In this blogpost, we will explore:
– Why optimal social media sizes are the key to a successful online presence
– Instagram image and video sizes
– Facebook image and video sizes
– LinkedIn image and video sizes
– Twitter image and video sizes
– TikTok image and video sizes
– YouTube image and video sizes
Why optimal social media sizes are the key to a successful online presence
No matter which social media platform you use, one thing is for certain: you’ll find a lot of competition fighting for more and more exposure. But that shouldn’t intimidate you. As long as your content is interesting, there are only a few technicalities you need to account for to get your content noticed.
One of those technicalities is social media posts sizes. This is the measurement you often see mentioned as “width x height” and is mostly measured in pixels (px). The resulting aspect ratio is referred to as the image format, with 4:3 and 16:9 being the most common image formats these days.
You ensure the quality
All social media platforms have their own specific image size requirements. This doesn’t mean that if you ignore these sizes, your content won’t get published. It may still go ahead and land on the platform but you run the risk of your image not being shown optimally in the image preview, or it getting distorted or pixelated. The same can happen to your videos. The consequence: your content looks unprofessional and gives a bad impression to the user.
In the following sections, we have already shortlisted the optimal social media posts sizes for the most popular channels. This way, you don’t have to deal with the hassle. As long as you adjust your content to these sizes, your followers and communities will have no trouble navigating your content and enjoying it to the fullest!
Your content is optimized for your target users’ device
Most of today’s social media platforms are used on smartphones. That’s why the different apps have optimized their image formats for mobile screens. As a general tip, you should always be aware of how your content is displayed on mobile devices. For example, landscape format often doesn’t give a good viewing experience on smaller screens and is therefore not recommended.
Instagram image and video sizes
When publishing on Instagram, don’t forget to pay special attention to your profile picture. It follows a different set of guidelines than the general Instagram content. Knowing the video thumbnail formats inside out is also key. Here are the Instagram image sizes in detail:
Instagram image and video sizes
- Profile pic: 110 x 110 px (1:1)
- Image post (Feed):
- Square: 1080 x 1080 px (1:1)
- Portrait: 1080 x 1350 px (4:5)
- Landscape: 1080 x 566 px (1.91:1)
- Video post:
- Square: 1:1
- Portrait: 4:5
- Landscape: 16:9
- Video preview image*:
- Grid View – Square: 1080 x 1080 px (1:1)
- Reels Tab – Portrait: 1080 pixels x 1920 pixels (9:16 )
- Stories: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16)
- Reels & Live: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16)
*The video preview, also referred to as the thumbnail, is the picture shown in the feed before a video starts. This image should not be ignored as it is relevant for all those users who have deactivated autoplay. For them, the video preview image is what helps them decide whether to play the video or not. So ignore this at your own peril!
The Square may have been discontinued, but it still plays an important role on Instagram
Instagram was originally limited to posts in the 1:1 image format, so there was no concept of Instagram image sizes other than the square format. But this is no longer the case. As you may have noticed, our recommended post sizes for Instagram also include portrait and landscape formats. Having said that, the grid view of an Instagram profile still shows images in the square format, as depicted below:
Since this is the first thing people look at when they open a profile, it’s a point you must consider when selecting the right image format for your Instagram posts.
Facebook image and video sizes
Facebook, in accordance with the changing trends, also pivoted to a visual content focused platform. Plain old text is no longer the predominant content type on the platform, so there are enough Facebook post sizes for you to keep an eye on.
Just like its sister firm Instagram, the Facebook profile picture’s size plays a central role. This is why the profile pic is the first place to start when talking about Facebook image sizes.
Facebook image and video sizes
- Profile picture (also applies to business profiles): 180 x 180 px (1:1)
- Cover image: 640 x 360 px (16:9)
- Cover image for events: 1920 x 1080 px (16:9)
- Link preview: 1200 x 628 px (16:9)
- Image post:
- Square: 1200 x 1200 px (1:1)
- Portrait: 1200 x 1500 px (4:5)
- Landscape: 1200 x 630 px (16:9)
- Video post:
- Square: 1:1
- Portrait: 4:5, 2:3, 9:16
- Landscape: 16:9
- Video preview image:
- Select the same aspect ratio as that of the video.
- Story image: 1080 x 1920 px (9:16)
LinkedIn image and video sizes
LinkedIn is the premier social media platform when it comes to professional networking. Contrary to what people may think, LinkedIn has an increased focus on visual content and rewards high-quality visual posts. This is why knowing the right LinkedIn post image size is all the more important.
LinkedIn image and video sizes
- Profile picture: 400 x 400 px (1:1)
- Background picture: 1584 x 396 px (4:1)
- Profile pic company page: 300 x 300 px (1:1)
- Link preview: 1200 x 627 px (ca. 2:1)
- Feed post: 1200 x 1200 px (1:1)
- Video post:
- Portrait: 1:2,4
- Landscape: 2,4:1
Twitter image and video sizes
Twitter currently supports three different video formats in its feed – a testament to its recognition of visual content being king in the industry. In fact, recently, it also allowed users to upload up to four pieces of visual content in one single tweet – mixing the different content types: videos, images and GIFs.
«A picture is worth a thousand words» – a saying that is proven correct with tweets containing visual content performing better on the platform. A great reason for you to keep the Twitter image size in mind when posting on the platform.
Twitter image and video sizes
- Profile picture: 400 x 400 px (1:1)
- Cover image: 1500 x 500 px (3:1)
- Image post: 1600 x 900 px (16:9)
- Twitter cards: 120 x 120 px (1:1)
- Video post:
- Square: 1:1
- Portrait: 16:9
- Landscape: 9:16
TikTok image and video sizes
TikTok’s meteoric rise has impressed everyone. Perhaps no other platform implemented visual content as effectively as TikTok did, with its entire focus on short videos that were simple and effective for both content creators and consumers. As a result, there isn’t much to consider when it comes to TikTok video sizes.
TikTok image and video sizes
- Profile picture: 200 x 200 px (1:1)
- Video post: Portrait: 9:16
YouTube image and video sizes
While other social media platforms struggle to take video market share, YouTube can still call itself the number one video portal on the internet. And that’s a good enough reason for you to follow the YouTube video size guidelines when posting on the platform.
Some time ago, YouTube added short format videos to its platform by the name «Shorts». This section serves the needs of the ‘TikTok generation’ and requires its own guidelines that you must stick to for optimal results.
YouTube image and video sizes
- Profile picture: 800 x 800 px (1:1)
- Channel image: 2560 x 1440 px (16:9)
- Video: 16:9
- Video preview image (Thumbnail): 1280 x 720 px (16:9)
A Social Media Management Tool like Levuro helps comply with each platform’s post formats
By now, you should be familiar with all the social media posts sizes requirements for each platform. But being familiar isn’t enough. You have to actively and manually implement those sizes for each platform. And that sounds like a hassle, doesn’t it?
Nothing to worry about, though. A social media management tool like Levuro takes care of the social media posts sizes, so that you don’t have to!
Levuro remembers all the right image and video formats for your content
Using Levuro, you can easily crop your visual content as per the requirements of each social media platform – without knowing them by heart. And what’s more, you can take advantage of many more useful features that will improve your workflow:
- Edit your images and videos during the publishing phase.
- Set your video preview image in advance.
- Use the preview feature to check how your content will be displayed on desktop and mobile devices.
There’s a lot more for you to explore in Levuro, so why not try out the free version yourself and take your productivity to the next level?
Levuro – more time for things that you love!