Social media image and video sizes for the eight platforms (2026)

You have a client’s launch image at 1080 x 1350 and eight accounts to send it to. Instagram takes it as it is. LinkedIn accepts it. A YouTube thumbnail needs it re-cut to 16:9, and WhatsApp needs the file under 5 MB. Below are the image and video sizes each of the eight platforms publishes, one table per platform, with the page every figure came from. Everything was checked on 4 September 2026.

App limits, API limits and what a scheduler sends

Most platforms publish two sets of numbers. The app on your phone accepts one range. The API that a scheduler publishes through accepts a narrower one. Instagram is the clearest case: a carousel holds up to 20 photos and videos in the app and 10 items through the Content Publishing API. Facebook is another: a reel can be any length or orientation in the app, but 3 to 90 seconds at 9:16 through the Video API.

When you queue a post in a scheduling tool, the API figure is the one that binds. Where the two differ, the tables below carry both and label them. Figures from Meta’s ads guide, such as 1440 x 1800 for a feed image, are labelled “ads guide”: they are written for ad creative, and they are the most precise pixel sizes Meta publishes, so they make good targets for organic posts too.

One export set that works almost everywhere

Five exports cover nearly every slot in the tables below.

• 1080 x 1350 (4:5) for feed images on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. It sits inside Instagram’s API range of 4:5 to 1.91:1 and LinkedIn’s 3:1 to 4:5. The Instagram app itself accepts up to 3:4, but 4:5 is the ratio that passes through a scheduler.
• 1080 x 1920 (9:16) for Instagram and Facebook stories and reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Threads video. Meta’s Video API recommends 1080 x 1920 for reels, and TikTok calls every ad creative a 9:16 full screen video.
• 1920 x 1080 (16:9) for YouTube videos and thumbnails. It is the first of YouTube’s recommended resolutions.
• 1080 px wide for LinkedIn photos, which is LinkedIn’s own recommendation, and for Threads images, which accept 320 to 1440 px.
• JPEG for Instagram, which takes JPEG only through the API. PNG where text has to stay sharp, such as a Facebook cover with a logo, which is Meta’s advice.

Keep the masters larger than any of these and export down, never up.

Instagram: feed, stories, reels and carousels

Instagram keeps a photo’s width between 320 and 1080 px; larger photos are reduced to 1080 px. Through the API a scheduler sends JPEG only, 8 MB at most, 4:5 to 1.91:1 and 320 to 1440 px wide, so 4:5 is the safe portrait shape for a scheduled post.

Two things trip people up. In stories, keep roughly the top 14 per cent, the bottom 35 per cent and 6 per cent on each side clear of text, which is where the profile icon and call to action sit. In reels, the app takes up to 20 minutes, but reels over 3 minutes are not recommended to new audiences.

Facebook: feed, stories, reels, profile picture and cover

A Page profile picture should be 320 x 320 px. The cover must be at least 400 x 150 px and loads fastest as an sRGB JPG at 851 x 315 px under 100 KB; use PNG for a cover that carries a logo or text. On mobile the profile picture overlaps the cover by about 40 px, so keep that corner clear. All of it is on one Help Centre article.

Every video posted to Facebook is now shared as a reel, regardless of length or orientation. Through the Video API, which is the route a scheduler takes, a reel runs 3 to 90 seconds at 9:16.

TikTok: video and photo posts

TikTok documents its limits in the Content Posting API. Video is MP4 recommended, with WebM and MOV accepted, H.264, 23 to 60 fps, 360 to 4096 px on each side and 4 GB at most. Every account can post 3 minute videos, some can post 5 or 10 minutes, and 10 minutes is the ceiling through the API. A video caption through the API runs to 2,200 characters. A photo post takes up to 35 photos, a title of up to 90 characters and a description of up to 4,000, all counted in UTF-16 runes.

TikTok for Business describes every ad creative as “a 9:16 full screen video” and the platform as “always a sound-on experience”. Export at 1080 x 1920 and choose the sound on purpose.

LinkedIn: post images, video, documents and Page images

A LinkedIn photo must be at least 552 x 276 px, LinkedIn recommends 1080 px wide, each photo is 5 MB at most and a post holds up to 20 photos. The ratio can run from 3:1 to 4:5, and a multi-photo post renders at 4:5 at most, which is 640 x 800 in LinkedIn’s example. Video goes to 15 minutes and 5 GB, and one video per post.

YouTube: video resolutions, Shorts, thumbnails and channel art

YouTube’s recommended 16:9 resolutions run from 426 x 240 through 1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1440 and 3840 x 2160 up to 7680 x 4320, and YouTube asks you not to add your own padding or black bars. Any square or vertical video up to 3 minutes uploaded on or after 15 October 2024 is categorised as a Short. Uploads are limited to 15 minutes until the account is verified, and to 256 GB or 12 hours after that.

Threads: images, video and carousels

Threads takes the Instagram exports without a second cut. Through the API an image is 8 MB JPEG or PNG at 320 to 1440 px wide, video is 5 minutes and 1 GB with 9:16 recommended, and a carousel holds 2 to 20 items, all on the Threads API posts page.

Reddit: video, community banner and icon

Reddit publishes fewer dimensions than the others. A standard account can upload video of up to 15 minutes, and Reddit Premium raises that to 30, per the changelog of 4 November 2025. Video in comments is up to 3 minutes and under 1 GB. A community banner must be at least 1072 x 128 px on desktop and 1080 x 128 px on mobile, and a community icon is 300 x 300 px.

Reddit Help does not publish post image dimensions, a per-image file size or a cap on gallery images; its posting guide describes a gallery only as a post with more than one image. Use the 1080 px wide export you already make for LinkedIn and Threads.

WhatsApp: media limits on the Cloud API

WhatsApp’s Cloud API sets limits by file type rather than by pixels, on its media reference. The business profile reference gives the about line as 1 to 139 characters, the description as up to 512 and the address as up to 256, and no profile picture size.

The 16 MB video limit is the one that bites. A reel exported for Instagram can run past it, so keep a lighter export for WhatsApp.

What the platforms do not document

Some figures that circulate widely were not on the platforms’ own pages on 4 September 2026, so they are not in the tables above.

• A Facebook post character limit. Meta publishes none in the Help Centre or the Pages API posts reference.
• An Instagram profile picture size.
• Reddit post image dimensions, a per-image file size or a gallery cap.
• A WhatsApp profile picture size.
• TikTok’s in-app caption limit. Only the API figures above are documented.

Where a platform states nothing, the export set above is the safe choice.

Sending one export to eight accounts

Ignis publishes to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, Reddit and WhatsApp. It checks your media against the platforms you picked before the post is queued and tells you which one would reject it and why. The FAQ lists the file types you can upload, and the features page covers the composer. There is an image editor and a multi-track video editor in the browser, both in beta.

Basic is free and publishes to three platforms. Growth is AED 49 a month for all eight; the pricing page has the detail. If you run several accounts, managing social media for multiple clients covers how each client keeps their own workspace.

Sources

• Instagram Help Centre: photo width 320 to 1080 px and the 1.91:1 to 3:4 range.
• Instagram API media reference: JPEG only, 8 MB, 4:5 to 1.91:1, 320 to 1440 px; reels 3 seconds to 15 minutes, 300 MB, 1920 px, 23 to 60 fps.
• Meta ads guide, Instagram feed image: 4:5, 1440 x 1800, 30 MB, 500 px minimum width.
• Meta ads guide, Instagram Stories image: 9:16, 1440 x 2560, 30 MB, 500 px minimum width, the top 14 per cent, bottom 35 per cent and 6 per cent on each side to keep clear.
• Instagram Help Centre, reels: 1.91:1 to 9:16, 30 fps minimum, 720 px minimum, 420 x 654 cover.
• Instagram Help Centre, reel length: up to 20 minutes; over 3 minutes not recommended to new audiences.
• Instagram Help Centre, carousels: up to 20 photos and videos in the app.
• Instagram Content Publishing API: carousels limited to 10 items, cropped to the first item’s ratio.
• Facebook Help Centre, Page pictures: 320 x 320 profile picture, 851 x 315 cover under 100 KB, 400 x 150 minimum, 40 px overlap.
• Meta ads guide, Facebook feed image: 4:5, 1440 x 1800, 30 MB, 600 px minimum width.
• Meta ads guide, Facebook Stories image: 9:16, 1440 x 2560, 30 MB, 500 px minimum width.
• Meta video requirements: feed video up to 240 minutes at 16:9 to 9:16; Stories video 1 to 120 seconds at 1.91:1 to 9:16.
• Meta Business Help Centre, Facebook Reels: any length or orientation, 1080p mp4, 24 to 60 fps.
• Facebook Help Centre: all videos posted to Facebook are shared as reels.
• Meta Video API, reels publishing: 3 to 90 seconds, 9:16, 1080 x 1920 recommended, 540 x 960 minimum.
• Meta Pages API, posts: no post character limit is stated.
• TikTok Content Posting API, media transfer guide: video formats, 23 to 60 fps, 360 to 4096 px, 4 GB, 10 minute ceiling; photos WebP or JPEG, 1080p, 20 MB.
• TikTok Content Posting API, photo posts: up to 35 photos, 90 rune title, 4,000 rune description.
• TikTok Content Posting API, direct post: video caption up to 2,200 UTF-16 runes.
• TikTok in-feed ad specifications: 540 x 960, 960 x 540 and 640 x 640 minimums, 500 MB, up to 10 minutes.
• TikTok for Business creative guide: 9:16 full screen video, sound-on experience.
• LinkedIn Help, photos: 552 x 276 minimum, 1080 px recommended, 5 MB, 20 photos per post.
• LinkedIn Help, photo aspect ratio: 3:1 to 4:5; multi-photo posts at 4:5, for example 640 x 800.
• LinkedIn Help, media file types: 36 megapixel images, 500 frame GIFs, 100 MB and 300 page documents.
• LinkedIn Help, video: 15 minutes, 5 GB, 256 x 144 to 4096 x 2304, 1:2.4 to 2.4:1, 10 to 60 fps.
• LinkedIn Help, videos per post: one video per post.
• LinkedIn Help, Page images: 3 MB PNG or JPEG, 400 x 400 logo, 1512 x 256 cover, 1200 x 627 custom URL image.
• YouTube Help, recommended resolutions: 426 x 240 to 7680 x 4320 at 16:9, no padding or black bars.
• YouTube Help, thumbnails: 3840 x 2160 for videos with a 640 px minimum width, 2160 x 3840 for Shorts with a 640 px minimum height; video thumbnails 2 MB on mobile and 50 MB on desktop, Shorts thumbnails 50 MB on desktop.
• YouTube Help, three minute Shorts: square or vertical up to 3 minutes, uploaded on or after 15 October 2024.
• YouTube Help, channel branding: 2048 x 1152 minimum, 1235 x 338 safe area, 2560 x 1440 recommended, 6 MB; profile picture 15 MB, renders at 98 x 98.
• YouTube Help, upload limits: 15 minutes until verified; 256 GB or 12 hours.
• Threads API posts: 8 MB JPEG or PNG, 10:1, 320 to 1440 px; 5 minute 1 GB video; 2 to 20 item carousels.
• Reddit Help changelog, 4 November 2025: 15 minute video for standard accounts, 30 with Premium.
• Reddit Help, video in comments: up to 3 minutes, under 1 GB.
• Reddit Help, community banner: 1072 x 128 on desktop, 1080 x 128 on mobile.
• Reddit Help, community icon: 300 x 300.
• Reddit Help, posting and commenting: no post image dimensions, file size or gallery cap are stated.
• WhatsApp Cloud API, media: 5 MB images, 16 MB video and audio, 100 MB documents, 500 KB and 100 KB stickers.
• WhatsApp Cloud API, business profiles: about 1 to 139 characters, description 512, address 256; no profile picture size.