What size should images be on each social network?

Short answer

From each network’s own pages, read on 1 October 2026: Instagram keeps feed photos 1080 pixels wide, from 1.91:1 up to 3:4 (1080 × 1440); Stories and Reels are vertical 1080 × 1920 (9:16); a YouTube thumbnail is 3840 × 2160 at 16:9; a Pinterest Pin is 1000 × 1500 (2:3); LinkedIn post photos are 1080 wide, from 3:1 to 4:5; X shows a single photo whole from 2:1 to 3:4. If one photo has to go to every feed, 1080 × 1350 (4:5) sits inside every feed range these networks publish.

Written by the Mellow team · Updated October 1, 2026, sources read October 1, 2026

Every size, from each network’s own pages

Network	Feed photo	Vertical: Stories, Reels, Shorts	Also worth knowing
Instagram	1080 wide, from 1.91:1 (1080 × 566) to 3:4 (1080 × 1440). Through the API: up to 4:5, 320 to 1440 wide, JPEG up to 8 MB	Stories 1080 × 1920; Reels 9:16, at least 720 pixels; Reel cover 420 × 654	Carousels hold 20 items in the app, 10 through the API. The profile grid shows each post as 3:4 since January 2025
Facebook	Meta publishes no size for an ordinary photo post. For feed image ads it recommends 4:5, and supports 1:1	Reels 1080 × 1920 recommended, at least 540 × 960	A Page cover loads fastest at 851 × 315 under 100 KB, at least 400 × 150; a profile picture is best at 320 × 320
LinkedIn	1080 wide recommended, at least 552 × 276, from 3:1 to 4:5, up to 5 MB, 20 photos in a post	LinkedIn has no Stories	Profile banner 1584 × 396; company page cover 1512 × 256; logo 400 × 400; link image 1200 × 627. A document post (the “LinkedIn carousel”) takes a PDF of up to 300 pages and 100 MB
X	A single photo shows in full between 2:1 and 3:4. Up to 4 photos; 5 MB per image and 15 MB per GIF, JPG, PNG, GIF or WEBP	X has no Stories	GIFs up to 1280 × 1080 and 350 frames are recommended
Threads	JPEG or PNG, 320 to 1440 wide, up to 8 MB, no longer than 10:1 (API)	Video: 9:16 recommended, up to 1920 wide, 5 minutes and 1 GB	A carousel holds 2 to 20 items
Bluesky	Up to 4 images through the API and 10 in the app since June 2026. The documentation gives 2 MB per image on one page and 1,000,000 bytes on another; no shape is required	Video up to 10 minutes and 300 MB, since August 2026	Each image can carry its own alt text
Pinterest	1000 × 1500 (2:3) recommended; a Pin taller than 2:3 may be cut off in feeds. Up to 20 MB on the web	Video Pins full screen at 9:16 (1080 × 1920), 4 seconds to 5 minutes	The title holds 100 characters, the description 800
TikTok	Photo posts hold up to 35 photos. The app gives no pixel size; through the API, JPEG or WebP up to 1080p and 20 MB each	Video 720 × 1280 or larger for a web upload; ads recommend 9:16 at no less than 540 × 960	A web upload can run 30 minutes and 10 GB
YouTube	Thumbnail 3840 × 2160 (16:9), at least 640 wide, JPG or PNG, up to 50 MB from a computer and 2 MB from a phone	Shorts thumbnail 2160 × 3840 (9:16); Shorts are square or vertical, up to 3 minutes	Custom thumbnails need a verified account; 1280 × 720, the older advice, still works

Every figure links to its page in the sources at the end of this page, all read on 1 October 2026.

One image for every network

For a feed, 1080 × 1350 (4:5) is the shape that fits everywhere: it is inside Instagram’s range in the app and through its API, inside LinkedIn’s 3:1 to 4:5, inside X’s 2:1 to 3:4 for a single photo, and it is the shape Meta recommends for Facebook feed ads. It also takes more of a phone screen than a square. Where a network allows taller, you can go further: Instagram’s app keeps 1080 × 1440, and Pinterest prefers 2:3.

For anything full screen, Stories, Reels, Shorts, TikTok and video Pins, make it 1080 × 1920 (9:16). Keep words and faces away from the top and bottom edges, where each app lays its own buttons and captions over the picture.

A square 1080 × 1080 is the fallback when one image must also sit in a grid or a small preview: nothing is cropped from it anywhere, and nothing about it is ideal anywhere.

What the networks don’t say

Three gaps are worth knowing, because figures for them circulate anyway. Meta publishes no image size for an ordinary Facebook photo post, only for ads, covers and profile pictures. TikTok’s help gives no pixel size for photo posts made in the app. And Bluesky’s documentation disagrees with itself, 2 MB on one page and 1,000,000 bytes on another, so an image under 1 MB is the one that is safe on both. Numbers you see elsewhere for these are somebody’s estimate, not the network’s.

Making the sizes, free

Instagram’s and X’s apps crop a photo as you post it. To prepare images beforehand, Mellow’s free tools work in the browser without an account: the carousel maker makes slides at 4:5, 3:4 or square and a PDF for LinkedIn; the grid maker splits one picture into posts that line up on an Instagram profile; the carousel splitter cuts a panorama into slides; and the thumbnail maker makes a YouTube thumbnail and exports it at 1280 × 720 or 4K.

Posting one image to several networks with Mellow Hub

Hub sends the same images, with each network’s own caption where you want one, to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest and TikTok in one post: up to 10 items on Instagram, 20 on LinkedIn, 4 on X and 4 on Bluesky. It checks the number and kind of files for every network before anything is sent. It does not resize images or measure their shape, so choose a size above that suits every network you post to; each network judges the shape itself.

Hub is paid: plans start at $19 a month (Solo), after a 7-day trial with a card on file that costs nothing if you cancel before it ends, and a monthly plan's first month is 20% off. Publishing is unlimited on every plan, under a fair-use ceiling that stops automated floods (900 publications a month on Solo). One publication is one post on one account, so a post sent to five networks counts as five. There are no automatic overage charges.

Questions people also ask

What is the best image size for all social media?

1080 × 1350 pixels (4:5) for feed posts: it sits inside Instagram’s range in the app and through its API, LinkedIn’s 3:1 to 4:5, X’s 2:1 to 3:4 for a single photo, and it is the shape Meta recommends for Facebook feed ads. For Stories, Reels, Shorts and TikTok, use 1080 × 1920 (9:16).

What size is an Instagram post in 2026?

1080 pixels wide, from 1080 × 566 (1.91:1) to 1080 × 1440 (3:4), according to Instagram’s help. 1080 × 1350 (4:5) and 1080 × 1080 square sit in between; through the API, and so through scheduling tools, the tallest shape is 4:5.

What size is an Instagram Story or Reel?

1080 × 1920 pixels at 9:16. Meta’s design requirements for Stories ads give 1080 × 1920 with a minimum of 600 × 1067, and Instagram’s help says a reel can be 1.91:1 to 9:16 at no less than 720 pixels.

What size should a Pinterest Pin be?

1000 × 1500 pixels, a 2:3 shape, as Pinterest recommends; a Pin taller than 2:3 may be cut off in feeds. An image can be up to 20 MB when you upload it on the web.

What size is a LinkedIn carousel?

LinkedIn’s carousel is a PDF added to a post as a document, up to 300 pages and 100 MB, according to LinkedIn’s help. The page size is yours to choose; 1080 × 1350 pages read well on a phone.

Does Facebook publish an image size for posts?

No. Meta’s help gives sizes for ads, Page covers (851 × 315 loads fastest) and profile pictures (320 × 320), but none for an ordinary photo post. For feed image ads it recommends 4:5, which is a sound choice for posts too.

Sources

Other companies’ features change. Every statement about them rests on these pages, as they read on the date above.