Priya NairTL;DR (2026): For most feeds, upload a 1080 x 1350 (4:5) image and a 9:16 vertical video. Keep captions short even where the limit is huge. Three things changed in 2026: Instagram's grid now crops to 3:4, YouTube Shorts now run up to 3 minutes, and TikTok captions now allow up to 4,000 characters. The full per-platform numbers are below, verified June 2026.
Quick reference: the sizes you need most
| Platform | Recommended feed image | Feed ratio | Video max length | Caption / post limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1200 x 1350 | 4:5 | ~10 min | 3,000 chars | |
| 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 (grid crops to 3:4) | Reels up to 3 min | 2,200 chars | |
| X (Twitter) | 1600 x 900 | 16:9 | 2 min 20 sec (4 hr on Premium) | 280 (25,000 on Premium) |
| 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 | up to 90 min | 63,206 chars | |
| TikTok | 1080 x 1920 | 9:16 | 10 min in-app, 60 min upload | 4,000 chars |
| YouTube | 1280 x 720 (thumbnail) | 16:9 | 12 hr (Shorts up to 3 min) | Title 100, description 5,000 |
| 1000 x 1500 | 2:3 | up to 15 min | Description 500 | |
| Threads | 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 | up to 5 min | 500 chars |
| Bluesky | ~2000px longest edge | flexible | up to 3 min | 300 graphemes |
What changed in 2026 (read this first)
A few specs shifted this year, and they catch a lot of teams out:
- Instagram grid now crops to 3:4. Your profile grid thumbnails are taller than the old square. Keep uploading at 1080 x 1350 (4:5), which still displays in full in the feed, but expect the grid preview to crop to 3:4.
- YouTube Shorts now run up to 3 minutes (raised from 60 seconds). Vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes are treated as Shorts.
- TikTok captions now allow up to 4,000 characters (previously 2,200). Useful for SEO-style descriptions, though short captions still tend to perform better.
Images
| Asset | Size (px) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 400 x 400 (min) | 1:1 |
| Personal background banner | 1584 x 396 | 4:1 |
| Company Page cover | 1128 x 191 | ~5.9:1 |
| Feed image (vertical) | 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 |
| Feed image (square) | 1200 x 1200 | 1:1 |
| Link share preview | 1200 x 627 | 1.91:1 |
Video: 1:1, 4:5, 9:16 and 16:9 are all supported; MP4 up to 5 GB; roughly up to 10 minutes for most organic posts. Vertical (4:5 or 9:16) tends to win the most feed space.
Text: post 3,000 characters (only the first ~210 show before "see more", so front-load your hook); headline 220; About section 2,600. Hashtags: 3 to 5.
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Images
| Asset | Size (px) | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Feed (recommended) | 1080 x 1350 | 4:5 |
| Feed (square) | 1080 x 1080 | 1:1 |
| Stories and Reels | 1080 x 1920 | 9:16 |
| Profile photo | 320 x 320 | 1:1 |
Grid note: the profile grid now crops thumbnails to 3:4. Upload at 1080 x 1350 so the feed view stays uncropped, and keep important content away from the very top and bottom so the grid crop looks clean.
Video: Reels are 9:16 at 1080 x 1920, up to 3 minutes, MP4 or MOV up to 4 GB. Stories run up to 60 seconds per clip.
Text: caption 2,200 characters (about 125 show before "more"); bio 150. Max 30 hashtags, but Instagram itself recommends a small, relevant set: 3 to 5 is plenty.
X (Twitter)
Images: landscape 1600 x 900 (16:9); header 1500 x 500 (3:1); profile 400 x 400. A 1200 x 628 image works well for link cards.
Video: 16:9, 1:1 or 9:16. Standard accounts cap at 2 minutes 20 seconds and 512 MB; Premium extends to long-form video (up to 4 hours and 8 GB on web).
Text: 280 characters on a standard account, up to 25,000 with Premium. Bio 160; handle 15. Every URL counts as 23 characters. Hashtags: 1 to 2.
Images: feed 1080 x 1350 (4:5) or 1200 x 630 (1.91:1) for link posts; Page cover 851 x 315; Stories 1080 x 1920.
Video: standard feed video up to 90 minutes (MP4 or MOV); Reels up to 90 seconds; Stories up to 60 seconds per clip.
Text: the post limit is enormous (63,206 characters) but only about 125 characters show on mobile before truncation, so the first line is what matters. Hashtags barely move reach here: 1 to 3 at most.
TikTok
Video: 9:16 at 1080 x 1920 is the format that matters. You can record up to 10 minutes in-app and upload up to 60 minutes. MP4 or MOV, up to 2 GB on web.
Text: captions now go up to 4,000 characters (raised in 2026), though anything under ~150 tends to perform better. Bio 80. Hashtags: 3 to 5, mixing broad and specific.
YouTube
Images: thumbnail 1280 x 720 (16:9, minimum 640px wide); channel banner 2560 x 1440 with a 1546 x 423 safe zone; channel photo 800 x 800.
Video: standard uploads are 16:9 and can run up to 12 hours and 256 GB. Shorts are 9:16 (or square) and now run up to 3 minutes.
Text: title 100 characters (about 70 show in search, so front-load keywords); description 5,000 (the first 150 are what surface in search). Up to 15 hashtags are allowed, but 3 to 5 is the sweet spot; more than 15 makes YouTube ignore all of them.
Pinterest, Threads and Bluesky
| Platform | Image | Video | Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Pin 1000 x 1500 (2:3) | Video Pin up to 15 min, 2 GB | Title 100, description 500 (keywords first) | |
| Threads | 1080 x 1350 (4:5) | up to 5 min | post 500 characters; up to 10 media items |
| Bluesky | ~2000px longest edge, up to 4 images | up to 3 min | post 300 graphemes |
Hashtag norms at a glance
| Platform | Suggested hashtags |
|---|---|
| 3 to 5 | |
| 3 to 5 (max 30) | |
| X | 1 to 2 |
| 1 to 3 | |
| TikTok | 3 to 5 |
| YouTube | 3 to 5 (max 15) |
| 2 to 5 (search-driven, optional) |
Stop resizing the same post nine times
Most teams keep a sheet like this open and still hand-crop every image and re-trim every caption for each network. That is the slow part. FlyingToast generates a platform-specific variant of each post, sized and written for where it is going, so you set up a post once and it lands correctly on every connected channel instead of being letterboxed on one and truncated on another.
How current is this guide
These specs were verified in June 2026 against platform help pages and reputable, recently updated spec guides. Platforms change image ratios, video lengths and limits without much notice, so re-check the exact number before a large design run or a paid campaign. We refresh this page as platforms update; the "last updated" date reflects the most recent check.
