Checked against the source
TikTok video cover size
Short answer
The TikTok help pages we fetched on 2026-10-07 returned no cover size, so the frame below is SocialEZ's. It reports 1080 x 1920 px at 9:16 for the video cover, with 1080 x 1080 px as the square alternative. Design at 9:16 and keep the title inside the central 1080 x 1080 px, because that is the band a grid tile shows.
Key takeaways
- The TikTok pages we fetched on 2026-10-07 returned no cover size, so the figures here are third-party reports, labeled as such.
- SocialEZ reports 1080 x 1920 px at 9:16 for the video cover and the same for photo mode and carousels, with 1080 x 1080 px as the square alternative.
- A 4:5 grid tile keeps 44.4% of a 9:16 cover (computed: 864 x 1080 / 1080 x 1920), so text in the top or bottom fifth is cut from the grid.
- A square cover gains 420 px of padding above and below when fitted into the 9:16 frame (computed: 1920 − 1080 = 840, split evenly).
- The cover should be a frame from your own video, at the video's own resolution, so the cover and the first second agree.
The size
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Width | 1080 px |
| Height | 1920 px |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 |
Reported by third parties
Reported by third parties; The TikTok help pages we fetched on 2026-10-07 returned no cover size.
| What | Reported value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Video cover frame | 1080 x 1920 px (9:16) | SZET |
| Photo mode and carousel | 1080 x 1920 px (9:16) | SZET |
| Square alternative | 1080 x 1080 px (1:1) | SZET |
| Vertical content generally | 1080 x 1920 px | BUF |
Source keys: SZET = SocialEZ: TikTok image sizes 2026 (2026-10-29), BUF = Buffer: Social Media Image Sizes in 2026 (2026-05-12)
To scale
What each viewport shows
| Viewport | Visible height | Width of the asset shown | Cropped away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profile grid tile, 1080 px | 1920 px | the full width | none |
| Search result tile, 864 px | 1536 px | 864 px of 1080 | 192 px top and bottom |
What your photo loses
| Source | Scale to fill | Lost each side | Lost top and bottom | Source area kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone photo, 16:9 (4032 x 2268) | 0.847 (max(1080 / 4032, 1920 / 2268)) | 1166.7 px ((3413.3 - 1080) / 2) | none ((1920 - 1920) / 2) | 22.7% |
| Camera, 3:2 (6000 x 4000) | 0.48 (max(1080 / 6000, 1920 / 4000)) | 900 px ((2880 - 1080) / 2) | none ((1920 - 1920) / 2) | 8.6% |
| Scan at 300 dpi (2480 x 3508) | 0.547 (max(1080 / 2480, 1920 / 3508)) | 138.7 px ((1357.4 - 1080) / 2) | none ((1920 - 1920) / 2) | 23.8% |
Computed cover crop into the 1080 x 1920 px frame this page targets.
What a mismatched source gets
| Source | Scale to fit | Shown at | Padding | Padding | Total padding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square export (1080 x 1080) | 1 (min(1080 / 1080, 1920 / 1080)) | 1080 x 1080 px (1080 and 1080 scaled by the factor above) | 420 px top, 420 px bottom ((1920 - 1080) / 2) | none ((1080 - 1080) / 2) | 840 px (all four bars added) |
| Camera, 3:2 (6000 x 4000) | 0.18 (min(1080 / 6000, 1920 / 4000)) | 1080 x 720 px (6000 and 4000 scaled by the factor above) | 600 px top, 600 px bottom ((1920 - 720) / 2) | none ((1080 - 1080) / 2) | 1200 px (all four bars added) |
Computed letterbox fit into this page's 1080 x 1920 px frame.
What this frame costs to upload
| Format | File size | Against PNG |
|---|---|---|
| PNG, lossless | 2,189,050 bytes (2138 kB) | the reference |
| JPEG, `-q:v 5` | 227,500 bytes (222 kB) | 10% of the PNG |
| WebP, `-q:v 75` | 86,700 bytes (85 kB) | 4% of the PNG |
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
Scales and center-crops any image to exactly 1080 x 1920 px, in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no file size cap and no daily limit.
Batch is unlimited and free - every image is processed on your device, so there is no queue and no daily cap.
What the guides report
As with the avatar, the TikTok Help article did not return usable body text on 2026-10-07, so the frame below comes from publishers.
SocialEZ's TikTok guide, published 29 April 2026, is the most specific: 1080 x 1920 px at 9:16 for the video cover, the same for photo mode and carousels, 1080 x 1080 px and 1920 x 1080 px as supported alternates, and 1080 x 1920 px for a LIVE cover. Buffer's 2026 guide agrees on the general vertical frame for TikTok.
| Asset | Reported size | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Video cover image | 1080 x 1920 px, 9:16 | SocialEZ, 2026-04-29 |
| Photo mode and carousel | 1080 x 1920 px, 9:16 | SocialEZ, 2026-04-29 |
| Carousel, square alternative | 1080 x 1080 px, 1:1 | SocialEZ, 2026-04-29 |
| Carousel, landscape alternative | 1920 x 1080 px, 16:9 | SocialEZ, 2026-04-29 |
| LIVE cover | 1080 x 1920 px, 9:16 | SocialEZ, 2026-04-29 |
| Vertical content generally | 1080 x 1920 px | Buffer, 2026-05-12 |
Sources read 2026-10-07.
The cover is shown in more than one shape
The video cover is a 9:16 frame in the feed, a smaller tile on your profile grid, and something else again in search results. Which crop applies depends on the surface, and the TikTok pages we fetched on 2026-10-07 gave no per-surface crop.
So the useful design rule is to put everything important in the middle square. Computed: a 4:5 grid tile shows 864 x 1080 px of a 1080 x 1920 cover, which is 44.4% of the cover area. A title in the top third of a 9:16 cover is simply absent from that tile.
The other direction matters too. A square cover fitted into the 9:16 frame gains 420 px of padding above and 420 px below, computed as 1920 − 1080 = 840 split evenly. If your artwork has to stop short of the edges, that is why.
Picking the frame
TikTok chooses a frame from the video automatically, and that is usually right for a talking-head clip where the first second is already the shot you want. A custom cover earns its place in three cases, and in all three the frame should come from the video rather than from a new design.
Taking the frame from the video has a practical consequence worth stating: export it at the video's own resolution. A 1080 x 1920 video gives a 1080 x 1920 frame. A 720 x 1280 video gives a 720 x 1280 cover, which is then upscaled on 2x screens and looks softer than the video it represents.
- The first second is a fade-in or black, so the automatic frame is blank.
- The hook line appears two seconds in, after the automatic frame is chosen.
- You are posting a slideshow, where the automatic frame is whichever slide happened to be first.
- Keep the subject in the central 1080 x 1080 px so the grid tile works.
- Do not add a second title on top of text already visible in the video frame.
What the frame costs
In the measured run on this page, a 1080 x 1920 px cover is 227 kB as JPEG and 87 kB as WebP, against 2.1 MB as PNG. A square cover at 1080 x 1080 px is 143 kB as JPEG.
Publishing dozens of covers adds up faster than people expect: 30 covers at 1080 x 1920 px is about 6.8 MB of JPEG, and the same 30 as PNG is 66 MB. That is the argument for JPEG even when the file limit is not close.
Frequently asked questions
What size is a TikTok video cover?
The TikTok help pages we fetched on 2026-10-07 returned no cover size. SocialEZ reports 1080 x 1920 px at 9:16 for the video cover and 1080 x 1080 px as the square alternative, published 29 April 2026.
Should my TikTok cover be 9:16 or 1:1?
Upload 9:16 at 1080 x 1920 px and keep the title inside the central 1080 x 1080 px square. A 4:5 grid tile keeps only 44.4% of the cover area, computed as 864 x 1080 / 1080 x 1920, so a design that works in 9:16 also survives a grid crop.
Why is my TikTok cover text missing on my profile grid?
The grid tile shows a square or 4:5 crop of the cover. A 1080 x 1920 cover cropped to 4:5 keeps 44.4% of the area, so text in the top or bottom fifth is cut. Keep it inside the central square.
Can I change the cover on a TikTok video after posting?
TikTok lets you choose a frame from the video, and it can be changed after upload from the post's edit options. A cover that is not one of the video's own frames has to be uploaded rather than selected, which is another reason to take it from the video.
What resolution should a TikTok cover be?
Match the video. A 1080 x 1920 px video gives a 1080 x 1920 frame. Do not upscale from a smaller video, because the cover sits beside the video and a softer cover on a sharp video reads as a mistake.
Other TikTok sizes
Sources
- SocialEZ: TikTok Image Sizes 2026 (checked 2026-04-29)
- Buffer: Social Media Image Sizes in 2026 (checked 2026-05-12)