X (Twitter) image size guide for brand accounts (2026)

If you format X posts for a roster of client accounts, getting the dimensions right the first time saves a round of re-exports before anything reaches the queue.

This guide is for social media managers who size X (Twitter) content for brand accounts, client accounts, and multi-location pages. Every figure comes from X's own Help Center or developer docs, checked in October 2026. Where a size is our recommendation rather than X's, we say so.

Key takeaways

• Post images: 1200 x 675 px (16:9), 1080 x 1080 px (1:1), or 1080 x 1350 px (4:5) are our recommended sizes. X shows any single photo between 2:1 and 3:4 in full.
• Profile picture: 400 x 400 px (1:1), 2 MB maximum, JPG, GIF, or PNG.
• Header image: 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 can run up to 140 seconds and 512 MB.
• Ad images: 800 x 418 px or 800 x 800 px for card ads, 1200 x 628 px or 1200 x 1200 px for standalone image ads, 5 MB maximum.
• File limits: photos 5 MB, animated GIFs 5 MB on mobile and 15 MB on the web.
• For brand and client accounts: design one 4:5 master at 1080 x 1350 px. X shows it in full, and the same file works for scheduled Instagram feed posts.

Why X (Twitter) image & video sizes matter in 2026

A wrong size costs a brand account twice. The post goes out cropped or soft, and then someone re-exports the asset for every client or location that shares it. Getting the spec right once beats fixing it five times.

Once your visuals are sized right, run a free Traffic Snapshot to see how much of your website traffic comes from social. For every other network's specs, see our social media image sizes guide.

2026 X (Twitter) profile picture size: the complete guide

Your profile picture sits next to every post and reply the brand makes. X recommends 400 x 400 px with a 1:1 aspect ratio. The maximum file size is 2 MB, and X accepts JPG, GIF, or PNG. Animated GIFs aren't supported for profile photos.

Pro tips:

• Center the logo or face with some padding. X shows profile photos as a circle on most accounts, so the corners get cut.
• Check the new profile photo on desktop and on a phone after you save it.
• Swap it for campaigns or seasonal branding, and put a date in the calendar to swap it back.

X (Twitter) header image size for 2026: stand out at the top

The header image, which X also calls the banner, is the widest piece of brand space on the profile. X recommends 1500 x 500 px (3:1), as JPG, GIF, or PNG. Animated GIFs aren't supported, and X doesn't publish a file size limit for headers.

Best practices:

• Keep key text and logos away from the top and bottom edges. X says up to 60 px at the top and bottom can be cropped, depending on the screen and browser. That leaves a safe band of about 1500 x 380 px in the middle (our math, not X's figure).
• The profile photo sits over the lower left of the header, so keep that corner clear. Check it after you save.
• Use high-contrast images for maximum impact.
• Avoid clutter. Keep the design clean and on-brand.

Example: A SaaS brand might use the header to showcase a new feature launch or a customer testimonial. A franchise group can keep each location's name inside the safe band, so every location profile reads correctly on any screen.

In-feed, square, and vertical image sizes: 2026 recommendations

X publishes a ratio rule for single photos, not one official pixel size. Single photos with an aspect ratio between 2:1 and 3:4 display in full, and what you see in the post composer is what posts. The sizes below sit inside that range. They are our recommendations, not X's official figures.

• Standard in-feed (16:9): 1200 x 675 px, or 1600 x 900 px for a sharper file
• Square (1:1): 1080 x 1080 px
• Vertical/portrait (4:5): 1080 x 1350 px
• Link image (1.91:1): 1200 x 628 px. X builds the link preview from the linked page's own image, so set it on the web page, not in the post.

A post can hold one to four photos. An animated GIF can't share a post with other images, and you can post only one GIF per post.

Tips:

• Export at the recommended size or larger. Don't upscale a small file.
• For multi-image posts, keep all images at the same aspect ratio, and center the subject. X crops each tile to fit the grid.
• Images taller than 3:4, such as 9:16, fall outside X's full-display range and may be cropped in the timeline.
• Minimal text means more impact. Let the visuals do the talking.

X (Twitter) video size & format: 2026 best practices

X's developer docs recommend these video sizes:

• Standard video (16:9): 1280 x 720 px
• Portrait video (9:16): 720 x 1280 px
• Square video (1:1): 720 x 720 px

Upload limits from X's Help Center:

• Without Premium: up to 140 seconds (2 minutes 20 seconds) and 512 MB.
• With Premium: longer uploads, up to 4 hours and 16 GB, with 1080p playback.
• On the web: from 32 x 32 px up to 1920 x 1200 px (or 1200 x 1900 px for portrait), at aspect ratios from 1:2.39 to 2.39:1, and no more than 40 fps.

X's developer docs list different caps for posting through the API, so the limit can depend on how you post. If a brand account doesn't have Premium, cut organic video to 140 seconds or less.

Best practices:

• Export MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, at 30 fps. X's web uploader caps frame rate at 40 fps.
• A 1080 x 1920 export is taller than X's web upload maximum. Export portrait video at 720 x 1280 px, or no taller than 1200 x 1900 px.
• Add captions for accessibility, and burn them into the video. X doesn't let you add image descriptions to videos.
• Videos of 60 seconds or less loop automatically.

Planning vertical-first video for several networks? See our TikTok video size guide.

X (Twitter) ad image & carousel size requirements for 2026

Ad specs change more often than organic ones, so check X's creative ad specifications before each campaign. As of October 2026:

• Image ads with a website card, app button, or poll: 800 x 418 px (1.91:1) or 800 x 800 px (1:1)
• Standalone image ads: 1200 x 628 px (1.91:1) or 1200 x 1200 px (1:1)
• Carousels: two to six slides, one aspect ratio per carousel. Image slides 800 x 800 px (1:1) or 800 x 418 px (1.91:1). Video slides 800 x 450 px (16:9) or 800 x 800 px (1:1).
• Image ad file size: 5 MB maximum, PNG or JPEG recommended. GIFs render as static images.
• Video ads: MP4 or MOV, up to 1 GB (under 30 MB recommended). X recommends 15 seconds or less and supports up to 2 minutes 20 seconds.

Tips:

• Use high-contrast visuals to stand out in the feed.
• Build every carousel at one ratio before you upload it.
• You may see "3 MB" quoted for X ad images. That's the X Ads API limit for card image assets, not the ad spec in Ads Manager.

File size limits, aspect ratios, and mobile optimization

File size limits:

• Photos: 5 MB
• Animated GIFs: 5 MB on mobile, 15 MB on the web
• Profile photo: 2 MB
• Header: no published limit
• Video: 512 MB without Premium, 16 GB with Premium
• Image ads: 5 MB. Video ads: 1 GB.

Formats: JPEG, PNG, and GIF. X doesn't accept BMP or TIFF.

Aspect ratios:

• Profile: 1:1
• Header: 3:1
• Single photos: anything from 2:1 to 3:4 shows in full (16:9, 1:1, and 4:5 all fit)
• Link image and card ads: 1.91:1
• Video: 1:2.39 to 2.39:1 on the web. 16:9, 9:16, or 1:1 recommended.

Mobile optimization:

• For single photos, the post composer shows what will post.
• Check multi-image posts and your header on a phone after posting.
• Add alt text to every image. X allows image descriptions of up to 1,000 characters.

Expert tips & industry best practices for 2026

• Use high-resolution images and videos, exported at the recommended size rather than upscaled.
• Center subjects in multi-image posts, where X crops each tile to fit the grid.
• Check every visual in X's composer, or in your scheduler's post preview, before it goes out.
• Keep text overlays minimal for better accessibility.
• X's specs change, so review them every quarter. The update note at the end of this guide shows when we last checked.
• For cross-platform consistency, use 1080 x 1350 px (4:5) for vertical images. It sits inside X's full-display range.

Sizing X (Twitter) posts for a brand or for clients

An agency running five client X accounts doesn't size one post. Neither does a brand with 30 location pages. They size the same asset for several accounts and networks, every week. The fix is a routine, not a better export.

1. Agree one spec sheet. Pin these sizes in the team's brief template, so designers, account managers, and clients work from the same numbers.
2. Design one 4:5 master at 1080 x 1350 px. X shows it in full as a single image, and 4:5 is the tallest ratio Instagram accepts for scheduled feed posts. Don't design the master at 3:4. X will show it, but you can't schedule a 3:4 image to the Instagram feed. Our Instagram image and video sizes guide covers the Instagram side.
3. Crop the variants from the master. Make a 16:9 version at 1200 x 675 px for landscape X posts, and a 9:16 cut for vertical video. LinkedIn has its own limits, covered in our LinkedIn post sizes guide.
4. Name files by account, network, and ratio, for example clientname-x-post-16x9.jpg, so nobody attaches the wrong version.
5. Keep profile and header files with the brand. Store each client's or location's current avatar (400 x 400 px) and header (1500 x 500 px) in one shared folder, so a campaign swap doesn't start with a hunt.
6. Check before and after it goes out. Look at the post preview before it's scheduled, then check the header and any multi-image post on a phone once it's live.

For multi-location brands, keep the location name and any local offer inside the header's middle band. One header template per region means local teams only change the text.

How Sked Social fits. In Sked Social, one post can go to several accounts at once, including X, and posts created together across networks stay linked, so a late change happens in one window instead of five. Sked Social schedules and auto-publishes single-image, video, and text posts to X. Crop and resize each variant in the Media Library image editor, and keep each client's files in a shared collection the whole team can reach. Then schedule your X (Twitter) posts next to the rest of your channels.

X (Twitter) image size FAQ for 2026

Wondering about the best Twitter profile picture size? X recommends 400 x 400 pixels, a 1:1 aspect ratio, and a file under 2 MB, as JPG, GIF, or PNG.

If you're updating your Twitter header image, use 1500 x 500 pixels (3:1). X doesn't publish a file size limit for headers, but up to 60 pixels at the top and bottom can be cropped, so keep text in the middle.

When it comes to video, X recommends 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9) for landscape and 720 x 1280 pixels (9:16) for portrait. Without Premium, videos can run up to 140 seconds and 512 MB.

Does 1080 x 1350 work on Twitter? Yes. 4:5 sits inside X's 2:1 to 3:4 range, so a single 1080 x 1350 image shows in full. In a multi-image post, the tiles can still be cropped.

To optimize images for mobile on X, export at the recommended size, center subjects in multi-image posts, and check the post on a phone once it's live.

And if you're concerned about image quality, X scales photos automatically for display. Upload at the recommended size or larger, keep photos under 5 MB, and avoid re-exporting files that are already compressed.

Do Twitter image sizes still apply now that it's X? Yes. The rebrand didn't change how sizes work, and every figure in this guide comes from X's current Help Center or developer docs.

Transform your social media management with Sked Social

Keeping X (Twitter) sizes straight across brands and clients takes a routine. Size the master once, crop the variants, and schedule X next to the rest of your channels in Sked Social.

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Updated October 2026: corrected the portrait video, header, and ad file sizes, added X's 2:1 to 3:4 full-display rule, and added a routine for brand and client accounts.