How to Size a Facebook Cover Photo

Getting your Facebook cover photo size right should be simple, but it's often a frustrating game of upload, check, crop, and repeat. What looks perfect on your computer gets awkwardly cut off on your phone, burying your logo or cutting off text. This guide cuts through the confusion, giving you the exact dimensions, templates, and best practices to create a cover photo that looks sharp and professional on every device, every time.

So, What's the Official Facebook Cover Photo Size?

If you search for the official Facebook recommendation, you’ll find one number: 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall for personal profiles, and 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall for business pages on desktop.

Here’s the catch: that recommendation is old and built for a desktop-only world, which isn't how people use Facebook anymore. The moment someone views your page on their phone, those dimensions are completely abandoned. On mobile, Facebook displays your cover photo at a different aspect ratio - closer to 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall.

Notice the problem?

• Desktop Version: Wide and short.
• Mobile Version: Taller and narrower.

You can't create two separate images, so you're forced to use one that can somehow work for both. If you design your cover photo with only the desktop dimensions in mind, mobile users will see a version that’s been aggressively cropped on the left and right sides. If you design for mobile, it will look stretched, low-quality, or have its top and bottom cut off on a desktop browser. This conflicting format is the main reason why so many cover photos look broken.

Rule #1: The Mobile-First Mindset

Before touching a single pixel, the most important shift is to adopt a mobile-first design philosophy. Today, the vast majority of Facebook's users access the platform on a mobile device. That means your cover photo will be seen more often on a phone than on a laptop. If you have to choose which view to prioritize, it should always be mobile.

This doesn't mean abandoning the desktop experience. Instead, it means creating a flexible master image designed to work within both frameworks. The goal is to craft one well-composed image that gracefully adapts, showcasing the most important parts of your message no matter where it's viewed.

Your Perfect Size: 820 x 462 Pixels and the 'Mobile-Safe' Zone

After years of wrestling with Facebook's ever-changing formats, marketers and designers have landed on a "universal" dimension that gives you the most control. To build a foolproof cover photo, start with a canvas that is 820 pixels wide by 462 pixels tall.

This "taller" design might seem strange at first, but it contains all the visual information needed for both desktop and mobile views. Facebook will simply crop this master image differently depending on the device:

• On desktop computers, Facebook will display the full 820-pixel width but will shave off the top and bottom, showing an area of about 820 x 312 pixels.
• On mobile devices, Facebook will show more of the height but will shave off the sides, displaying a center area of roughly 640 pixels wide.

Introducing the 'Safe Zone'

Since both versions of your cover photo get cropped, you need to know which part of your image will be visible everywhere. This is called the "safe zone." It’s a central rectangle inside your 820 x 462 pixel canvas where you must place all of your essential content - your logo, name, headline, or call-to-action.

Think of it as the non-negotiable area. Anything outside of this safe zone should be considered decorative background, as there’s a good chance it will be cropped on one device or another.

So, on your 820 x 462 pixel canvas, the safe zone is an area of about 640 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall positioned in the absolute center. Placing your key message here guarantees that it won't be truncated or hidden from view.

Step-by-Step: How to Design a Flawless Cover Photo

Ready to put this into practice? Here's how to create your perfect cover photo using any design tool, from Canva and Figma to Adobe Photoshop.

Step 1: Create a Canvas sized at 820 x 462 Pixels

Start a new project with these exact custom dimensions. This taller format will serve as your master template. Don't worry that it doesn't match the "official" numbers - this is intentional.

Step 2: Visually Mark Your 'Safe Zone'

Before you add any creative elements, mark out the parts of your canvas that will be trimmed. You can do this by using rulers, guides, or drawing temporary shapes on separate layers.

• For the desktop crop: The top and bottom will be cut. Measure approximately 75 pixels from the top and 75 pixels from the bottom. Mark these areas. The space in between is what people will see on desktop.
• For the mobile crop: The left and right sides will be cut. Measure a central block that is 640 pixels wide. This means you will have about 90 pixels on the far left and 90 pixels on the far right that will be hidden on phones.

The central rectangle left over is your ultimate safe zone, safe from both types of cropping.

Step 3: Place Your Core Message Inside the Safe Zone

This is where everything important goes. Your logo, faces, main text, or primary product image must live entirely within this central box. If any part of your text extends beyond this boundary, it will be cut off for either mobile or desktop users. Also, keep in mind that on desktop, your profile picture will slightly overlap the bottom-left of the cover photo, so avoid putting anything critical in that exact spot.

Step 4: Design the Background to Fill the Entire Canvas

The areas outside your safe zone - the very top, very bottom, and the sides - are your "bleed" areas. They won't always be visible, but they must contain something. You can use this space for patterns, gradients, blurred background photos, or abstract brand colors. The key is to make this outer area visually appealing without containing any essential information. It should complement the central design without being necessary to understand it.

Step 5: Check Readability on a Small Format

What looks bold and clear on a large monitor can become a jumbled mess on a small phone screen. Before saving your final design, zoom out so the image appears small on your screen. Is the text still readable? Is the main focal point still clear? If not, increase your font size or simplify the design. Less is almost always more.

Step 6: Save and Upload the Right Way

For the best results, save your final image as a PNG file. While JPG files are also acceptable (and often smaller), Facebook's compression can make text and logos in JPGs look fuzzy. For photos with lots of text and an important brand logo, PNG is generally a better bet on Facebook. Try to keep your file size under 100KB to reduce loading time. After uploading, proof your work one last time on both a computer and on the Facebook mobile app to be certain nothing went wrong.

4 Best Practices for a Cover Photo That Works Hard for You

Your cover photo isn't just decoration, it's a valuable piece of marketing real estate. Once your sizing is handled, use these tips to make it an effective tool for your brand.

1. Use It to Drive an Action

You can encourage people to take the next step directly from your cover photo. Use an image of someone pointing or glancing towards your page's CTA button (like "Shop Now" or "Sign Up"). You can even add simple text like "⬅️ Click 'Like' or 'Get in Touch' below!" It's a simple, clever way to guide attention to your most important conversion tool. When you upload a cover photo, remember to add a description with a clickable link, as users who click on the photo will see it.

2. Refresh It with Promotions and Events

Don't let your cover photo become static and forgotten. Treat it like a billboard. Use it to announce a new product launch, promote an upcoming webinar, celebrate a holiday, or advertise a limited-time sale. This keeps your page looking fresh and gives returning visitors a reason to pay attention.

3. Maintain Brand Consistency

Your cover photo should instantly feel like it belongs to your brand. Use your established brand colors, fonts, and photography style. Consistency across all of your marketing touchpoints builds trust and makes your brand more recognizable. An incoherent or off-brand cover photo can confuse new page visitors.

4. Keep It Clean and Focused

Pages are visually busy places. With feeds, buttons, and notifications competing for viewers' attention, your cover photo should be a point of clarity. Resist the urge to clutter it with too much text or multiple competing images. Pick one clear message and one compelling focal point. A visually simple, high-impact design is far more effective than a messy one.

What About Facebook Group Cover Photos?

It's important to remember that Facebook Groups have different requirements than Pages. The recommended size for a Group cover photo is 1640 pixels wide by 856 pixels tall. And though the numbers are different, the same core principles apply: the aspect ratio shifts between desktop and mobile. Just like with Pages, you'll need a tall image and a centrally located 'safe zone' for your most critical content to ensure it shows up right for all members whether they are joining on a pc or by a cell phone app, for example. The tall mobile view still cuts off the sides, so the general idea of putting text and logos in a tighter, central column remains a solid strategy.

Final Thoughts

Getting your Facebook cover photo just right comes down to one key idea: design a single, adaptive image. By starting with an 820 x 462 pixel canvas and placing your most important elements in the central mobile-safe zone, you can create a professional-looking banner that avoids awkward cropping on any device.

Once you’ve perfected your brand’s look with a stunning cover photo, maintaining that visual consistency across all your actual posts is the next step. At Postbase, we built our visual calendar to give you a clear, bird’s-eye view of your entire content strategy, making it easy to see what’s scheduled across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more. This way, the beautiful branding from your cover photo carries through to every post, effortlessly. It’s a clean, modern way to plan and schedule your content without running into the clunky, complicated interfaces of older tools. Check out what makes Postbase different.