LinkedIn Guide · 7 min read · Updated 2026

LinkedIn Cover Photo Size & Dimensions (2026 Guide)

Your LinkedIn cover photo is the first thing a recruiter sees above your profile — it sits behind your headshot and spans the full width of your profile header. Get the dimensions wrong and your banner gets cropped, stretched, or partially hidden behind your profile photo. Get them right and a clean, on-brand cover photo signals a polished, intentional professional before anyone reads a word. This guide gives you the exact LinkedIn cover photo size for 2026, the safe zone that survives desktop and mobile cropping, and a quick design workflow.

For the broader banner design strategy — colors, role-specific examples, and what to put in your banner — see our LinkedIn banner design guide.

The exact LinkedIn cover photo size

LinkedIn displays the cover photo at a fixed aspect ratio across every profile. The recommended upload dimensions are:

• Standard size: 1584 × 396 pixels (4:1 aspect ratio). This is what LinkedIn shows on desktop.
• Retina / 2× size: 3168 × 792 pixels. Upload this if you want the banner to stay crisp on high-density displays and large monitors. LinkedIn downscales it automatically.
• Minimum accepted: LinkedIn will accept smaller files, but anything below 1584px wide will be upscaled and look soft or pixelated.
• Maximum file size: 8MB.
• Supported formats: JPG, PNG, GIF (static only — LinkedIn does not animate the cover photo).

Desktop vs mobile: how LinkedIn crops it

LinkedIn renders the same cover photo differently depending on the screen. Understanding both crops is the whole reason the "safe zone" exists:

• Desktop: The full 1584 × 396 image is shown. The profile photo (a ~152×152 circle) sits at the bottom-left, slightly overlapping the banner's lower-left corner.
• Mobile: LinkedIn crops the banner to roughly 1128 × 209 and centers it on the original image. The far left and right edges are cut off, and the profile photo sits centered over the bottom of the cropped banner.
• Tablet: Somewhere between the two — partial edge cropping, profile photo bottom-left.

The practical consequence: anything you place in the far-left or far-right 15% of the image will be invisible on mobile. And because most recruiters skim LinkedIn on their phones, design for the mobile crop first.

The safe zone (so nothing gets cut off)

The safe zone is the region of the cover photo that stays visible on every device. Build your banner inside it:

• Horizontal safe zone: roughly the center 70% — from about 240px to 1344px on a 1584px-wide image. Keep your text, logo, and key visual here.
• Vertical safe zone: avoid the bottom ~80px on the left side, where the profile photo overlaps the banner on desktop.
• Edge fill: the left and right 15% should be simple background (a solid color, gradient, or blurred photo) that looks fine whether it shows or gets cropped.

A simple safe-zone template

In any design tool (Figma, Canva, Photoshop), create a 1584 × 396 canvas. Draw a guide rectangle at x=240, width=1104 (the horizontal safe zone), and another small rectangle in the bottom-left at roughly x=140, y=260, 200×200 (the profile photo overlap). Keep every piece of text and your main graphic out of those excluded areas. Export at 2× and you are done.

Want a head start? Our free LinkedIn banner generator gives you role-specific banner suggestions with text overlays and color palettes you can copy straight into your design tool.

File format, resolution, and compression

• Use PNG when your banner has text or sharp graphics. JPG compression blurs thin text and creates artifacts around high-contrast edges. PNG keeps crisp lines.
• Use JPG for photographic banners with no text — it produces a smaller file at the same visual quality.
• Export at 2× (3168 × 792) so the image stays sharp on retina laptops and large monitors. LinkedIn downscales it for display.
• Compress before uploading if the file is large — TinyPNG or Squoosh can shrink a PNG to a few hundred KB without visible loss.

Common cover photo mistakes

• Text in the edges. A tagline placed at the far right vanishes on mobile. Keep text in the safe zone.
• Uploading a low-res image. A 800px-wide banner looks blurry the moment LinkedIn stretches it to 1584px. Always start at 1584px minimum.
• Clashing with the profile photo. A busy banner behind the headshot makes both look messy. Leave negative space in the bottom-left.
• Using the default LinkedIn banner. The stock geometric background signals an incomplete, unoptimized profile — a small but real recruiter turn-off.

Your cover photo is one piece of a recruiter-ready profile. To see how every section stacks up — headline, About, skills, experience, and visuals — get your free LinkedIn visibility score with 3 paste-ready rewrites for $2. For the full visual strategy, read our banner design guide.

Frequently asked questions