YouTube Banner Size: The Only Numbers That Matter
4 min read · By Zaher Khan
A YouTube banner is one image shown on wildly different screens. A TV displays all of it, a desktop browser shows a wide strip from the middle, and a phone crops it down to a small central band. Most banner frustration comes from not knowing this: the image was fine, it was just designed for the wrong slice.
Here are the numbers YouTube itself works with, and what each one actually means for your design.
The dimensions
Upload at 2560 by 1440 pixels. That is the size YouTube recommends and the size TVs display in full. The minimum YouTube will accept is 2048 by 1152, and the file must stay under 6MB.
The number that matters most is smaller: the safe area. YouTube states it as 1235 by 338 pixels at the minimum upload size, which works out to 1546 by 423 at the recommended 2560 by 1440. That central band is the only part of your banner guaranteed to appear on every device, including phones.
- Recommended upload: 2560 x 1440
- Minimum upload: 2048 x 1152
- Safe area at 2560 x 1440: 1546 x 423, centred
- Desktop shows roughly 2560 x 423
- File size: 6MB or less
Design for the safe area first
Put your channel name, logo, tagline and upload schedule inside the safe area, then treat everything outside it as decoration. Background colour, texture and imagery can spill across the full 2560 by 1440 because losing them to a crop costs nothing.
A quick test: cover everything except the central 1546 by 423 band and ask whether the banner still says who you are. If yes, it will look right on every device YouTube runs on.
Do it without design software
Our free banner generator draws the safe area on the canvas as a dashed guide while you design, and the guides are never part of the exported file. Add your text, drag it inside the lines, and download a PNG at exactly 2560 by 1440, ready to upload.
Try it now, free
Everything in this guide works with our Banner Generator, right in your browser. No sign-up, no watermark.
Open the Banner GeneratorFrequently asked questions
Why does my banner look zoomed in on mobile?+
Phones display only the central band of the full image. If your text sits outside the 1546 by 423 safe area, mobile crops it away. Redesign with everything important inside that band.
Can I upload a smaller image and let YouTube stretch it?+
YouTube rejects anything under 2048 by 1152. Between that and 2560 by 1440 it will display, but upscaled images go soft on TVs. Export at 2560 by 1440 and the problem never comes up.