Resize Image for a YouTube Banner (2560 x 1440)
Resize any image to the YouTube banner size, 2560 x 1440, and keep your text inside the 1546 x 423 safe area so nothing gets cut off on phones. No upload, no watermark.
Nothing is uploaded. Your image is resized right here in your browser and never leaves your device.
YouTube banner size
A YouTube banner, the wide image across the top of your channel, should be uploaded at 2560 by 1440 pixels. That is a 16:9 image, and it is the size YouTube scales every other placement down from.
The minimum YouTube accepts is 2048 by 1152, and the file has to be 6 MB or smaller. Uploading at the minimum works, but a TV shows the banner at full width, so the larger file is worth it.
Pick the preset above, leave it on cover so the image fills the frame, and download. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
The safe area is the part that actually matters
This is the thing that catches everyone, and it is why so many channel banners have their logo half cut off.
Your banner is not cropped the same way on every device. YouTube shows the full 2560 by 1440 on a television, a wide strip on a desktop browser, a narrower one on a tablet, and the narrowest of all on a phone. The only region guaranteed to be visible everywhere is a centred strip of roughly 1546 by 423 pixels.
| Where it is seen | Roughly what shows |
|---|---|
| TV | The whole 2560 x 1440 image |
| Desktop | A 2560 x 423 strip through the middle |
| Tablet | About 1855 x 423 |
| Phone | About 1546 x 423 |
So design at 2560 by 1440, but keep every piece of text, your logo, and anything you actually need read inside that centre 1546 by 423. Treat the rest as background that may or may not be seen. A common mistake is putting an upload schedule or a social handle near the bottom edge, where phone viewers never see it.
Banner, channel art, or cover photo?
These are three names for the same image. YouTube called it channel art for years, the current interface calls it a banner image, and plenty of design tools still say cover. If you are searching for a size and finding different words, they all point at 2560 by 1440.
What it is not is your profile picture, the small circle. That one is 800 by 800 and is displayed at 98 by 98, so it needs to read at postage-stamp scale.
Getting under 6 MB
Six megabytes is generous at this size, so most people never hit it. If you do, it is almost always a PNG.
A 2560 by 1440 photograph saved as JPG usually lands between 400 KB and 1.5 MB. The same image as a PNG can run past 6 MB by itself. Save JPG for anything photographic. PNG is the right choice only when your banner is flat colour, text, or sharp graphics, and those compress small anyway.
If you are still over, compress it to 500 KB and you will be far under the cap with no visible difference at banner scale.
JPG, PNG, GIF, and BMP are accepted. WebP is not, so convert it first.
If your banner looks blurry or crops wrong
Three causes, in the order they usually happen.
- The source was too small. Anything under 2048 wide gets scaled up, and scaling up cannot invent detail. Start from the largest original you have rather than a screenshot of it.
- The aspect ratio was wrong. A square or portrait image forced into a 16:9 frame has to lose most of its height. Crop to 16:9 first with the crop tool, then resize, so you choose what gets cut instead of letting the fill decide.
- The important part sits outside the safe area. Nothing is broken, it just is not visible on that device. Move it toward the centre.
Related sizes
If you are setting up a channel, you probably need more than one image. The YouTube thumbnail size page covers the 1280 by 720 video thumbnail and its 2 MB limit, and the social media size guide lists the current dimensions for every other platform in one place.
Frequently asked questions
- What size is a YouTube banner?
- Upload at 2560 by 1440 pixels, a 16:9 image, at 6 MB or smaller. YouTube accepts a minimum of 2048 by 1152, but the larger size looks better on televisions, which show the banner at full width.
- What is the YouTube banner safe area?
- Roughly 1546 by 423 pixels in the centre of the image. That is the only region visible on every device, including phones. Keep your text and logo inside it and treat the outer area as background.
- Why is my YouTube banner cut off?
- Because YouTube crops the banner differently per device, showing the full image only on TV and a narrow centre strip on a phone. Anything near the top, bottom, or side edges will be cut on smaller screens. Move important elements into the centre 1546 by 423 area.
- What is the YouTube channel art size?
- The same thing as the banner: 2560 by 1440. Channel art is simply the older name for it, and some design tools still call it a cover photo.
- Why is my YouTube banner blurry?
- Almost always because the source image was smaller than 2048 pixels wide and got scaled up. Start from the largest original you have. A banner cropped from a phone screenshot will never look sharp at 2560 wide.
- What file size can a YouTube banner be?
- 6 MB or smaller. If you are over, the cause is nearly always PNG. Save the same image as JPG and it will typically drop under 1.5 MB with no visible change at this size.
- Is the YouTube banner the same as the profile picture?
- No. The banner is the wide image across the top at 2560 by 1440. The profile picture is the small circle, 800 by 800, displayed at 98 by 98.