The numbers below were verified against platform documentation and current spec sheets in October 2026. Two things to hold onto while reading: the aspect ratio is the real spec (the pixel count is just its canonical size), and every “recommended” number hides a crop zone or a compression behavior that matters more than the digits.

The master table

Platform	Asset	Pixels (W×H)	Aspect	Notes
YouTube	Video thumbnail	1280×720	16:9	Classic rendition. YouTube Help now recommends uploading up to 3840×2160 (min width 640); max file ~2 MB mobile / 50 MB desktop.
YouTube	Channel banner	2560×1440	16:9	Only the central ~1546×423 shows on every device — text goes there or nowhere.
YouTube	Shorts	1080×1920	9:16	Full vertical canvas.
Instagram	Square post	1080×1080	1:1	Feed widths render at 1080 px max.
Instagram	Portrait post	1080×1350	4:5	Tallest feed ratio — max scroll real estate.
Instagram	Landscape post	1080×566	1.91:1	Widest feed ratio.
Instagram	Story / Reel	1080×1920	9:16	Keep key content inside the central ~1080×1420 — ~250 px top and bottom sit under UI.
Instagram	Profile photo	320×320	1:1	Displays as a circle.
Facebook	Feed image	1200×630	1.91:1	Matches link-share preview ratio.
Facebook	Cover photo	820×312	≈2.63:1	Desktop crop; mobile reframes — keep the center safe.
Facebook	Story	1080×1920	9:16	Same vertical canvas as Instagram.
X (Twitter)	Header	1500×500	3:1	~50–60 px can crop off top/bottom; avatar overlaps lower-left.
X (Twitter)	Post image	1200×675	16:9	Single-image posts; the old 2:1 advice is outdated.
X (Twitter)	Profile photo	400×400	1:1	Circle crop.
LinkedIn	Post image	1200×627	≈1.91:1	Feed image; square 1080×1080 also performs.
LinkedIn	Profile banner	1584×396	4:1	Personal profile (company pages use a different, flatter spec).
Pinterest	Pin	1000×1500	2:3	The recommended tall format; taller gets feed-clipped.
TikTok	Video / photo	1080×1920	9:16	The platform is 9:16 end to end.
Open Graph	Share image	1200×630	1.91:1	Not a platform — the og:image convention behind Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Discord, iMessage previews.

How to read “recommended” vs “minimum” vs “displays at”

• Recommended upload size is the input the platform’s compressor was tuned around. YouTube’s 1280×720 thumbnail and Instagram’s 1080-wide feed are this kind of number — matching them exactly avoids a resample entirely.
• Minimums (YouTube’s 640-px thumbnail width, Instagram’s 500-px floor) are rejection thresholds, not quality targets. Sitting at a minimum is how uploads come out soft.
• “Displays at” is the render size users actually see — almost always smaller than the upload spec. An X header uploads at 1500×500 but renders ~600×200 on many screens; design for the render, export at the spec.

The safe zones the table can’t show

Three traps repeat across platforms:

1. Avatar/UI overlays. X headers lose the lower-left to your profile photo; Stories lose ~250 px top and bottom to interface chrome; YouTube’s banner shrinks to its central ~1546×423 on TVs. Keep text and faces in the verified-visible region.
2. Different crops per surface. The same asset renders differently in feed, profile grid, embed and share-preview. A 4:5 Instagram portrait shows fine in-feed but grids at 3:4 — keep composition tolerant of side trims.
3. Compression, not geometry. Most “my image looks bad” reports are JPEG recompression, not wrong dimensions. Upload exactly the spec size (or an even multiple of it) to give the platform’s rescaler the cleanest possible input — downscaling cleanly is what this does to quality.

Producing every target from one source

Work backwards: shoot or design one large master (3000×3000 for statics, 2160×3840 for vertical video), then derive each target by fit or fill math — fit when the asset must not lose content, fill when it must not show bars. The social presets mode on the scaler carries this whole table as live targets: load your source, pick a platform, get the exact fitted/filled dimensions and the bars-or-crop each implies.

Frequently asked questions

Is 1280×720 still the right YouTube thumbnail size?

It's still the standard display rendition — every thumbnail serves a 1280×720 'maxres' version. But YouTube's help page now recommends uploading up to 3840×2160 (minimum width 640, 16:9 aspect): a bigger upload survives YouTube's recompression better. If you only export one size, 1280×720 remains correct; if quality matters, export 1920×1080 or larger at 16:9.

Why do platforms all say '1080 wide' but different heights?

Because 1080 px is the feed's render width — the aspect ratio is the real spec. Instagram accepts 1.91:1 through 4:5, so the same 1080 width produces 566, 1080, 1350 and (in Stories) 1920 heights. Uploading taller than 4:5 or wider than 1.91:1 triggers a crop, not a resize.

What happens if I upload a smaller image than the spec?

The platform upscales it — badly. Feed compression then compounds the softness, which is why small uploads look muddy. Export at the spec size or larger (the same aspect ratio), never smaller.

What's the single most reusable master size?

A 3000×3000 square master crops cleanly to 1:1, 4:5 (2400×3000), and 16:9 (3000×1688) with resolution to spare for every target in the table. For video-led workflows, a 2160×3840 (9:16) master covers Stories, Reels, TikTok and Shorts at full quality.

Do these specs change often?

Occasionally — LinkedIn and X have each revised post-image ratios in the last few years, and YouTube quietly raised its recommended thumbnail upload. This table is stamped October 2026; if you're reading much later, spot-check the platform help pages linked in the notes.