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Twitter Image Size: Post, Header and Profile Photo

Twitter image size from X's own help pages: header 1500x500, profile photo 400x400 under 2 MB, post photos up to 5 MB, and the 60 pixels X may crop.

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Published · 10 min read
Twitter Image Size: Post, Header and Profile Photo

For Twitter image size, X recommends a header of 1500 x 500 pixels and a profile photo of 400 x 400 pixels, the photo under 2 MB. For photos in a post, X gives no pixel size: a single photo between 2:1 and 3:4 displays in full, and each file can be up to 5 MB. The 1200 x 675 figure most guides print is a convention, not X’s rule.

Key Takeaways

  • Header: 1500 x 500 pixels; X says up to 60 pixels at the top and bottom can be cropped.
  • Profile photo: 400 x 400 pixels, JPEG, GIF or PNG, under 2 MB, not animated.
  • Photos in a post: up to 4, 5 MB each; a single photo between 2:1 and 3:4 shows uncropped.
  • GIFs: one per post, 15 MB on the web and 5 MB on mobile, never mixed with photos.
  • Link cards: a 2:1 image, at least 300 x 157, under 5 MB.

X image sizes at a glance

“X’s own figure” comes from X’s help pages and developer documentation, read in November 2026 (help.x.com through the Wayback Machine; archive dates are in the sources). “Common convention” is what size guides print where X gives no number.

ImageX’s own figureCommon conventionFile limitFormats
Header (banner)1500 x 500 recommended; top and bottom 60 px may be cropped1500 x 500Not stated by XJPG, GIF, PNG (not animated)
Profile photo400 x 400 recommended400 x 400Under 2 MBJPEG, GIF, PNG (not animated)
Single photo in a postNo pixel size; 2:1 to 3:4 displays in full1200 x 675 (16:9)5 MBGIF, JPEG, PNG; the API also takes WEBP
Two to four photosUp to 4 per post; crop not documentedNone5 MB eachSame as above
Animated GIFOne per post, not with photosNone15 MB web, 5 MB mobileGIF
Link card image2:1; min 300 x 157, max 4096 x 40961200 x 628Under 5 MBJPG, PNG, WEBP, GIF (first frame)
Image description (alt text)Up to 1,000 characters

What size should a Twitter post image be?

X does not set a pixel size for photos in a post. Its help page on posting photos says a single photo with a standard aspect ratio “(between 2:1 and 3:4) will display in full”, and that “what you see in the Post composer is what you’ll get on X.” So any shape from a wide 2:1 to a tall 3:4 shows uncropped.

That makes 1200 x 675, the 16:9 size most guides lead with, one safe choice among several. A 1080 x 1080 square also displays whole, and a 1080 x 1440 portrait (3:4) is the tallest shape X shows in full, taking more of the screen as people scroll.

Some guides still say X crops anything that is not 16:9. Linearity’s X size guide, for example, says that since April 2021 “if you upload images that do not comply with the 16:9 aspect ratio, X will crop parts of them”. X’s own help page describes the opposite for single photos, and we would plan to X’s wording. The page also says your photo “will be automatically scaled for display”, so start from a large original.

For posts with two to four photos, X’s help pages do not describe the crop. Keep faces and text near the centre of each image and check the preview before posting.

What is the Twitter header size?

X recommends 1500 x 500 pixels for the header, a 3:1 shape. Its help page on profile photo uploads explains why parts of a correctly sized header can still vanish: X says this happens “because of the way these images are displayed on different monitor sizes and in different browsers (60 pixels on the top and bottom could be cropped).”

Take that literally and the band that always shows is the middle 1500 x 380. Keep text, logos and faces inside it. Linearity’s guide adds that the profile photo covers the lower-left corner of the banner, so leave that corner free too.

X’s help pages give the header’s formats (JPG, GIF or PNG, no animated GIFs) but no file size limit; the 2 MB figure on X’s profile photo page is for profile photos only. X’s older developer documentation, archived in January 2026, listed 1500 x 500 as the largest banner size X serves, so a bigger upload gains nothing on screen.

What size is a Twitter profile picture?

X recommends 400 x 400 pixels for the profile photo, as a JPEG, GIF or PNG file under 2 MB. Its help page on customizing your profile adds that X does not support animated GIFs for profile or header images.

Design it to work small. The same archived developer page listed the versions X makes from your upload: 48 x 48 pixels for the “normal” one its API returns by default, 73 x 73 and 24 x 24. Shrink your file to 48 pixels and check that it still reads. Linearity’s guide and PostNext’s own photo resizer both note that X shows the photo as a circle, so keep the subject away from the corners.

One warning for subscribers. X’s help page on verified accounts says that changing your profile photo, display name or username “will result in a temporary loss of the blue checkmark” until X reviews the account again. If you pay for a checkmark, change the photo once, not five times in an afternoon. Our review of whether X Premium is worth it covers what else the checkmark depends on.

When a post shares a link, X builds the preview card from tags on the linked page. For the large image card, X’s developer documentation says images “support an aspect ratio of 2:1 with minimum dimensions of 300x157 or maximum of 4096x4096 pixels”, must be under 5 MB, and can be JPG, PNG, WEBP or GIF, with only a GIF’s first frame used.

This is where X and the guides disagree most. The widely printed 1200 x 628 is roughly 1.91:1, the shape LinkedIn uses for link previews. X’s own figure is 2:1, which at the same width is 1200 x 600. Its documentation does not say how it handles other ratios, so for a card made with X in mind, 1200 x 600 matches exactly.

If a page has no twitter:image tag, X falls back to the page’s og:image tag, and the card’s alt text can be up to 420 characters. X has since removed the card pages from its live developer site; these figures come from the last archived copy, of February 2026.

What file size and formats does X accept for images?

Photos can be up to 5 MB each. Animated GIFs can be up to 5 MB on mobile and up to 15 MB on the web, according to X’s help page on posting photos and GIFs. That page accepts GIF, JPEG and PNG and says X does “NOT accept BMP, TIFF or other file formats.”

X’s developer documentation for its API gives the same 5 MB for images and 15 MB for GIFs, adds WEBP as a supported format, and shows the image limits are the same for Premium and verified accounts, unlike video. For GIFs it recommends at most 1280 x 1080 pixels and 350 frames.

A post holds up to 4 photos, 1 animated GIF or 1 video, and a GIF cannot share a post with other images. Photos and GIFs cost no characters, and each still image can carry a description of up to 1,000 characters. Video follows different rules per account, covered in our guide to the Twitter video length limit.

How do you resize an image for X?

Crop the original to the shape you want, then export it at the size from the table: 1500 x 500 for the header, 400 x 400 for the profile photo, and for a post anything from 2:1 to 3:4 at around 1,200 pixels wide.

PostNext’s free Twitter photo resizer does this in your browser, so the image is not uploaded to a server. It has presets for the profile photo (400 x 400), header (1500 x 500), post image (1200 x 675) and link card (1200 x 628), and takes PNG, JPG or WebP files up to 10 MB. The link card preset follows the 1.91:1 convention; for a card made only for X, crop to 2:1 instead. LinkedIn wants different shapes again, as our guide to LinkedIn image sizes shows.

Can you schedule X posts with images in PostNext?

Yes. PostNext schedules X posts with up to 4 images, a GIF or a video, along with threads and polls. X takes no more than four photos per post, and PostNext sends only the first four, so choose them before you schedule. In a thread, each post can carry its own media.

Before a post is scheduled, PostNext checks file sizes against the limits X applies to every account. It refuses an image over 5 MB or a GIF over 15 MB with a message saying so, “even on Premium”, because X’s image limits do not change with a subscription. PostNext sends the file to X as you uploaded it, without resizing or re-encoding, so what you export is what X receives. Alt text of up to 1,000 characters goes out with still images.

The X scheduler page lists what each plan includes, and our guide to scheduling tweets on X covers picking the time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Twitter header size?

1500 x 500 pixels, a 3:1 ratio, according to X’s help pages. X warns that up to 60 pixels at the top and bottom can be cropped on some monitors and browsers, so keep text and logos inside the middle 1500 x 380 band.

What size is a Twitter profile picture?

X recommends 400 x 400 pixels, as a JPEG, GIF or PNG file under 2 MB. Animated GIFs are not supported for profile photos. The photo is shown as a circle, and X also makes a 48 x 48 version, so keep the subject centred and simple.

What is the best image size for a Twitter post?

X does not give one. A single photo displays in full if its ratio is between 2:1 and 3:4. 1200 x 675 (16:9) is the common convention, 1080 x 1080 works as a square, and 1080 x 1440 (3:4) is the tallest shape X shows uncropped.

What is the maximum image file size on X?

5 MB for a photo, with up to 4 photos in one post. Animated GIFs can be up to 15 MB on the web and 5 MB on mobile. The limits are the same for free and X Premium accounts; the profile photo has a lower limit of 2 MB.

X’s card documentation asks for a 2:1 image, at least 300 x 157 pixels and at most 4096 x 4096, under 5 MB, which makes 1200 x 600 a good fit. The common 1200 x 628 is slightly taller than X’s 2:1, and X does not say how it handles the difference.

Sources

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Chris

Head of Content at PostNext

Chris leads content and oversees development across the services this blog covers. The guides and tool comparisons here come out of the same decisions that shape what ships.

Follow along on Instagram at @postnextio for campaign breakdowns.

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