Led by ratio, not pixels. Ratio is what the platform enforces — get it wrong and your image is centre-cropped, which is exactly where you put the important thing. Pixel dimensions are a floor to clear, not a target to hit.
Last reviewed 31 August 2026
Start here: the five that matter
9:16
Stories, Reels, TikTok, Shorts — Full-screen vertical video everywhere.
4:5
Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds — The tallest still image a feed will show without cropping.
1:1
Every feed, and profile grids — The safe default when one asset has to work in several places.
1.91:1
Link previews on Facebook and LinkedIn — Comes from the page's Open Graph image, not from the post.
16:9
YouTube thumbnails, X in-stream — The only landscape ratio still worth producing.
Every placement
Instagram
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
Feed — portraitTakes the most vertical space in the feed of any feed format. If you only make one size, make this one.
4:5
1080 × 1350
Feed — square
1:1
1080 × 1080
Feed — landscapeSmallest footprint on a phone screen.
1.91:1
1080 × 566
Stories and ReelsKeep text clear of roughly the top and bottom sixth — interface controls sit there.
9:16
1080 × 1920
Profile grid cropPortrait posts are centre-cropped to a square in the grid. Check the crop before posting.
1:1 preview
—
TikTok
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
VideoCaption, handle and buttons overlay the lower third and right edge. Keep anything readable out of both.
9:16
1080 × 1920
Facebook
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
Feed — portrait
4:5
1080 × 1350
Feed — square
1:1
1080 × 1080
Shared link previewThis is the one that comes from your page's Open Graph image, not from the post.
1.91:1
1200 × 630
Stories and Reels
9:16
1080 × 1920
LinkedIn
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
Feed — portrait
4:5
1080 × 1350
Feed — square
1:1
1200 × 1200
Shared link previewComes from the destination page's Open Graph image.
1.91:1
1200 × 627
X
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
In-stream imageCropped to roughly 16:9 in the timeline; the full image shows when tapped.
16:9
1600 × 900
Square image
1:1
1200 × 1200
YouTube
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
ThumbnailLegible at about 120px wide, which is where most of them are actually seen.
16:9
1280 × 720
Shorts
9:16
1080 × 1920
Pinterest
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
Standard pinTaller than 2:3 gets truncated in the feed rather than scaled.
2:3
1000 × 1500
Threads
Placement
Ratio
Upload at least
Feed image
4:5 to 1:1
1080 × 1350
Two things these tables never tell you
Every platform recompresses on upload. Quoting a size to the pixel implies a precision that does not survive the CDN. Upload comfortably above the recommendation at the right ratio and let it downscale — downscaling looks fine, upscaling does not.
Specs change, and pages like this go quietly stale. That is why there is a review date at the top of this one. If you are producing something expensive, check the platform’s own current documentation as well — and if you find something here out of date, tell us.