Why this keeps tripping people up
Platforms don't publish these numbers prominently, they change them periodically, and every platform re-compresses whatever you upload — so an image that looks perfect in your editor can come out visibly softer or oddly cropped once it's live. Uploading at the platform's actual target size, rather than 'big enough', is what avoids that.
2026 recommended sizes
- Square post — 1080 × 1080px
- Portrait post — 1080 × 1350px (Instagram's current maximum before it crops)
- Story / Reel — 1080 × 1920px (9:16)
- Profile picture — at least 320 × 320px, displayed as a circle so keep the subject centered
2026 recommended sizes
- Shared photo — 1200 × 630px displays best in feed
- Cover photo — 820 × 312px on desktop (crops differently on mobile, so keep key content centered)
- Profile picture — 170 × 170px minimum, displayed as a circle
2026 recommended sizes
- Shared image post — 1200 × 627px
- Company cover banner — 1128 × 191px
- Personal profile banner — 1584 × 396px
YouTube
2026 recommended sizes
- Thumbnail — 1280 × 720px (16:9), under 2MB, this is the single most important size on the platform since it drives click-through
- Channel banner — 2560 × 1440px, but keep essential content within the centered 1546 × 423px 'safe area' since edges crop differently across devices
The pattern worth remembering
Notice most of these cluster around a handful of aspect ratios — square (1:1), portrait (4:5), vertical (9:16), and widescreen (16:9). Once an image is cropped to the right ratio at a reasonably high resolution (1080px+ on the short side), it will look sharp virtually everywhere; the platform's own re-compression handles the rest.