The YouTube banner size is 2560 by 1440 pixels, and the smallest image YouTube accepts for upload is 2048 by 1152 at 16:9. As of October 2026, YouTube's Manage your channel branding page recommends 2560 by 1440 especially for TV, caps the file at 6 MB, and gives 1235 by 338 as the safe area for text and logos at the minimum size. That last number matters most: one image serves computers, phones and TVs, and outside that strip it can be cropped.
Below: each number in YouTube's words, what each screen shows, where the older 1546 by 423 came from, how to upload the banner, and the common mistakes. WThumb makes thumbnails, not banners, so the last section covers thumbnails in your banner's look.
What size is a YouTube banner?
Make it 2560 by 1440 pixels. As of October 2026, the banner guidelines on YouTube's Manage your channel branding page give a "Minimum dimension for upload: 2048 x 1152 px with an aspect ratio of 16:9", a safe area for text and logos of 1235 by 338 at that minimum, a "Recommended dimension (especially for TV): 2560 x 1440 px", and "File size: 6 MB or smaller."
2560 x 1440
Recommended, especially for TV
2048 x 1152
Minimum for upload, at 16:9
1235 x 338
Safe area for text, at the minimum
6 MB
Largest file
A second YouTube page sets the bar higher. The Channel banner & profile picture tips page, read the same month, says "We recommend that your banner image be at least 2560x1440 px to achieve the best display on all devices." So 2048 by 1152 is what uploads, and 2560 by 1440 is what YouTube wants. Start the file at 2560 by 1440; scaling a smaller one up adds pixels, not detail.
The branding page names no file type for the banner; its JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG list belongs to the profile picture. Our suggestion: a still JPG or PNG under 6 MB.
The YouTube banner safe area: 1235 by 338
The safe area is where your words and logo go. As of October 2026, the branding page gives "the safe area for text and logos: 1235 x 338 px" at the minimum dimension, and says why it matters: "Images should accommodate the entire screen for larger devices but will get cropped on certain views and devices."
By our arithmetic, 1235 is about 60% of 2048 and 338 about 29% of 1152: a wide, short strip covering under a fifth of the picture.
At the recommended 2560 by 1440, exactly 1.25 times 2048 by 1152 in both directions, the same strip is about 1544 by 423 pixels. Our scaling; YouTube gives the safe area only at the minimum.
That explains the number in older guides. An archived copy of YouTube's Create or edit channel art page from February 2020 read "Minimum safe area for text and logos: 1546 x 423 px." Set beside our scaled 1544 by 423, it reads as the same strip on an older page, two pixels apart. So the channel name, your handle and an upload schedule go inside the strip; scenery and color go around it.
What computers, phones and TVs show of your banner
One file serves every screen. As of October 2026, YouTube's Manage your channel branding page says: "The same banner image is used across computer, mobile, and TV displays, but it shows differently depending on your device." It names TV for the recommended size and gives no pixel size per device.
The per-device detail is history, from the 2020 archived copy of the channel art page:
- TV. "On TVs, the whole image is displayed as channel art in the background", at 2560 by 1440.
- Computer. A maximum width of 2560 by 423, with "the areas to each side of the channel art" visible or cropped "depending on browser size."
- Phone. The safe area "scaled down to the width of the mobile screen, which varies by device."
Neither page's text gives a tablet figure, so a guide's 1855 by 423 is not one of the numbers YouTube publishes today. Check where it comes from before you design to it.
Design the whole 2560 by 1440 as if a TV shows all of it, keep every word in the strip, and check the crop previews in Studio before you publish. Official Artist Channels differ: the same page says their banner is used only on computers and phones, with a separate one for TV and YouTube Music set under Profile in Studio.
How to add or change your YouTube banner
As of October 2026, YouTube's Manage your channel branding page gives these steps on a computer.
Sign in to Studio
Sign in to YouTube Studio on a computer.
Open Customization, then Profile
From the left menu, select Customization, then Profile.
Click Change
Click Change and select an image of at least 2048 by 1152 pixels at 16:9.
Adjust the crop
Select a preview and change the crop so the words sit inside the safe area, then click Done.
Click Publish
Click Publish to put the new banner on your channel.
On a phone, the page's Android and iPhone versions give these routes:
- YouTube app, Android or iPhone. Tap your profile picture, then View channel on Android or Your channel on iPhone. Tap Edit, then your banner image on the right, take or choose a photo, and tap Save.
- YouTube Studio app on iPhone. Tap your profile picture, then Edit profile, then your banner image. Take or choose a photo and tap Save.
That Profile tab, per YouTube's Channel customization page the same month, also holds your profile picture, video watermark, channel name, handle, description and site links.
Clickable links are separate from the banner. YouTube's Manage your YouTube channel's profile page, read the same month, lets you showcase up to 14 on your channel Home tab, the first "prominently displayed in the profile section near the subscribe button."
Banner mistakes that cost you the safe area
Seven to check before you publish, each with YouTube's line or marked as our advice.
- Words outside the safe area. As of October 2026, the branding page says images "will get cropped on certain views and devices". Check a channel name near the left edge first.
- Too small, or not 16:9. The minimum for upload is 2048 by 1152 at 16:9. A 2560 by 423 strip, the 2020 page's maximum width for computers, is far short of 1152 pixels tall.
- A small image stretched up. Enlarging adds no detail, and YouTube names the large size for TV. Start at full size (our advice).
- Borders, shadows and frames. The page says "Do not include any additional file embellishments (e.g. shadows, borders, and frames)."
- A file over 6 MB. The limit is "6 MB or smaller." A photo saved as a PNG can run large; export a JPG instead (our suggestion).
- A stale schedule. The Channel banner & profile picture tips page recommends adding your upload schedule to your banner. When the schedule changes, change the banner too (our advice).
- Borrowing another channel's look. YouTube's Impersonation policy does not allow "copying their profile pictures, banners, or specific color schemes" to impersonate a creator, and its Thumbnails policy counts banners among the images held to the Community Guidelines.
Banner vs thumbnail vs Shorts thumbnail: the sizes side by side
As of October 2026, YouTube's pages size the channel's images like this:
| Image | Shape | Recommended (pixels) | Minimum (pixels) | Largest file | File types |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channel banner | 16:9 | 2560 by 1440, especially for TV | 2048 by 1152 | 6 MB | Not stated |
| Video thumbnail | 16:9 | 3840 by 2160 | 640 wide | 2 MB on mobile, 50 MB on desktop | Such as JPG or PNG |
| Shorts thumbnail | 9:16 | 2160 by 3840 | 640 tall | 50 MB, from a computer only | Such as JPG or PNG |
| Profile picture | Not stated | Renders at 98 by 98 | Not stated | 15 MB | JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG, no animated GIFs |
| Video watermark | Square | Not stated | 150 by 150 | Less than 1 MB | Not stated |
The banner and the video thumbnail share 16:9 and little else: a thumbnail fills its frame and is read small beside a title, while a banner, in the branding page's words, "shows as a background at the top of your YouTube page" and keeps its words in a strip.
The others each have a post: YouTube video thumbnail size for the 16:9 thumbnail, YouTube Shorts size and dimensions for the 9:16 one, YouTube profile picture size for the circle, and YouTube community post image size for the square post image.
How to do this in WThumb
WThumb does not make, edit or resize banners; it makes YouTube thumbnails. Make the banner in an image editor, then use WThumb so the thumbnails under it share its look. As of October 2026, YouTube's Channel banner & profile picture tips page says strong brand visuals have "a consistent look, feel, and voice", and YouTube's Thumbnail & title tips page says to "overlay your images with your branding and descriptive text."
- Start from a thumbnail in your look. Recreate opens with 16:9 and 1 design picked. Under Link, paste the link of one of your own videos (only its public thumbnail is fetched), or Upload a PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 12 MiB.
- Type the words, or No text. One line, up to 280 characters, printed as typed; check the letters on the result.
- Put the banner's look in Changes. Its colors, type style and where your mark sits, the same paragraph every time.
- Attach your logo as @1. Add it under Images (up to four) and type @ in Changes to place it. WThumb tells the model to show it whole and unchanged where your words say: an instruction, not a promise, so check it.
- Pick your persona or Faceless. Keep the same choice from video to video.
- Press Make. It uses 1 credit (1 credit = 1 thumbnail); a run takes about thirty seconds. Press Change it for a revision or Make the Shorts version for a 9:16 one, 1 credit each.
No brand kit, so keep a note
WThumb has no brand kit or saved style, so keep a note with the reference and the Changes paragraph and paste it every time. Results stay close in idea, not identical; check each one beside your banner.
A brief to paste
- Words. MY DESK SETUP
- Changes. Dark navy background, one amber accent, heavy white type with a thin black outline, logo @1 small in the top-left corner.
New accounts get two free credits, no card.
Make the banner once. Brief every thumbnail in its look.
