Social media image & video size checker
Every platform crops differently and lays its own buttons over your content. Choose a format below to get the recommended export size, the aspect ratio, and where the 'safe zone' is so your message survives the interface.
Recommended size
1080 × 1920 px
- Aspect ratio
- 9:16
Keep captions, your logo and any call-to-action within the central 1080 × 1420 area — Instagram lays the username, audio strip and action buttons over roughly the top and bottom 15%.
Social media export-size reference
These presets are starting points for your design. Select a format in the tool for its layout tip, then check the crop and overlays in the destination app.
| Format | Export size | Aspect ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reel | 1080 × 1920 px | 9:16 |
| Instagram square post | 1080 × 1080 px | 1:1 |
| Instagram portrait post | 1080 × 1350 px | 4:5 |
| Instagram / Facebook Story | 1080 × 1920 px | 9:16 |
| TikTok video | 1080 × 1920 px | 9:16 |
| YouTube Short | 1080 × 1920 px | 9:16 |
| YouTube thumbnail | 3840 × 2160 px | 16:9 |
| X (Twitter) landscape image | 1600 × 900 px | 16:9 |
| LinkedIn shared image | 1200 × 627 px | 1.91:1 |
Suggested margins are approximate and vary by device and interface. YouTube thumbnail guidance was checked on 7 September 2026; other rows are common export presets, not exhaustive current platform specifications.
Sources, assumptions & calculation methodsHow to use this result
The fastest way to look amateur on social media is to have your caption clipped by the platform's own buttons. Each app reserves slices of the screen for its interface — TikTok's action rail down the right, Instagram's reply bar across the bottom of a Story, YouTube's duration stamp in the thumbnail corner — and those slices change depending on the format. Designing to the raw canvas size isn't enough; you have to design to the part that stays visible.
This checker gives you both numbers that matter: the export size to hand your design tool, and a plain-English note on where the safe zone sits for that specific format. Build to the recommended pixels, then keep your text, logo and key subject inside the safe area, and your post will read correctly whether it's seen on a tiny phone or a desktop preview.
If you only remember one rule, make it this: centre the things that must be seen, and leave breathing room top and bottom on anything vertical. The middle of the frame is almost never covered, so a headline parked dead-centre is easier to keep visible; check the actual preview before posting.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a 'safe zone'?
- It's an area you leave clear of likely interface overlays. No fixed margin is guaranteed across devices and app updates. Buttons, captions, profile rings and progress bars all sit on top of your content, so anything important — text, faces, logos, a call-to-action — needs to stay inside the safe zone to avoid being hidden.
- Why 1080 × 1920 for almost every vertical video?
- 1080 × 1920 is a common 9:16 export preset. Supported sizes and compression depend on the platform and upload settings; this preset does not guarantee a particular quality.
- Can I just upload a bigger image and let the app resize it?
- You can, but you lose control of the crop and quality. Matching the recommended size means you decide what's in frame and the platform compresses less. Oversized uploads are also slower and more likely to be aggressively re-encoded.
- Do these sizes change?
- Occasionally — platforms tweak their layouts. The pixel sizes here are stable, widely-used standards; the safe-zone margins are deliberately a little generous so your content stays clear even after a minor app update.
Last updated