LinkedIn is a different environment from Instagram or TikTok. The audience is slower, more deliberate, and more tolerant of text-heavy content. But that does not mean visuals are unimportant — it means they need to work harder in a context where professional credibility is on the line.
Getting your specs wrong on LinkedIn is more damaging than on most other platforms, because a pixelated banner or an awkwardly cropped post image signals carelessness to an audience that notices those things.
This guide covers the specifications that matter most across LinkedIn’s formats, with practical advice for each.
Profile and Company Page Images
Personal Profile Photo
The recommended size for a LinkedIn profile photo is 400 × 400 pixels, displayed as a circle on your profile and as a small thumbnail next to every post, comment, and message you send. Accepted formats are JPG, PNG, and GIF, with a maximum file size of 5MB.
Because the circular crop removes the corners, keep the subject centred with adequate clearance around the edges. A headshot that fills the frame will look cramped once the corners are removed. The face should occupy roughly 60–70% of the frame height, with the chin slightly below centre.
Personal Cover Photo (Background Image)
The personal background image renders at 1584 × 396 pixels — a 4:1 aspect ratio that is unusually wide and short. File types JPG, PNG, and GIF are all supported, up to 5MB.
LinkedIn crops this image differently depending on whether the viewer is on desktop or mobile. On desktop, the full 1584 × 396 image is visible. On mobile, a narrower centre section is shown and the far left and right edges are clipped. This means any important content — text, logos, or key visuals — should be concentrated in the centre 60% of the image. Treat the outer 20% on each side as bleed space that may or may not appear.
Company Logo
Company logos on LinkedIn use a 400 × 400 pixel square format — JPG, PNG, or GIF, up to 5MB. The logo appears at much smaller sizes in most contexts: as a thumbnail next to company updates, in search results, and alongside job listings.
Because the display size shrinks significantly, the logo needs to be recognisable at very small sizes. A simple mark or icon that reads at 40 × 40 pixels will serve far better than a full wordmark that becomes illegible when scaled down.
Company Cover Photo
The company page banner uses a 1128 × 191 pixel format at approximately 5.91:1 — nearly six times wider than it is tall. Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, up to 5MB.
At this ratio, meaningful photography is essentially impossible. The format works best for branded colour fields with a tagline, abstract graphic patterns, or a clean typographic treatment. Any photography should function as texture or background rather than primary communication. Always test across desktop and mobile before publishing — small differences in rendering can make a significant visual difference at this narrow height.
Post Formats
Single Image Posts
LinkedIn supports multiple aspect ratios for single image posts:
- 1.91:1 — 1200 × 627 pixels: The standard landscape format, used for link previews and general posts
- 1:1 — 1080 × 1080 pixels: Square format, works well on desktop and mobile
- 4:5 — 1080 × 1350 pixels: Vertical format, occupies more screen space on mobile
All three accept JPG, PNG, or GIF files up to 5MB.
The 4:5 format is worth testing if your audience is primarily mobile. It takes up roughly 30% more vertical space in the feed than a square image, which typically means more time in view before the user scrolls past. This matters for awareness objectives even if engagement rates are similar.
Video Posts
LinkedIn video posts support a wide range of dimensions — from 256 × 144 all the way up to 4096 × 2304. The practical recommendation is to upload at 1920 × 1080 (16:9) for landscape or 1080 × 1920 (9:16) for vertical.
Accepted format: MP4, up to 500MB. Video settings: AAC or MPEG4 audio, less than 64 kHz. Recommended frame rate is 30fps.
One important note: LinkedIn auto-plays videos silently in the feed. Design your video to communicate its core message without sound — through text overlays, captions, or visual storytelling — and treat audio as an enhancement rather than the primary channel.
Article Cover Images
LinkedIn article headers use 1920 × 1080 pixels at 16:9. JPG, PNG, or GIF, up to 5MB. This is the format used for long-form posts and newsletters, where a high-quality header image reinforces the editorial feel of the content.
LinkedIn Ad Formats
Single Image Ads
LinkedIn single image ads support three aspect ratios:
- 1:1 — 1200 × 1200 pixels — works on desktop and mobile
- 1.91:1 — primarily for desktop and link previews
- 4:5 — mobile only
The 1:1 format is the safest choice for consistent delivery across both environments. Minimum image size is 400 × 400 pixels, though 1200 × 1200 is recommended for quality. Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, up to 5MB. Vertical ads at 4:5 only deliver on mobile placements.
Video Ads
LinkedIn video ads support multiple aspect ratios, but 16:9 at 1920 × 1080 is the most widely supported across placements. The full range includes 1:1, 1.91:1, 4:5, 9:16, and 16:9.
Format: MP4, up to 500MB. Audio: AAC or MPEG-4, under 64 kHz. Frame rate: under 30fps. Duration: 3 seconds to 30 minutes.
Custom thumbnails are optional but recommended. The thumbnail should be JPG or PNG, maximum 2MB, matching the aspect ratio of the video.
Carousel Ads
LinkedIn carousel ads use a 1:1 format at 1080 × 1080 pixels per card. JPG, PNG, or GIF, up to 5MB per image. You can include between 2 and 10 cards per carousel.
Unlike Instagram carousels, LinkedIn carousels display card titles and descriptions below each image. Keep card images visually simple so they work alongside the text beneath them rather than competing with it.
Event Ads
Event ads use a 4:1 ratio at 1920 × 480 pixels, in JPG or PNG format. These are linked to LinkedIn Event pages and are primarily used for awareness and registration campaigns. Event name supports up to 255 characters; the intro text supports up to 600 characters.
Connected TV Ads
LinkedIn’s Connected TV ad format uses 1920 × 1080 at 16:9, in MP4 format up to 500MB. Bitrate should be 15–40 Mbps, audio PCM or AAC at 48 kHz at 192kbps or higher, duration 6–60 seconds, frame rate 23.98–30fps. These ads appear on smart TVs and streaming devices and support dimensions from 1280 × 720 up to 1920 × 1080.
What Actually Performs on LinkedIn
A few observations beyond the spec sheet:
Document posts consistently outperform static images for organic reach. LinkedIn’s algorithm appears to favour its native document format — PDFs uploaded directly to the platform — over external links and even single images. For educational content, uploading as a multi-page document often reaches further than a carousel image post.
Aspect ratio affects how much space your post occupies. A 4:5 image takes up significantly more vertical space in the feed than a 1:1 square, which typically means more impressions before the viewer scrolls past.
Thumbnail quality matters more than most people think. LinkedIn’s compression is more aggressive than Instagram’s. Videos that look sharp in your editing software can become noticeably softer after upload. Always check the final output on both desktop and mobile before publishing.
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn rewards precision. A cover photo with the logo cut off at the edge, a video that starts with a black frame, or a post image at the wrong ratio — these compound into an overall impression of carelessness that lands differently with a professional audience than it might elsewhere.
The specs here reflect how LinkedIn actually renders content across its placements, devices, and contexts. Working within them is not a constraint — it is the baseline for communicating credibly.