YouTube banner size: 2560 × 1440 px and the safe area
The exact channel banner dimensions for 2026 — minimum size, recommended size, the 1235 × 338 safe area that shows on every device, and the 6 MB limit.
A YouTube channel banner (YouTube calls it “banner image”) is uploaded once and then shown at very different sizes: the full 2560 × 1440 image on a TV, a wide letterbox strip on a desktop browser, and an even narrower strip on a phone. Only the centre 1235 × 338 pixels are guaranteed to appear everywhere. Everything outside that band is decoration that may or may not be visible.
The practical rule is therefore simple: build the file at 2560 × 1440, put your channel name, logo, tagline and any upload schedule inside the central 1235 × 338 area, and keep the outer regions to background imagery that can be cropped without loss.
What each device shows of the banner
| Device | Visible area (approx.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TV | 2560 × 1440 px | the whole image |
| Desktop (wide browser) | 2560 × 423 px | centre strip, full width |
| Tablet | 1855 × 423 px | sides trimmed |
| Phone | 1546 × 423 px | narrowest crop |
| Safe area (all devices) | 1235 × 338 px | text and logos go here |
The 2560 × 1440 minimum-to-recommended sizes, the 1235 × 338 safe area and the 6 MB limit come from YouTube’s channel-banner guidelines; the per-device strips are rounded values that YouTube shows in its upload preview.
Why the safe area matters more than the full size
Most viewers first see a channel on a phone, where the banner is a slim strip roughly 1546 × 423 pixels wide from the centre of your file. A logo placed in the top-left corner of a 2560-wide design simply is not there on mobile. Keep every element that carries meaning — name, handle, posting schedule, social handles — inside the 1235 × 338 box in the middle, and use the remaining canvas for colour, texture or a photo that still looks fine when trimmed.
Use YouTube Studio’s preview after uploading: it shows the TV, desktop and mobile crops side by side so you can confirm nothing important has been cut.
File format and size
JPG is the best choice for photographic banners and keeps the file far below the 6 MB cap. PNG suits flat graphics and text with sharp edges; at 2560 × 1440 a PNG with large flat areas is still small, but a photographic PNG can exceed the limit — compress it or switch to JPG. Animated GIFs are not supported for banners; a GIF uploads as its first frame.
Banner, profile picture and thumbnail sizes
The banner is one of three images a channel needs. The profile picture should be 800 × 800 px (shown as a circle, so keep the subject centred), and video thumbnails are 1280 × 720 px at 16:9, under 2 MB. All three can be produced from a single design with the social media resizer: switch presets, download each size, done — the files never leave your browser.
Making the banner without design software
Start from any wide photo or a flat colour export, load it into the resizer, choose the YouTube banner preset and drag the image until the subject sits in the highlighted centre band. Export as JPG at 2560 × 1440. If you are adding text, do it before resizing at that size so it stays crisp, and keep it inside the safe area.
Frequently asked questions
2560 × 1440 pixels (16:9). YouTube accepts a minimum of 2048 × 1152, requires a file under 6 MB and guarantees only the centre 1235 × 338 pixels are visible on every device.
Phones show only a narrow centre strip of roughly 1546 × 423 pixels. Anything near the top, bottom or outer edges of the 2560 × 1440 file is cut. Move text and logos into the 1235 × 338 safe area.
No — YouTube requires at least 2048 × 1152. Upscaling a 1920 × 1080 image works but looks slightly soft on TV; better to start from a larger source.
No. Only static images are used; an animated GIF is flattened to its first frame.
No. Cropping and resizing run inside your browser; the file is never sent to a server.