Checked against the source
X (Twitter) post image size
Short answer
X publishes sizes for the profile photo and the header but nothing for posts, and the X help pages returned a bot wall when we checked on 2026-10-07. Buffer reports 1600 x 900 px for a landscape post. If the same image has to work as a link card, design 1200 x 630 px, which is the frame Meta publishes.
Key takeaways
- X publishes 400 x 400 px for the profile photo and 1500 x 500 px for the header. On the post image pages we fetched it returned a bot wall, so no post figure here comes from X.
- Buffer reports 1600 x 900 px landscape, 1080 x 1350 px vertical, 1080 x 1080 px square and 1200 x 630 px for a link card.
- Meta publishes 1200 x 630 px for link shares and asks for 1.91:1. Computed: 1200 / 630 = 1.905, which is that ratio to within 0.3%.
- A vertical post loses 71% of its area to the 1.91:1 link-card crop (computed: 1080 x 566 / 1080 x 1350).
- A 1600 x 900 px source cropped to 1.91:1 loses only 6.9% of its area, so a landscape design survives a link card almost intact.
The size
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Width | 1600 px |
| Height | 900 px |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
Reported by third parties
Reported by third parties; the X help pages we could read on 2026-10-07 did not load, so nothing here is an X rule.
| What | Reported value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Landscape post | 1600 x 900 px | BUF |
| Vertical post | 1080 x 1350 px | BUF |
| Square post | 1080 x 1080 px | BUF |
| Link card image | 1200 x 630 px | BUF |
Source keys: BUF = Buffer: Social Media Image Sizes in 2026 (2026-05-12)
To scale
What your photo loses
| Source | Scale to fill | Lost each side | Lost top and bottom | Source area kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone photo, 4:3 (4032 x 3024) | 0.397 (max(1600 / 4032, 900 / 3024)) | none ((1600 - 1600) / 2) | 150 px ((1200 - 900) / 2) | 11.8% |
| Camera, 3:2 (6000 x 4000) | 0.267 (max(1600 / 6000, 900 / 4000)) | none ((1600 - 1600) / 2) | 83.3 px ((1066.7 - 900) / 2) | 6% |
| Vertical clip, 9:16 (1080 x 1920) | 1.481 (max(1600 / 1080, 900 / 1920)) | none ((1600 - 1600) / 2) | 972.2 px ((2844.4 - 900) / 2) | 69.4% |
| Feed post, 4:5 (1080 x 1350) | 1.481 (max(1600 / 1080, 900 / 1350)) | none ((1600 - 1600) / 2) | 550 px ((2000 - 900) / 2) | 98.8% |
Computed cover crop into the 1600 x 900 px frame this page targets.
What a mismatched source gets
| Source | Scale to fit | Shown at | Padding | Padding | Total padding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feed post, 4:5 (1080 x 1350) | 0.467 (min(1200 / 1080, 630 / 1350)) | 504 x 630 px (1080 and 1350 scaled by the factor above) | 0 px top, 0 px bottom ((630 - 630) / 2) | 348 px each side ((1200 - 504) / 2) | 696 px (all four bars added) |
| Square export (1080 x 1080) | 0.583 (min(1200 / 1080, 630 / 1080)) | 630 x 630 px (1080 and 1080 scaled by the factor above) | 0 px top, 0 px bottom ((630 - 630) / 2) | 285 px each side ((1200 - 630) / 2) | 570 px (all four bars added) |
Computed letterbox fit into this page's 1200 x 630 px frame.
What this frame costs to upload
| Format | File size | Against PNG |
|---|---|---|
| PNG, lossless | 1,963,292 bytes (1917 kB) | the reference |
| JPEG, `-q:v 5` | 206,060 bytes (201 kB) | 10% of the PNG |
| WebP, `-q:v 75` | 78,546 bytes (77 kB) | 4% of the PNG |
| Meta maximum link image size, if that is the cap | 8,388,608 bytes (8192 kB) | the PNG is 23% 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
Scales and center-crops any image to exactly 1600 x 900 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 X publishes, and what it does not
The X Help article on customizing a profile gives two numbers: a header photo, "also known as a banner", at 1500 x 500 pixels recommended, and a profile photo at 400 x 400 pixels recommended. We archived that article on 2026-10-05.
It says nothing about post images. When we re-fetched the X help pages on 2026-10-07 they returned a bot wall of 258 characters rather than the articles, so no post-image figure on this page comes from X.
Sprout Social lists X post images at 1600 x 900 px, Buffer gives the same, and Canva's table lists a Twitter post at 1024 x 512 px. Three publishers, two figures. That disagreement is shown rather than resolved.
| Asset | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 400 x 400 px recommended | X Help, archived 2026-10-05 |
| Header or banner | 1500 x 500 px recommended | X Help, archived 2026-10-05 |
| Post, landscape | 1600 x 900 px | Buffer 2026-05-12, Sprout Social |
| Post, landscape, alternative | 1024 x 512 px | Canva sizes table |
| Post, vertical | 1080 x 1350 px | Buffer, 2026-05-12 |
| Post, square | 1080 x 1080 px | Buffer, 2026-05-12 |
| Link card image | 1200 x 630 px | Buffer, 2026-05-12 |
The 1200 x 630 px frame, from a source that publishes it
The one hard link-preview number we could verify on 2026-10-07 comes from Meta, not X. Meta's "Images in Link Shares" developer page, updated 30 June 2026, states a minimum allowed dimension of 200 x 200 px, a file cap of 8 MB, and asks for at least 1200 x 630 px for the best display on high-resolution devices, with 600 x 315 px as the smallest that still shows a large link post.
It also states that the aspect ratio is now the same across desktop and mobile feed, and asks for images as close to 1.91:1 as possible to display the full image without cropping.
That matters more than X's silence because link preview conventions are shared. LinkedIn independently publishes 1200 x 627 px for custom images in page posts with a URL, which is the same ratio to within a pixel. Two networks publishing independently and landing on the same frame is the strongest evidence available that it is the convention.
| Platform | Frame | Ratio | Difference from 1.91:1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta (Facebook, Messenger) | 1200 x 630 px | 1.905 | 0.3% |
| LinkedIn, company pages | 1200 x 627 px | 1.914 | 0.2% |
| X, per Buffer | 1200 x 630 px | 1.905 | 0.3% |
| Threads, per Buffer | 1200 x 600 px | 2.000 | 4.7% |
Link preview frames as published or reported, and how close each is to 1.91:1.
One image or two
This is the decision the numbers above add up to. A post image and a link-card image are different assets with different shapes, and the question is whether the one you have works for both.
A 1600 x 900 px landscape source cropped to 1.91:1 keeps the full width and trims the height to 1600 / 1.910 = 838 px, so 62 px goes, 31 px top and 31 px bottom. That is 6.9% of the area. A landscape design with the important content in the middle third survives a link card almost intact.
A vertical post does not. A 1080 x 1350 px source cropped to 1.91:1 keeps 1080 x 566 px, which is 28.9% of its area: it loses 71.1%. So if you want one file for both, design landscape and use it for the link card.
Publishing both separately costs one extra export and is the better answer when the post is text-heavy or the link card needs a different crop. Sprout Social notes that X applies a crop to in-stream photos differently again, without publishing the figure.
Choosing a frame for what you are posting
- Text-heavy post: 1600 x 900 px, the frame two publishers report, which leaves room for a headline.
- Photograph in portrait orientation: 1080 x 1350 px, which shows tall in the timeline and is reusable on Instagram.
- Same image used as a link preview: 1200 x 630 px, the frame Meta publishes and the one that avoids the card crop.
- Infographic or chart: 1200 x 630 px, with the chart in the middle 566 px of height so the card crop does not cut the axis.
- Four images in one post: all four at the same ratio, or the grid looks ragged.
Frequently asked questions
What size should an X post image be?
The X help pages returned a bot wall when we fetched them on 2026-10-07, so no post image size on this page comes from X. Buffer and Sprout Social both report 1600 x 900 px landscape, Canva lists 1024 x 512 px, and vertical is reported as 1080 x 1350 px.
What size is an X link preview image?
1200 x 630 px. Meta publishes that as the best display size for link shares and asks for 1.91:1, and 1200 / 630 = 1.905. LinkedIn publishes the same ratio at 1200 x 627 px, so X almost certainly follows the same convention without documenting it.
Does X crop vertical images in the timeline?
Vertical images show tall rather than cropped, but a vertical image used as a link card loses 71% of its area to the 1.91:1 crop, computed as 1080 x 566 out of 1080 x 1350. Use a separate horizontal image for the card.
What size is an X profile picture?
400 x 400 px, which X marks as recommended in its profile customization help, archived 2026-10-05. It is displayed as a circle.
What size is an X header?
1500 x 500 px recommended, which is 3:1. A 390 px phone sees about 130 px of that height, computed as 390 / 3, so keep text in the middle 500 px band.
What is the minimum size for a link preview image?
Meta, which publishes a rule we could verify, states 200 x 200 px as the minimum allowed dimension and 600 x 315 px as the smallest that still displays a large link post. X gave us nothing to check, because the page returned a bot wall.
Other X (Twitter) sizes
Sources
- X Help: How to customize your profile (checked 2026-10-05)
- Buffer: Social Media Image Sizes in 2026 (checked 2026-05-12)
- Meta for Developers: Images in Link Shares (checked 2026-06-30)
- Sprout Social: social media image sizes (checked 2026-10-07)