How to Resize an Image for Facebook
Facebook has four different image slots and four different sizes. Here's the pixels for each, and why a plain resize squashes a cover photo.
To resize an image for Facebook, match the pixels to where it goes: a shared link preview, a photo in the feed, a Page cover, and a profile picture are four different slots with four different targets. Resize to the wrong one and Facebook crops it, pads it with bars, or squashes it to fit.
Resize Image sets exact pixels in your browser, and nothing leaves your device. But for most of these slots you want to crop to the right shape first - the reason is below.
The size for each Facebook slot
Match the shape to the placement. These are the targets that display without Facebook re-cropping them:
- Shared link preview (the image on a posted link): 1200 x 630, an aspect ratio of 1.91:1. Facebook's own guidance says use at least 1200 x 630 for high-resolution screens, sets a minimum of 200 x 200, and caps the file at 8 MB.
- Feed photo post: 1080 px on the long edge is the practical sweet spot. A 1080 x 1080 square is the safe default; 1080 x 1350 portrait takes up more vertical space. Facebook supports the same broad shapes as a phone camera, so square or upright both work.
- Page cover photo: 851 x 315. This is a wide, short strip - much wider than a normal photo - so it needs its own crop.
- Profile picture: square, at least 320 x 320. Facebook shows it inside a circle, so keep the subject centred and away from the corners.
If precision matters for a link preview, Facebook measures the ratio in pixels; 1.91:1 is the shape it fits without cropping. For the other slots the exact pixel numbers shift occasionally, but the shapes above have been stable for years.
Why a plain resize squashes a cover photo
A cover photo is 851 x 315 - roughly two-and-a-half times wider than it is tall. Your photo almost certainly isn't that shape. If you just resize a normal photo to 851 x 315, every pixel gets crushed sideways into a letterbox, and faces look stretched.
Resize Image is built to protect you from that by default. It has a Lock aspect ratio checkbox that starts on, and while it's on the tool holds your photo's original shape: type a width and the height is worked out from your image, so a width of 851 gives you a much taller height than 315, not the strip you asked for. Type both numbers and it still keeps the shape, using your width and ignoring the height. That's the tool refusing to distort the picture.
To get an exact 851 x 315, you have two choices. Uncheck Lock aspect ratio and the tool will resize to precisely those numbers - and squash the photo to do it. Or, the route that keeps the photo looking right: crop to the shape first, then resize.
The crop-first route (works for every slot)
Cropping decides which part of the photo you keep; resizing sets the final pixels. Do them in that order and nothing gets distorted:
- Open Crop Image. Drag the box over the part you want, or type an exact X, Y, width and height. For a cover, drag out a wide, shallow strip; for a profile picture, a square.
- Once the crop matches the target shape, resizing to the exact pixels no longer distorts anything - the shape already fits. Feed it to Resize Image and set the width.
For a square feed post or profile picture, Crop to Square locks the box to 1:1 for you. And because a Facebook square post is the same 1080 x 1080 as an Instagram one, Resize for Instagram's square preset hands you exactly that file - the pixels don't know which network they're going to. Our guide on resizing to 1080x1080 walks the same crop-then-resize idea in detail, and what aspect ratio means explains why the shape is the real decision.
Don't over-compress before you upload
Facebook re-compresses every image you post - that part is out of your hands. So uploading an already heavily-compressed file means it gets compressed a second time, and the result looks worse than if you'd sent a clean image and let Facebook do it once.
The exception is a Page cover: Facebook says a cover loads fastest as an sRGB JPG under 100 KB. If your export is far bigger than that, trim it with Compress Image before uploading. For an ordinary feed photo, resize to sensible pixels, keep quality high, and stop there. This is the opposite of prepping an image for an upload form with a hard KB limit - our guide on hitting an exact size cap is for those portals, not social platforms.
FAQ
What size should an image be for Facebook?
It depends on the slot: 1200 x 630 for a shared link preview (1.91:1), 1080 x 1080 for a square feed post, 851 x 315 for a Page cover, and at least 320 x 320 for a profile picture.
Why does my cover photo look stretched?
Because you resized a normal-shaped photo straight to 851 x 315, which crushes it sideways. Crop to a wide strip first, then resize.
Can I resize to an exact width and height?
Yes - uncheck Lock aspect ratio in Resize Image to force exact dimensions. It will distort the photo if the new shape differs from the original, so crop to that shape first when you care how it looks.
Should I compress before uploading to Facebook?
Generally no - Facebook re-compresses anyway, so pre-compressing means two rounds of quality loss. The one exception is a Page cover, which Facebook recommends keeping under 100 KB.