Meta publishes 1440 x 1800 px at a 4:5 ratio for a Facebook feed image, with a 600 px minimum width and a 30 MB ceiling. The common error is uploading a wide 16:9 export, which is legal but renders short and small in the feed column.
Where it shows
- The Facebook feed on desktop
- The Facebook feed in the iOS and Android app
- The Photos tab on your Page or profile
- The post permalink page when someone opens it
- Search and notification previews as a small thumbnail
The safe zone
Nothing is drawn on top of a Facebook feed image, so the whole frame is yours, but the feed decides how much of it a scrolling reader actually sees. A 4:5 image fills the column at its full height, while a wider crop of the same picture is rendered shorter and the subject arrives smaller. Meta allows a 3 percent tolerance around the stated ratio, so keep the subject and any type away from the outer few percent in case the frame rounds against you.
Quirks worth knowing
- Meta's published feed image spec is 1440 x 1800 px at 4:5, not the 1080 x 1350 px that most size guides repeat.
- The ratio tolerance is 3 percent, so a file at 1440 x 1790 px still counts as 4:5 and is not fitted into a smaller frame.
- The 600 px minimum width and the 30 MB ceiling come from Meta's feed image spec in the Ads Guide, because Meta publishes no separate figure for an organic Page post.
- Meta names JPG and PNG for the feed and nothing else, so transparency in a PNG is a gamble once dark mode is involved.
- Facebook re-encodes every feed upload, and an image carrying fine type at 600 px wide comes back visibly softer than the same image at 1440 px.
Common mistakes
- Posting a 16:9 export borrowed from a video thumbnail, which renders short and wastes the feed column.
- Uploading a screenshot at 600 px wide because it clears the minimum, then finding the text inside it unreadable after re-encoding.
- Building at 1080 x 1350 px and assuming that is Meta's figure, when Meta's own feed spec is 1440 x 1800 px.
- Adding white bars to a square image by hand instead of exporting to a supported ratio.
What we recommend
- Export at 1440 x 1800 px so Facebook downsamples into the feed slot rather than stretching up to it.
- Stay inside the 3 percent ratio tolerance instead of trimming stray pixels by hand.
- Save photographic images as JPG and keep PNG for flat graphics and screenshots with hard edges.
- Judge any type in the image on a phone rather than on the desktop feed, since that is where re-encoding shows.
Common questions
Why do my Facebook posts look worse than the original file?
Facebook re-encodes every feed upload rather than serving your file. Uploading at Meta's published 1440 x 1800 px means Facebook downsamples instead of stretching, which is far kinder to detail. A JPG saved at high quality also survives that pass better than one already compressed once.
What size should a Facebook post image be?
Meta publishes 1440 x 1800 px at a 4:5 ratio for a feed image, with a 600 px minimum width and a 30 MB ceiling. That vertical ratio takes the most height in the feed column. A 1:1 square also works and simply renders shorter.
Why did Facebook add bars around my image?
The feed accepts a 3 percent tolerance around its stated ratio. An image just outside that gets fitted into the nearest supported frame rather than filling it, which shows as padding. Re-export to an exact 4:5 and the bars go away.
Can I post a PNG to Facebook?
Yes, Meta's feed spec names JPG and PNG. PNG is the better pick for flat graphics and screenshots, where JPG smears hard edges. Transparency is not worth relying on, because the image is composited onto the feed background and that background changes with the viewer's theme.
More answers on thumbnail, carousel and cover questions are on the FAQ.