Facebook Cover Photo Size Guide 2024

Facebook cover photos display differently on desktop and mobile, so it's easy to end up with important content cropped out if you don't use the right dimensions.

Recommended Size

Facebook recommends 851 x 315 pixels for cover photos. This displays well on both desktop and mobile without significant cropping.

Safe Zone Tip

Keep important text and logos within the center 640 x 360 pixel area, since the edges may be cropped differently on mobile devices.

Use our free Facebook Cover Resizer to get the perfect size every time.

Why 851 x 315 Pixels Specifically?

Facebook's recommended cover photo dimensions of 851 x 315 pixels represent the sweet spot between the different ways the cover displays across devices. On desktop, the full width is visible; on mobile, the image is cropped more aggressively from the top and bottom to fit the narrower screen. Designing with this in mind — rather than assuming the entire image will always be visible — prevents important content from being cut off unexpectedly.

Designing Within the Safe Zone

Facebook overlays your profile picture and page name in the bottom-left corner of the cover photo on both desktop and mobile, so avoid placing critical text or graphics in that area. A good practice is to keep your most important visual elements centered horizontally and within the middle 60% of the image vertically, since this region stays visible across virtually every device and screen size Facebook supports.

Step-by-Step: Creating Your Cover Photo

1. Choose or design an image at least 851 x 315 pixels, ideally larger for retina displays
2. Keep key text and branding within the safe center zone
3. Use our Facebook Cover Maker to automatically resize and crop to the correct dimensions
4. Preview how it looks before publishing to your page
5. Upload directly to your Facebook page settings

File Size and Format Considerations

Facebook recommends keeping cover photos under 100KB in JPG format for the fastest loading times, though the platform will accept larger files and compress them automatically on upload. Starting with a properly compressed JPG gives you more control over how the final image looks compared to letting Facebook's automatic compression handle it.

Refreshing Your Cover Regularly

Pages that update their cover photo periodically — for seasonal promotions, product launches, or events — tend to see more engagement, since a static, unchanged cover can make a page feel inactive. Keeping a properly-sized template on hand makes it easy to swap in new covers whenever needed without redoing the sizing work each time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Putting It All Into Practice

Understanding the theory behind facebook cover photo size guide 2024 is useful, but the real value comes from actually applying it to your own images. Rather than treating this as a one-time reference, consider bookmarking it and returning whenever you're working on a project that touches this topic — small, consistent good habits around image preparation add up to noticeably better results over time, whether that's faster-loading web pages, sharper social media posts, or simply photos that look more polished when you share them.

A Few Final Practical Tips

• Always keep an unedited backup of your original file before making changes, in case you need to start over
• Test your results on the actual platform or device where the image will ultimately be used, rather than relying solely on how it looks in an editor
• When in doubt about a setting, err on the side of higher quality — you can always compress further later, but you can't recover detail once it's been discarded
• Bookmark the specific free tools you use most often so they're quick to access next time

If you found this guide helpful, feel free to explore our other image tool guides covering related topics, or head straight to our full collection of free image tools to put what you've learned into practice right away.