YouTube profile picture size
YouTube shows your channel picture at 98 by 98 pixels and accepts a JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP up to 15 MB, but no longer names an upload size. Drop a photo here and it comes out as an 800 by 800 square, the size YouTube recommended in 2023, cropped from the centre.
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What the platform recommends
- Size this tool makes
- 800 x 800
- Displayed at
- 98 x 98
- File types
- JPEG
- Maximum file size
- 15 MB
- Source
- support.google.com
- Read at the source on
Why this size?
Your channel picture appears beside every video, comment and search result, usually tiny.
A square photo cropped close around a face or a logo reads at 98 by 98. A wide shot shrinks to an unrecognisable smudge.
Want the picture cut to a circle before you upload it? Crop an image to a circle.
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 should a YouTube profile picture be?
YouTube's help page does not say today. It lists JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG with no animated GIFs, files up to 15 MB, and an image that renders at 98 by 98 pixels.
In 2023 the same page recommended 800 by 800, which is the square this tool makes.
Is the file limit 2 MB or 15 MB?
15 MB, on YouTube's page as read on the date above. In 2021 the page said 4 MB.
The 2 MB in many guides is in none of the versions read for this page, from 2021, 2023 and today.
Should the picture be square or round?
YouTube's tips page says it is best to upload a square or round image. A square is the safe choice, because you decide what fills it.
For a round picture with clear corners, crop it to a circle first and save it as a PNG.
Why 800 by 800 if it shows at 98 by 98?
98 by 98 is the size YouTube renders, not a size it asks for, so there is no official upload target today. This page keeps the last one YouTube published rather than inventing one.
A phone portrait loses 133 pixels from the top and bottom to become the 800 square.
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