A Facebook Page cover is uploaded at 851 x 315 px, and Facebook will accept anything from 400 x 150 px up. The thing people get wrong is treating that one file as one crop, because the desktop and mobile views trim different parts of it.
Where it shows
- The banner across the top of your Page on facebook.com
- The top of your Page in the Facebook iOS and Android app
- Page preview cards in Facebook search results
- The Pages list inside Meta Business Suite
The safe zone
Facebook's help describes the cover as left aligned with a full bleed, shown at a 16:9 ratio on computers and a 2.4:1 ratio on phones, and the 851 x 315 px file it tells you to upload is neither of those shapes. Because both views anchor the left edge, the right side of the file is the part most likely to vanish, and the two ratios keep different amounts of height. Put the wordmark and any face in the left two thirds, hold text back from the top and bottom edges, and leave the lower left clear because the profile picture overlaps the cover by roughly 40 px on mobile.
Quirks worth knowing
- Facebook says the cover shows at a 16:9 ratio on computers and a 2.4:1 ratio on phones, yet the file it tells you to upload is 851 x 315 px, which is about 2.70:1 and matches neither figure.
- Both views left align the image, so the right edge of an 851 x 315 px file is the first thing to go when the frame narrows.
- The 100 kilobyte figure Facebook publishes is a loading target, not an upload cap, which is why a heavier file uploads fine and simply gets recompressed harder.
- Facebook names only an sRGB JPG for this slot and publishes no list of accepted formats, so color set outside sRGB shifts once the cover is live.
- The profile picture overlap of roughly 40 px is stated for mobile devices only, so the current desktop Page layout no longer eats the same corner.
- The stated floor is 400 x 150 px, and a cover uploaded near that floor is stretched across a full width desktop band.
Common mistakes
- Centering the logo in an 851 x 315 px file and then losing it when the frame pulls in from the right.
- Exporting a 4 MB PNG for a slot Facebook wants under 100 kilobytes, which leaves the recompressed version soft.
- Reusing an old cover built around a profile photo that used to sit on top of it on desktop, leaving a bare gap where the avatar no longer lands.
- Designing at 400 x 150 px because that is the stated minimum, then watching it upscale on a desktop Page.
What we recommend
- Export at 851 x 315 px in sRGB, save as JPG, and check the file lands near 100 kilobytes before uploading.
- Put the wordmark in the left third, since both the desktop and the mobile view anchor that edge.
- Keep the lower left as flat background so the mobile avatar overlap has somewhere clean to sit.
- Treat the right quarter as texture that can be trimmed without losing meaning.
Common questions
Why does my Facebook cover photo look blurry?
Facebook recompresses covers hard and asks for a file under 100 kilobytes for fastest loading. A photo saved at low JPG quality, or scaled up from below 851 x 315 px, arrives soft. Export at exactly 851 x 315 px in sRGB and it holds together.
Why is part of my Facebook cover cut off on my phone?
Facebook shows the cover at a 2.4:1 ratio on phones and a 16:9 ratio on computers, both left aligned. The right side of the file is what goes missing as the frame narrows. Keep anything that has to be read inside the left two thirds.
Does my profile picture still cover part of my Facebook Page banner?
On mobile the profile picture overlaps the cover by about 40 px, and Facebook's help mentions that overlap for mobile only. Current desktop Page layouts set the avatar beside the cover rather than on top of it. Design around the mobile overlap and the desktop view takes care of itself.
What is the smallest Facebook cover photo I can upload?
Facebook accepts a cover from 400 x 150 px, but that is an acceptance floor rather than a recommendation. A file that small is scaled up across a desktop Page and the softness shows immediately. Upload 851 x 315 px instead.
More answers on thumbnail, carousel and cover questions are on the FAQ.