How to Use Your Logo Across Social Media (Sizing Guide)
Quick Answer
Most social platforms display profile photos as circles and compress uploads aggressively. Use a square version of your logo at a minimum of 400×400 pixels with 10–15% padding around the mark, and always upload at the highest resolution available to avoid compression artifacts.
Every social media platform has different size requirements, cropping behavior, and compression. Get the size wrong and your logo becomes a blurry circle with the edges of your wordmark cut off.
Why social media logo sizing is tricky
Most profile photos display as circles. A rectangular logo uploaded as-is will be center-cropped, cutting off anything that's not dead-center.
Platforms also compress uploads aggressively. Even a 1000×1000 PNG gets re-compressed on the way in. Uploading at higher resolution than the display size gives the platform more to work with, and the output is sharper.
Display size and upload size are not the same. Instagram may show a profile photo at 110px, but it recommends uploading 320×320 or larger. LinkedIn recommends 400×400 for company logos even though they often appear much smaller in feeds.
Check dark mode too. Some platforms switch between light and dark backgrounds, and a logo that works on white can disappear on dark.
Platform-by-platform sizing guide
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Page profile photo | 320×320 px or larger | 176×176 (computer), 196×196 (smartphone), 36×36 (feature phone) |
| Page cover photo | 851×315 px JPG for fastest load; at least 400×150 px | Full-bleed 16:9, cropped or resized by screen |
Profile photos are cropped to circles, so keep the mark centered with padding around it. Cover photos are not cropped to circles, but Facebook may crop or resize them across screens, and the profile photo can cover the left side. Keep important text and logos away from the edges.
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 320×320 px | 110×110 px, displayed as circle |
Instagram renders profile photos as circles everywhere. Wordmarks get cropped at the sides. The display pixel count is small, so anything with fine detail won't survive. Use a bold, high-contrast icon mark or monogram.
X (Twitter)
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 400×400 px | 200×200 px, displayed as circle |
| Header image | 1500×500 px | Variable by device |
Profile photos are circles, 2MB file size limit. The header image sits behind the profile photo in the top-left, so design with that overlap in mind.
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Personal profile photo | 400×400 px minimum | 200×200 px |
| Company logo | 400×400 px recommended; 268×268 px minimum | Variable small placements |
| Company cover image | 4200×700 px | Variable by device |
For B2B brands, LinkedIn usually gives your logo more exposure than other platforms. Company logos appear in job listings, employee profiles, feed posts, and the company page. Unlike most platforms, LinkedIn keeps company logos square with rounded corners instead of cropping them to circles.
YouTube
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Channel icon | 800×800 px | 98×98 px in most UI, displayed as circle |
| Channel art (banner) | 2560×1440 px recommended; 2048×1152 px minimum | Safe area at minimum size: 1235×338 px center |
Channel icons are circles everywhere on YouTube: thumbnails, comments, the subscribe button, the channel page. Upload a clean square image with the mark centered. The banner safe area is narrow because YouTube displays it differently on TV, desktop, tablet, and mobile. Put all important text and logos within the center safe area.
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 600×600 px | 165×165 px and smaller placements, displayed as circle |
Small circle. Icon mark or monogram only. The 165×165 size is a display target, not a good source file for a crisp logo.
TikTok
| Asset | Recommended upload | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Profile photo | 200×200 px minimum | Displayed as circle |
High-contrast, simple marks work best. Avoid fine lines or text that's less than 20% of the image height.
Logo files to prepare
For profile photos, isolate your icon mark or monogram and place it on a solid or transparent background with 10–15% padding around the mark so circular crops don't clip it. Export at 1000×1000 and scale down for each platform.
For cover images and banners, use the full horizontal lockup with wordmark on a background that contrasts with the platform's default. Facebook cover, LinkedIn banner, and YouTube channel art all take this format.
Keep a white or inverted version ready for dark backgrounds and dark mode.
Tips for uploads
Upload larger than the displayed size. Platforms recompress images, and a larger source usually produces a sharper result.
Add padding before cropping to square. A mark that fills the frame edge-to-edge will get clipped by circular display.
Test in both light and dark mode after uploading. A logo that disappears in dark mode needs a contrasting background shape behind it.
Don't put text in the profile photo. Even short brand names are unreadable at 36–60px. Use your handle and bio for that.
Use PNG, not JPEG. JPEG compression creates color fringing around sharp edges, which is a problem for logos specifically. Use PNG unless the platform forces JPEG.
On file quality
All of this is easier when you start with a vector source file. A PNG exported from an SVG scales cleanly to any size, so one source file covers every platform. If your logo was generated with Brandize, the SVG export is included.
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