Social Media Image Sizes and Video Specs: The 2026 Cheat Sheet

Why Dimensions Matter

Publishing content with incorrect dimensions is one of the most common and easily avoidable social media mistakes. When you upload an image with the wrong aspect ratio, the platform crops it — often cutting off important visual elements, text, or branding. When you upload a video in the wrong format, it may display with black bars, appear pixelated, or simply look unprofessional.

Correct dimensions also affect algorithmic performance. Platforms prefer content that uses their native formats and fills the available screen space. A properly formatted vertical Reel occupies the entire phone screen, while a square video in the Reels player wastes significant display area and looks out of place.

This guide provides the current recommended dimensions for every major social media platform as of 2026. Platforms occasionally update their specifications, so verify current requirements for any format you are using for the first time.

Instagram Specifications

Feed Posts

Square images: 1080 x 1080 pixels (1:1 aspect ratio). Portrait/vertical images: 1080 x 1350 pixels (4:5 aspect ratio). Landscape images: 1080 x 566 pixels (1.91:1 aspect ratio). The 4:5 portrait format is generally recommended for Feed posts because it takes up more screen space in the feed, increasing visibility and dwell time.

Instagram Stories and Reels

Full-screen vertical: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16 aspect ratio). This is the standard vertical video format used for both Stories and Reels. Keep important elements within the center safe zone, as the top and bottom edges may be partially obscured by the interface elements including the username, caption, and interaction buttons.

Carousel Posts

All slides in a carousel must share the same aspect ratio. The first slide determines the ratio for the entire carousel. Recommended: 1080 x 1080 (square) or 1080 x 1350 (portrait). The portrait format is preferred because it maximizes feed space.

Profile Photo

Minimum 320 x 320 pixels, displayed as a circle. Upload a square image at the highest quality possible. Ensure key elements of your profile photo are centered to avoid being cropped by the circular display.

TikTok Specifications

TikTok Videos

Standard format: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16 vertical). This is the native format that fills the entire TikTok player. Maximum file size: 287.6 MB for most uploads. Maximum length: up to 10 minutes, though shorter content typically performs better. Supported formats: MP4 and MOV.

TikTok Profile Photo

Minimum 200 x 200 pixels, displayed as a circle. Upload the highest resolution square image available for the best display quality.

Facebook Specifications

Feed Posts

Single image: 1200 x 630 pixels (1.91:1 landscape) for link previews, or 1080 x 1080 (square) and 1080 x 1350 (portrait) for standalone image posts. Standalone portrait images take up more feed space and tend to perform better than landscape images.

Facebook Reels

Full-screen vertical: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16). Same specifications as Instagram Reels. Maximum length: 90 seconds.

Facebook Stories

Full-screen vertical: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16). Same as Instagram Stories in format and dimension.

Cover Photo

Recommended: 820 x 312 pixels on desktop display. The image displays at 640 x 360 on mobile. Design with both display sizes in mind, keeping critical elements in the center where they will be visible on both desktop and mobile views.

Profile Photo

Minimum 170 x 170 pixels on desktop, 128 x 128 on mobile. Upload at the highest resolution possible as a square image. Displayed as a circle.

LinkedIn Specifications

Feed Posts

Single image: 1200 x 1200 pixels (square) or 1080 x 1350 (portrait). LinkedIn supports various aspect ratios but square and portrait formats take up the most feed space. Landscape images: 1200 x 627 pixels.

Document Posts (Carousels)

Upload as PDF. Recommended dimensions per slide: 1080 x 1080 (square) or 1080 x 1350 (portrait). Maximum 300 pages, though most effective document posts use 5 to 15 slides.

Video

Supported aspect ratios: 1:1 (square), 16:9 (landscape), 9:16 (vertical). Minimum resolution: 256 x 144 pixels. Maximum file size: 5 GB. Maximum length: 15 minutes for most accounts.

Profile and Cover Photos

Profile photo: 400 x 400 pixels recommended (displayed as a circle). Background/cover image: 1584 x 396 pixels.

YouTube Specifications

Standard Videos

Standard HD: 1920 x 1080 pixels (16:9 landscape). 4K: 3840 x 2160 pixels. YouTube supports various resolutions but 16:9 is the standard aspect ratio for the player. Upload at the highest quality your camera captures.

YouTube Shorts

Vertical format: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16). Maximum length: 60 seconds. Same vertical format used by Reels and TikTok.

Thumbnails

Recommended: 1280 x 720 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio). Minimum width: 640 pixels. Maximum file size: 2 MB. Thumbnails are critically important for click-through rate and should be designed with high contrast, readable text, and compelling visuals.

Channel Banner

Recommended: 2560 x 1440 pixels. The visible area varies significantly between devices — the safe area for text and logos is the center 1546 x 423 pixels. Design your banner with this safe zone in mind while making the full image visually appealing.

Pinterest Specifications

Standard Pins

Recommended: 1000 x 1500 pixels (2:3 aspect ratio). This vertical format is the standard for Pinterest and displays optimally in the pin grid. Taller pins are possible but may be truncated in the feed. Keep the aspect ratio between 2:3 and 1:2.1 for best results.

Idea Pins

Recommended: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16) for video frames. Image frames can use the same 9:16 format. Multiple pages/frames supported for storytelling and tutorials.

Profile Photo

Minimum 165 x 165 pixels, displayed as a circle.

X/Twitter Specifications

In-Stream Images

Single image: 1600 x 900 pixels (16:9) for optimal display. Multiple images: automatically cropped to fit the grid layout. Ensure key visual elements are centered to survive automatic cropping.

Video

Recommended: 1920 x 1080 (landscape) or 1080 x 1920 (vertical). Maximum file size: 512 MB. Maximum length: 140 seconds for most accounts.

Profile and Header Photos

Profile photo: 400 x 400 pixels (displayed as a circle). Header image: 1500 x 500 pixels.

Snapchat Specifications

Snaps and Stories

Full-screen vertical: 1080 x 1920 pixels (9:16). This is the native format for the full-screen Snapchat experience.

General Best Practices

File Format

For images, use JPG for photographs and PNG for graphics with text or transparent elements. For video, MP4 with H.264 encoding is universally supported and provides the best balance of quality and file size.

File Size

Compress images and videos before uploading to avoid quality degradation from platform compression. Tools and apps are available that reduce file size without visible quality loss. Uploading already-optimized files gives you more control over the final visual quality.

Safe Zones

All full-screen vertical formats (Stories, Reels, TikTok, Shorts) overlay interface elements on the content. Keep important text and visual elements away from the top and bottom 250 pixels to prevent obstruction by usernames, captions, and buttons.

Consistency Across Platforms

When creating content that will appear on multiple platforms, design for the most restrictive format first. If you need the same content on both Instagram Feed (4:5) and TikTok (9:16), create the 9:16 version first and crop it for the 4:5 format, ensuring critical elements are positioned to survive the crop.

Keeping Specs Updated

Social media platforms update their specifications periodically. Bookmark this guide and check back for updates. A content management tool like SocialBlaze can help ensure your content meets current platform requirements by providing format guidance during the content creation and scheduling process.

Advanced Format Optimization

Safe Zones and Interface Overlays

Every full-screen vertical format — Instagram Stories and Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels, and Snapchat — places interface elements over portions of your content. These overlays include the username and profile picture (typically top left), interaction buttons (right side), and caption text (bottom). Content placed in these areas is partially or fully obscured.

The safe zone — the area where your content is fully visible — varies by platform because each places its interface elements slightly differently. As a general rule, keep critical visual elements and text at least 250 pixels away from the top and bottom edges and 100 pixels from the sides. For text overlays specifically, position them in the center-upper portion of the frame where they are least likely to conflict with any platform’s interface elements.

When creating content that will be published on multiple platforms with interface overlays, design for the most restrictive safe zone. This ensures your content displays cleanly on every platform without needing separate versions to accommodate different overlay positions.

Compression and Quality Preservation

Every social media platform compresses uploaded content to manage storage and bandwidth costs. This compression can degrade image quality, introduce compression artifacts in video, and reduce the clarity of text overlays. Understanding how each platform compresses content helps you upload files that maintain quality after processing.

For images, uploading at the recommended resolution (rather than significantly larger) usually produces the best results because the platform does not need to downscale the image before compressing it. For video, using the H.264 codec with a bitrate appropriate for the resolution — typically 10 to 20 Mbps for 1080p — provides a good balance between quality and file size that platforms process well.

Test your content after uploading by viewing it on a mobile device. Compression artifacts that are invisible on a large monitor may be clearly visible on a phone screen, which is where the majority of social media content is consumed. If you notice quality issues, try adjusting your export settings — sometimes a slightly different compression setting produces notably better results after the platform’s processing.

Platform-Specific Video Encoding

While MP4 with H.264 encoding works universally, some platforms process certain encoding settings better than others. Instagram tends to handle high-bitrate files well but aggressively compresses lower-quality uploads. TikTok’s processing works well with standard settings but can produce artifacts in very fast-moving footage. YouTube preserves the most quality but takes longer to process higher-resolution uploads.

For the best results across platforms, export your video at the highest quality your editing software allows, then let each platform’s compression do its work. Pre-compressing your video to reduce file size often results in double-compression artifacts that look worse than simply uploading the full-quality file.

Multi-Platform Design Workflow

When you need the same content across multiple platforms at different dimensions, design for the most flexible format first. Creating a master design at 1080 x 1920 (9:16 vertical) allows you to crop to 1080 x 1350 (4:5 for Instagram Feed), 1080 x 1080 (square for multiple platforms), and 1920 x 1080 (16:9 for YouTube) with minimal redesign.

Position critical elements — your main subject, key text, and focal point — in the center third of the frame. This center positioning ensures that your core content survives any crop, whether you are going from vertical to square or from vertical to landscape. Elements placed near the edges will be cut in tighter crops.

Design templates for each platform’s dimensions that you can quickly populate with new content. Having templates ready for Instagram Feed (1080×1350), Instagram Story/Reel (1080×1920), Facebook Feed (1080×1080), LinkedIn (1080×1350), Pinterest (1000×1500), and YouTube thumbnail (1280×720) eliminates the need to recreate layouts for every piece of content.

A scheduling tool like SocialBlaze can preview how your content will appear on each platform before publishing, catching dimension or formatting issues before they go live and ensuring your content looks its best on every surface.

Video Specification Details by Platform

Frame Rate Considerations

Most social media platforms accept video at 24, 25, 30, and 60 frames per second. For standard talking-head and lifestyle content, 30 fps provides smooth motion that looks natural on screen. For content with fast movement — sports, action sequences, or fast-paced demonstrations — 60 fps provides smoother motion that reduces blur and improves visual clarity.

Higher frame rates produce larger file sizes, which can increase upload times and processing delays. Unless your content specifically benefits from higher frame rates, 30 fps is the optimal default that balances quality and file efficiency across all platforms.

Audio Specifications

Audio quality is often overlooked in visual format guides but significantly impacts content performance. All major platforms support AAC audio at 128 kbps or higher, which provides good quality for voice and music content. For content where audio quality is particularly important — music, ASMR, detailed sound design — use 256 kbps or higher to preserve audio fidelity through platform compression.

Ensure your audio levels are consistent throughout your video. Viewers who need to adjust their volume between segments of your content or between your content and other platform content will have a degraded experience. Use your editing software’s audio normalization features to maintain consistent levels, and check your audio through earbuds or headphones before publishing — the playback experience most viewers will have.

File Size and Upload Optimization

Each platform has maximum file size limits that vary by content type. Instagram Reels accept files up to 4GB, TikTok accepts up to 287MB for uploads from desktop and 72MB from mobile, YouTube accepts up to 256GB for long-form and 60 seconds for Shorts. Knowing these limits prevents upload failures and helps you optimize your export settings.

When your raw export exceeds a platform’s file size limit, reduce file size through compression settings rather than reducing resolution or frame rate. Lowering the bitrate from your maximum export setting usually produces meaningful file size reduction with minimal visible quality impact. Test the compressed file on a mobile device before publishing to verify quality meets your standards.

Quick Reference Summary

For quick daily reference, keep a simplified specification sheet accessible to everyone on your content team. The core specifications to remember are: Instagram Feed images at 1080 by 1350 pixels in 4:5 portrait ratio, Instagram and Facebook Stories and Reels at 1080 by 1920 pixels in 9:16 vertical ratio, LinkedIn images at 1080 by 1350 pixels, Pinterest Pins at 1000 by 1500 pixels in 2:3 ratio, YouTube thumbnails at 1280 by 720 pixels, and X/Twitter images at 1600 by 900 pixels in 16:9 landscape ratio.

For video across all platforms, the universal safe defaults are: MP4 format with H.264 encoding, 30 frames per second, AAC audio at 128 kbps or higher, and the highest resolution the platform supports for your content type. These defaults produce acceptable results everywhere, and you can optimize for individual platforms as your workflow matures.

Bookmark or print this reference and keep it where your content team can access it instantly. The few seconds saved by not having to look up specifications for every piece of content add up to hours saved over months of content production. Update the reference whenever platforms change their specifications, and distribute the updated version to everyone involved in content creation.

Staying Current With Specification Changes

Social media platforms update their format specifications regularly, and staying current with these changes ensures your content always looks its best. Follow official platform blogs and creator accounts for announcements about format changes. Subscribe to social media marketing newsletters that track specification updates across platforms. And periodically test your content on different devices to verify that your current specifications produce the intended viewing experience.