Checked against the source
Telegram profile photo size
Short answer
Telegram documents the shape of the data, not a recommended upload size: its photoSize constructor carries width, height and file size and nothing else. Upload 512 x 512 px. That covers every figure any guide reports, survives the circular crop with a 362 px safe square, and is a small file.
Key takeaways
- The photoSize constructor we read in the Telegram core documentation on 2026-10-07 carries type, width, height and file size, and no recommended upload size.
- MediaSizes.com reports 512 x 512 to 1024 x 1024 px as the recommended range, 160 x 160 px minimum, and JPEG, PNG or WebP up to 5 MB.
- The mask is the constraint, not the resolution: at 512 x 512 px a 106 px corner clearance is what decides whether your mark survives.
- A 15% margin, which one guide recommends, is 77 px at 512 px. The exact circle clearance is 106 px, so 15% is slightly tight.
- Telegram accepts a video avatar instead of a still one, which no other platform covered here does.
The size
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Width | 512 px |
| Height | 512 px |
| Aspect ratio | 1:1 |
| Where this comes from | third-party: MediaSizes.com reports 512 x 512 to 1024 x 1024 px; Telegram documents only the schema |
Reported by third parties
Reported by third parties; the Telegram core documentation publishes a photoSize schema with width, height and file size fields but no recommended upload size.
| What | Reported value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo, recommended range | 512 x 512 to 1024 x 1024 px | MSZ |
| Minimum accepted | 160 x 160 px | MSZ |
| Formats | JPEG, PNG, WebP | MSZ |
| Maximum file size | 5 MB | MSZ |
Source keys: MSZ = MediaSizes.com: Telegram image size (2026-10-07)
To scale
What the circle removes
| Quantity | Value | Working |
|---|---|---|
| 512 px | the side (diameter = side, because the circle is inscribed) | |
| 205,887 px2 | 78.5% of the square (pi x (512 / 2)^2 = 205887) | |
| 56,257 px2 | 21.5% of the square (512^2 - 205,887 = 56,257) | |
| 106 px | from each edge ((512 / 2) x (sqrt(2) - 1) = 106) | |
| 362 px | largest square inside the circle (512 / sqrt(2) = 362) |
Computed at the 512 x 512 px profile photo this page recommends.
What your photo loses
| Source | Scale to fill | Lost each side | Lost top and bottom | Source area kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical clip, 9:16 (1080 x 1920) | 0.474 (max(512 / 1080, 512 / 1920)) | none ((512 - 512) / 2) | 199.1 px ((910.2 - 512) / 2) | 12.6% |
| Scan at 300 dpi (2480 x 3508) | 0.206 (max(512 / 2480, 512 / 3508)) | none ((512 - 512) / 2) | 106.1 px ((724.2 - 512) / 2) | 3% |
| Feed post, 4:5 (1080 x 1350) | 0.474 (max(512 / 1080, 512 / 1350)) | none ((512 - 512) / 2) | 64 px ((640 - 512) / 2) | 18% |
Computed cover crop into the 512 x 512 px frame this page targets.
Device pixels at each display size
| Display size | Device pixels at 1x | at 2x | at 3x | Against this upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In a chat list, 30 px | 30 px | 60 px (30 x 2) | 90 px (30 x 3) | 512 px covers it |
| In a group header, 40 px | 40 px | 80 px (40 x 2) | 120 px (40 x 3) | 512 px covers it |
Computed at the two sizes a Telegram avatar appears at in chat; 512 px covers both.
What this frame costs to upload
| Format | File size | Against PNG |
|---|---|---|
| PNG, lossless | 309,663 bytes (302 kB) | the reference |
| JPEG, `-q:v 5` | 42,483 bytes (41 kB) | 14% of the PNG |
| WebP, `-q:v 75` | 16,862 bytes (16 kB) | 5% of the PNG |
| Reported maximum file size, if that is the cap | 5,242,880 bytes (5120 kB) | the PNG is 6% of it |
ffmpeg 6.1.1. Upper bounds: a flat logo or a soft portrait compresses much further. The full method is in the evidence file.
Resize it now
512 x 512 px. Telegram's photoSize constructor carries width, height and file size with no recommendation, so this is a recommendation rather than a Telegram figure; the tool center-crops, then the avatar is drawn as a circle, clipping 106 px from each edge.
Batch is unlimited and free - every image is processed on your device, so there is no queue and no daily cap.
What Telegram actually documents
Telegram's core developer documentation is precise about the data and silent about design. The photoSize constructor, read 2026-10-07, is a schema: a type string, w for width, h for height and size for file size. Its description is "Image description" and nothing more.
That is the whole of the official position. Telegram is a client protocol: it defines what a photo is, not what a good avatar looks like, and it makes no recommendation about either.
So this page does not state a Telegram profile photo size as a Telegram rule. What follows is one named guide plus arithmetic that does not depend on anyone's recommendation.
| Field | Type | Documented description |
|---|---|---|
| type | string | PhotoSize.type value |
| w | int | Image width |
| h | int | Image height |
| size | int | File size |
PhotoSize constructor, read 2026-10-07. This is the whole of the official position.
What one guide reports, and the margin it gets wrong
MediaSizes.com's Telegram page, read 2026-10-07, gives a full set: 512 x 512 to 1024 x 1024 px recommended, 160 x 160 px minimum, JPEG, PNG and WebP, 5 MB maximum, with the crop circular and a 15% margin advised from the edges.
It also reports a video avatar at 512 x 512 px MP4 with H.264, up to 10 seconds. That is a real Telegram feature and no other platform on this site has one.
It is one source, so the recommendation below comes from the arithmetic rather than from it. And there is a correction to make: the 15% margin is too tight. At 512 px, 15% is 77 px, while the exact corner clearance for a circle inscribed in a square is 0.2071 × 512 = 106 px. A logo 90 px from the edge survives the guide's advice and is still clipped.
| What | Reported value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo, recommended range | 512 x 512 to 1024 x 1024 px | MediaSizes.com |
| Minimum accepted | 160 x 160 px | MediaSizes.com |
| Formats | JPEG, PNG, WebP | MediaSizes.com |
| Maximum file size | 5 MB | MediaSizes.com |
| Video avatar | 512 x 512 px MP4, H.264, up to 10 s | MediaSizes.com |
| Circular crop margin | about 15% from the edges | MediaSizes.com, and 15% is slightly tight |
Source read 2026-10-07.
The circle, and why 512 rather than 1024
The avatar is a circle in chat lists, in message threads and on the profile. A circle inscribed in a square of side s keeps 78.54% of the area and removes 21.46%, with the corners clipped at 0.2071 × s and the largest intact square at 0.707 × s.
At 512 px that is 106 px of margin and a 362 px safe square, and at 1024 px it is 212 px and 724 px. Both cover the reported display sizes; 1024 px simply doubles the file for no visible gain, because the avatar is never shown at anything like 1024 px.
The measured run on this page puts 512 x 512 px at 41 kB as JPEG and 16 kB as WebP, against the reported 5 MB maximum, so the size argument is not about the file at all.
The video avatar is worth knowing about if your account allows it: a 512 x 512 px MP4 with H.264 at up to 10 seconds replaces the still avatar, and the first frame acts as the placeholder in clients that do not autoplay it.
A vertical clip cropped to the avatar
The most common source for a Telegram avatar is a frame from a video, and a vertical clip is the wrong shape for it. A 1080 x 1920 px frame scaled to cover a 512 x 512 px square is scaled by 0.474, which makes it 512 x 1024, so 256 px is trimmed from the top and 256 px from the bottom.
That keeps 26.7% of the frame height, computed as 512 / 1920. A face centered in a clip survives, because faces sit in the middle band. A caption at the bottom of the clip does not.
If you need a specific moment, extract that frame first rather than relying on the crop to find it. The crop is always centered, so it will not choose your frame for you.
Frequently asked questions
What size is a Telegram profile photo?
Telegram's own schema is silent on upload size. The photoSize constructor we read in the core documentation on 2026-10-07 carries width, height and file size and nothing more, so the 512 x 512 px above comes from MediaSizes.com. MediaSizes.com reports 512 x 512 to 1024 x 1024 px with 160 x 160 px minimum. Upload 512 x 512 px, which covers every reported figure.
Does Telegram crop the profile photo?
The mask is what costs you here, not the resolution. Computed at 512 x 512 px: the inscribed circle keeps 78.5% of the square, clips 106 px from each edge, and leaves 362 px of intact square for your mark or your face.
What is the circular margin I should leave on a Telegram avatar?
Use 0.2071 × the side, not 15%. One guide recommends a 15% margin, which is 77 px at 512 px, but the exact circle clearance is 106 px. A logo 90 px from the edge survives the 15% advice and is still clipped.
Can a Telegram profile photo be a video?
Yes. MediaSizes.com reports a video avatar at 512 x 512 px MP4 with H.264, up to 10 seconds. The Telegram pages we fetched on 2026-10-07 give no avatar specification at all, so treat that as a publisher figure; the first frame acts as the still placeholder where autoplay is off.
What formats does Telegram accept for a profile photo?
MediaSizes.com reports JPEG, PNG and WebP up to 5 MB. Telegram's own documentation confirms that photos are described by width, height and file size but does not list avatar formats, so the format list is a third-party report.
How much of a vertical video frame survives a Telegram avatar crop?
A 1080 x 1920 px frame cropped to a 512 x 512 px square keeps 512 of the 1920 px of height, which is 26.7% of the frame. 256 px comes off the top and 256 px off the bottom, so a face survives but a bottom caption does not.
Other Telegram sizes
Sources
- Telegram Core: photoSize constructor (checked 2026-10-07)
- MediaSizes.com: Telegram image size (checked 2026-10-07)
The Telegram source is the core protocol documentation, which defines what a photo is and not how large an avatar should be. The recommended range, the minimum, the format list and the video avatar are all MediaSizes.com's, and this page labels them as one publisher's figures.