Social media image sizes: a cheat sheet for every network

For an Instagram feed photo, use 1080 pixels wide and anything from 566 to 1440 pixels tall. For a Google Business Profile photo, Google recommends 720 by 720 pixels. For a Facebook Page cover, keep everything important in the middle, because your profile picture covers part of it. For Stories, Reels, TikTok and Shorts, film vertically and keep text away from the edges. Here is the detail behind each, straight from the platforms' own help pages.

Instagram feed photos

Instagram's help center gives one rule: upload a photo at least 1080 pixels wide, with an aspect ratio between 1.91:1 and 3:4. Inside that range Instagram keeps your photo at full quality. Outside it, the photo gets cropped to the nearest shape Instagram accepts, and you do not get to choose what is cut.

The square and 4:5 rows are simply points inside Instagram's range. Taller photos take more of the screen as people scroll, which is why portrait is the safe default for a business feed.

Stories, Reels, TikTok and Shorts: think vertical

All four fill a phone screen held upright, so the rule is the same everywhere: film or design vertically, at the shape of your phone's screen, and do not put words at the very top or bottom. On every one of these apps, buttons, your account name and the caption sit over those edges.

Two habits save most vertical videos. Film with the camera app's normal video setting, held upright, rather than turning a horizontal clip later. And keep your text in the middle two thirds of the screen. If you post the same clip to several apps, that one safe area works for all of them. YouTube Shorts can now run up to 3 minutes, but the shape rule does not change with the length.

Facebook Page profile picture and cover

Facebook's help center points out two things that trip up almost every small business:

• The profile picture covers part of the cover photo. On the left side of the cover, and on phones it overlaps by about 40 pixels. A logo or a phone number placed there disappears.
• The cover is cropped differently on different screens. It may be resized to fit a computer, a phone or a tablet, so the edges are never safe.

The fix is simple: keep anything important in the center of the cover, and leave the left edge and the borders for background. Facebook also suggests a PNG file for a profile picture or cover with your logo or text, because it keeps the lettering sharp.

Google Business Profile photos

Google recommends photos of 720 by 720 pixels for a Business Profile, and videos at 720p or higher. Most phone photos are far bigger than that, so the size is rarely the problem. The problems are the content: blurry shots, heavy filters, and photos that do not show what a customer will actually see. Real photos of your entrance, your space, your team and your work do more than any perfect crop. If you are new to the profile itself, start with what a Google Business Profile is and what goes on it.

Five habits that prevent most cropping problems

1. Shoot a little wider than you need, so there is room to crop without cutting off heads or products.
2. Put the subject in the middle third of the frame.
3. Never put text on the outer edges of a cover, a story or a reel.
4. Save logos and graphics with text as PNG, photos as JPG.
5. Check every new post on a phone before you call it done. That is where your customers will see it.

Good light matters as much as the right size, and how to take good product photos with your phone covers that part.

When your profiles still look off

If your cover is cut in the wrong place, your profile picture is a blurry logo and every network shows something different, that is exactly what our Profile Makeover fixes: the right sizes for your profile picture and cover on every network in your plan, a clear bio and one link that sends people to the right place. If you only need the numbers, this page is all you need. If you want it done for you, it is with our one-time jobs on the pricing page.