X header image size
X recommends a header image of 1500 by 500 pixels, a wide 3:1 strip that no phone camera produces. Drop a photo here and it comes out at exactly that, cropped from the centre rather than squashed. The number comes from X's own help page, and nothing is uploaded.
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What the platform recommends
- Recommended size
- 1500 x 500
- File types
- JPEG
- Maximum file size
- No limit published
- Source
- help.x.com
- Read at the source on
Why this size?
A header is the widest image on any profile and the one most often wrong, because 3:1 is a shape nothing else uses.
X crops whatever you give it to fit, so a normal photo loses most of its height, and the only way to control which band survives is to choose it yourself first.
These numbers move, so check the date
A passport size has been the same for decades.
A platform's recommended image size can change in a product update nobody announces, which is why every size here shows the date somebody read it at the platform's own help page rather than presenting it as timeless.
If that date looks old and the size matters to you, the link beside it goes straight to the page it came from.
That is one click to confirm, against the alternative of trusting a number copied between blog posts since 2019.
Why your photo gets cropped
Platform sizes are shapes as much as sizes, and a photograph is rarely already that shape.
The box is filled and the overflow comes off the long edges evenly, because the alternative is stretching the picture and a stretched face is the one result nobody wants.
If the centre is not the part you want to keep, open the crop tool, drag the frame to the right region, and come back. The crop stays applied while you set the size.
What happens to your photo?
Your selected photo is processed in your browser, without an image upload to a server. The page may download code and codecs needed for editing.
Save your result before closing the tab; unsaved edits are kept in memory rather than in an online account.
Common questions
What size is an X header image?
X's help page states that recommended dimensions for header images are 1500 by 500 pixels. The same page gives 400 by 400 for profile images, and states that X supports JPEG, GIF and PNG files.
Is there a file size limit for an X header?
X's help page states a 2MB maximum for profile photos, and states no limit for headers, so this page does not claim one.
A JPEG at 1500 by 500 is usually a few hundred kilobytes anyway, well under any limit either way.
Why does my header look cropped on a phone?
Because the profile layout overlaps it.
The avatar sits over the lower left of the header and the display varies by screen width, so keep anything that matters away from the edges and out of the bottom left corner rather than centring it there.
Is this the same as the old Twitter header size?
Yes. 1500 by 500 is the figure X's help page still publishes, and it has not changed with the rename. A header made to the old Twitter spec does not need remaking.
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