How to Change a Pinterest Header

Your Pinterest header is the digital billboard for your brand, so let's make sure it's sending the right message. This often-overlooked space is the very first thing people see when they land on your profile, making it a powerful piece of visual real estate. In this guide, we'll walk you through the exact steps to change your Pinterest header for both business and personal accounts, share the best design practices, and give you some creative ideas to make your profile stand out.

Why Your Pinterest Header Matters (More Than You Think)

It's easy to dismiss the cover image as a simple decoration, but it's much more than that. A well-designed Pinterest header is a strategic tool that works for you 24/7. Think of it as the giant sign above your digital storefront - it sets the tone, communicates your brand's personality, and directly influences a visitor's decision to stick around and browse.

A strategic header can:

• Make an Instant First Impression: Within seconds, a new visitor will decide if your brand is for them. Your header visually communicates your niche, style, and value proposition before they even read your bio.
• Reinforce Brand Identity: Consistent branding builds trust. Your header is the perfect place to use your brand colors, fonts, and visual style, creating a cohesive experience for your followers across all platforms.
• Promote Current Campaigns: Launching a new product? Running a seasonal sale? Your header can be updated to act as a free advertisement, directing traffic and attention to your most important initiatives.
• Look Professional and Polished: An intentional, high-quality header signals that you take your brand seriously. A default or poorly designed header can make a profile look unfinished or inactive, potentially costing you followers and customers.

Understanding Pinterest's Header Options

Before you jump into the editor, it's important to know what you can and can't do. Pinterest offers different header capabilities depending on whether you have a Personal or Business account. While the process is simple for both, the creative control varies significantly.

For Business Accounts: Full Creative Control

If you're using Pinterest for marketing, you must have a Business account. It's free and unlocks a world of essential features, including analytics, advertising options, and most importantly, full control over your header. With a business profile, you can upload a custom single image or an eye-catching video. This allows you to create a completely custom piece of branding that perfectly aligns with your marketing goals.

For Personal Accounts: A Curated Collection

Personal Pinterest accounts have a more dynamic, but less controllable, header. The space is automatically populated with your Pins. However, you do get a choice in which Pins are shown. You can either let it display your most recent Pins, which keeps the header fresh but unpredictable, or you can select a specific public board to feature. Choosing a board gives you more control, allowing you to curate the visual theme of your header indirectly.

How to Change Your Pinterest Header: A Step-by-Step Guide

Ready to give your profile a facelift? Here’s how to do it. The process is slightly different for Business and Personal accounts, so just follow the steps that apply to you.

For Business Accounts (Image & Video)

This is where the magic happens. A custom image or video cover photo will instantly elevate your profile's look.

1. Log in to your Pinterest Business account on a desktop browser.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen to go to your profile page.
3. Once on your profile, hover your mouse over the large header image area. A small pencil icon will appear - click on it to edit your cover.
4. A new window will pop up with a button that says "Upload an image or video." Click this to open your computer's file browser.
5. Select the image or video file you prepared. Make sure it meets Pinterest's recommended specifications (we cover these in the next section!).
6. After uploading, Pinterest may give you options to reposition or crop the image to fit perfectly. Adjust it as needed, then click "Done" or "Save."

That's it! Your new header will be live for everyone to see. The change is instant, so you can see how it looks right away.

For Personal Accounts (Showcasing a Board)

While you can't upload a custom image, you can still curate your header's vibe by selecting a specific board to feature.

1. Log in to your personal Pinterest account.
2. Navigate to your profile by clicking your profile picture.
3. Click the "Edit Profile" button located just below your name and follower stats.
4. Inside the profile settings, look for the section related to your profile cover. It's often labeled "Profile Cover" or has a toggle to choose which Pins to feature.
5. You will typically see two options: "Latest Pins" (the default) and "Choose a Board." Select the option to choose a board.
6. A drop-down menu or search bar will appear, showing all your public boards. Select the one board you want to showcase in your header. For the best result, choose a board that's visually cohesive and represents your account's core theme.
7. Click "Save" or "Done" and your header will now display a mosaic of Pins from your chosen board.

Pinterest Header Best Practices: Designing a Cover That Converts

Changing the header is easy, but creating one that actually helps your brand is an art. Whether you're designing an image or a video, follow these best practices to make a powerful first impression.

1. Use the Right Dimensions and Aspect Ratio

Nothing screams unprofessional like a blurry, stretched, or poorly cropped image. To avoid this, design your header correctly from the start.

• Recommended Size: Use an image that is at least 800 pixels wide by 450 pixels tall. You can go larger for better quality, as long as you maintain the same ratio.
• Aspect Ratio: The ideal aspect ratio is 16:9. This is the standard widescreen format used for YouTube thumbnails and presentations, so your design tools likely already have a template for it.
• File Size: Keep image files under 10 MB and video files under 2 GB.

2. Keep it On-Brand and Visually Consistent

Your header isn't a standalone piece of art, it's an extension of your brand's visual identity. It should feel like it belongs with the rest of your content. Pull in your brand's core color palette, fonts, and photography style. If your website and Instagram have a light, airy, and minimalist feel, your Pinterest header should reflect that. This consistency is calming for followers and builds brand recognition.

3. Account for the Profile Picture and Mobile Overlay

This is the most common mistake people make. Your design doesn't exist in a vacuum. On desktop and mobile, your round profile picture will sit directly in the bottom-center of your header. Avoid placing any important text, logos, or faces in this "dead zone," as they will be completely covered. Similarly, keep key elements away from the far left and right edges, as cropping can vary across devices.

Pro tip: Create a "safe zone" in your design file. A good rule of thumb is to keep critical content within the central 80% of the width and away from the bottom 25% of the height.

4. Use Video for Maximum Impact

Images are great, but a video header is a scroll-stopper. Pinterest cover videos auto-play on a loop (without sound), creating a dynamic and engaging experience. A short, high-quality video is one of the fastest ways to grab a visitor's attention and showcase your brand's personality.

• Keep it short and sweet: The ideal length is between 5-15 seconds. It should be long enough to convey a message but short enough to loop smoothly.
• Video Ideas: Show a product being made, a sped-up video of your design process, a montage of lifestyle shots featuring your products, or a simple animated graphic of your logo.

5. Refresh it Seasonally or for Campaigns

Your header shouldn't be a "set it and forget it" element. Treat it as dynamic real estate to stay relevant. Updating it periodically shows that your profile is active.

• Seasonal Updates: Add some fall leaves in October or snowflakes in December. These small touches keep your profile feeling fresh.
• Campaign Promotions: Announce a new collection, a major sale, or a free ebook download. Use a simple text overlay to tell people what's new.

Creative Ideas for Your Pinterest Header

Feeling stuck? Here are a few practical and niche-specific ideas to get your creative gears turning:

• For E-commerce Stores: Create a flat lay or collage of your best-selling items. You could also use a lifestyle shot of happy customers using your product.
• For Bloggers & Creators: Use a high-quality photo of yourself that reflects your personality and niche. For a food blogger, it might be a shot in the kitchen, for a travel blogger, a stunning landscape.
• For Coaches & Service Providers: A clean, on-brand graphic with your name, title, and a compelling tagline (e.g., "Helping Small Businesses Thrive on Social Media").
• For Interior Designers: A beautiful "after" shot of your best project. Or, a video walkthrough of a recently completed room.
• For Wedding Photographers: A rotating video slideshow of your most emotional and aesthetically pleasing shots.

Final Thoughts

Updating your Pinterest header is a quick task that offers a huge return. It transforms your profile from a simple collection of Pins into an intentionally branded hub that immediately communicates your value. By following the right steps and design principles, you can create a cover that not only looks professional but also actively supports your marketing goals.

As you become more intentional about your brand's appearance on Pinterest, that same organized approach should apply to your entire content strategy. At Postbase, we built our tool to solve that exact challenge of keeping everything clean and consistent. Our visual content calendar gives you a bird's-eye view of your posts across all platforms, not just Pinterest, helping you plan your visual narrative from a single dashboard. It brings the intentionality you put into your header to your day-to-day scheduling, freeing you up from spreadsheets and endless app-switching.