Resize image for YouTube Channel Banner (2560×1440)
YouTube channel banners are shown at very different sizes on TV, desktop, tablet, and mobile. Uploading at 2560×1440 gives YouTube the highest-quality master to crop from, ensuring sharp results everywhere.
A YouTube channel banner should be 2560×1440 pixels with the important content confined to a central 1546×423 safe area. This is the most extreme responsive-crop case on any major platform: the same file is displayed as a wide cinematic strip on television, a shallow band on desktop, and a narrow slice on mobile, with YouTube choosing a different crop for each. The file must stay under 6 MB, and JPG or PNG both work. Because the mobile crop is only 1546×423 out of a 2560×1440 canvas, roughly 82 percent of the image area is invisible on a phone — so a channel name or tagline placed anywhere but the centre simply does not exist for most viewers. Design the safe area first and treat everything around it as bleed that only television users will ever see.
Drop an image to resize to 2560×1440
JPG or PNG
How does a YouTube banner crop on each device?
YouTube does not resize your banner so much as take four different windows out of it. Television displays the full 2560×1440 frame, which is why the file needs to be that large at all. Desktop takes a 2560×423 horizontal band from the vertical centre. Tablet takes 1855×423. Mobile takes only 1546×423 — the central sixty percent of the width. Every one of those crops shares the same vertical centre line, so the design problem is really one-dimensional: content must survive being narrowed from 2560 pixels to 1546 while the height stays fixed at 423. This is why banners that look balanced in a design tool often fail on phones. The outer regions are not wasted space in the sense of being unused; they are television-only decoration, and they should be treated as atmosphere rather than information.
File size, format and the profile picture overlay
YouTube caps banner uploads at 6 MB and accepts JPG, PNG and non-animated GIF. A 2560×1440 JPEG at quality 85 typically lands between 400 KB and 1.2 MB, so the ceiling is rarely reached unless you export PNG from a photographic source. The channel profile picture and the channel name are composited on top of the banner on desktop and mobile, positioned at the left of the safe area on desktop and centred beneath it on mobile — so the left portion of the safe area is partially obstructed on one layout and clear on the other. Social links, when configured, are drawn over the bottom-right of the banner on desktop. Because these overlays move between layouts, the only genuinely reliable area for a logo or tagline is the horizontal centre of the safe strip, kept clear of both edges.
Building a banner that survives all four crops
Start from a 2560×1440 canvas and draw guides at the 1546×423 safe rectangle in the exact centre. Place the channel name, tagline and any upload-schedule text entirely inside that rectangle, and keep at least 40 pixels of padding inside its edges so nothing sits flush against the crop boundary. Fill the surrounding area with a background that extends naturally — a gradient, a texture, a continuation of a photograph — rather than additional elements a mobile viewer will never see. Avoid placing a hard vertical edge, such as the boundary between two colour blocks, near the 1546-pixel boundary, because it will be visible as an abrupt cut on mobile and invisible on television. Once exported, the fastest check is to open your own channel on a phone and on a desktop browser side by side; discrepancies show up immediately and are almost always a safe-area problem rather than a resolution one.
YouTube Banner tip: design for the 1546×423 safe area
Only the central 1546×423 'safe area' is visible on mobile. Keep your channel name, logo, and key messaging inside that central strip.
YouTube Banner size FAQ
Why upload 2560×1440 if most people see a thin strip?
- Television displays the full frame. The large canvas exists so TV viewers get a complete image while every smaller device takes a crop from the centre.
What exactly is the safe area?
- A 1546×423 rectangle in the exact centre of the canvas. It is the only region visible on every device, including phones.
What is the maximum file size?
- 6 MB. A 2560×1440 JPEG at quality 85 usually lands well under that; PNG from a photographic source can exceed it.
Where does the profile picture sit?
- Left of the safe area on desktop and centred below it on mobile. Because it moves, keep the horizontal centre of the safe strip clear for your logo.
Can I use a smaller banner image?
- You can, but YouTube upscales it for television and 4K displays, where the result looks noticeably soft.
Are animated GIF banners supported?
- GIF is accepted as a file format but animation is not played. The banner renders as a static image.
Why does my banner look cut in half on mobile?
- A hard vertical edge in the design is landing near the 1546-pixel crop boundary. Move the transition toward the centre or soften it into a gradient.
Do social links cover part of the banner?
- Yes, on desktop they are drawn over the bottom-right of the visible strip. Avoid placing text there.
Banner crop by device
| Device | Visible region | Share of full width |
|---|---|---|
| Television | 2560 × 1440 | 100% |
| Desktop | 2560 × 423 | 100% width, 29% height |
| Tablet | 1855 × 423 | 72% width |
| Mobile | 1546 × 423 | 60% width |
All four crops share the same vertical centre, so only horizontal position needs solving.
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References: YouTube Help channel art guidelines including the 2560×1440 recommendation, 1546×423 safe area and 6 MB limit; crop behaviour verified across YouTube web, mobile and TV clients.