG, and Threads converts other color profiles to sRGB.
• Keep text and logos in the center and inside each platform's safe zone.
• Keep brand assets in one shared library, with templates set at each platform's size.
• Check every image in the post preview before it goes live.
• Don't rely on one size for every network. A 4:5 master covers most feeds, not Stories, YouTube, or Pinterest.
• Re-check the specs every quarter. Instagram added 3:4 photos in May 2025, and YouTube's Shorts rule changed for uploads from October 15, 2024.

Sizing social media images for several brands or clients

Posting for one brand is a sizing problem. Posting for 10 clients or 40 locations is a process problem. These habits keep every account on spec.

1. One spec sheet per brand or client. Put these sizes in your brand guidelines or client onboarding doc, and give one person the job of updating it.
2. Two masters per asset. Make a 4:5 master (1080 x 1350 px) for feeds and a 9:16 master (1080 x 1920 px) for vertical placements, with text and logos in the center. Don't build the master at 3:4. X and the Instagram app take it, but you can't schedule a 3:4 image to the Instagram feed, and LinkedIn crops it to 4:5.
3. Crop the rest from the masters. 1:1 for square feeds, 16:9 for YouTube and landscape X posts, 2:3 for Pinterest, and 1.91:1 for link images.
4. Name files by client, network, and ratio, for example clientname-instagram-4x5.jpg, so the wrong file never reaches the wrong account.
5. Keep profile photos and covers with each brand. Store every client's or location's current avatar and cover in one shared folder, so a campaign swap doesn't start with a hunt.
6. Check on a phone before approval. Clients judge the post as it appears on their profile, not the design file.

Example: an agency with eight clients turns one campaign visual into 4:5, 1:1, and 9:16 versions for each brand. That's 24 files, named and filed before anyone schedules a post. A hospitality group runs the same routine from head office: it supplies the masters, and each venue swaps only its name and local offer.

How Sked Social fits. Sked Social schedules and auto-publishes to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Threads, and Google Business Profile. Select several accounts when you create a post, and it goes to each of them from one place. Posts you create together across platforms with Bulk Create stay linked, so a late client change gets made in one window instead of five. Crop and resize each variant in the Media Library image editor, and keep each client's files in a collection the whole team can reach. See how scheduling works.

Optimal ad image and video specifications for every major social platform in 2026

Ad specs differ from organic ones, and they change more often. The sizes below come from each platform's own ad documentation. Check them in the ad manager before each campaign.

For the rest of each network's ad formats, see the Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and TikTok guides.

Transform your social media management with Sked Social

Sizing for several brands is a hard job. Keeping the specs straight is half of it. Getting each file to the right account at the right time is the other half.

Sked Social schedules to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Pinterest, plus Threads and Google Business Profile, for every brand you manage, from one place.

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