Want your Facebook Cover Photo to look good on both desktop AND mobile?
Optimizing your Facebook content for mobile is non-negotiable.
Why?
More than 3/4 of Facebook users will only see it on smartphones and tablets!
But your Cover Photo can have it both ways: Here’s a Facebook Cover Photo mobile template – that also works great on desktop.
Updated for New Facebook 2021! Good news – it’s simpler than ever.
Read on…
2 Great ways to make the perfect Facebook Page Cover Photo!
Already know how to design with a graphics program that has layers, like Photoshop?
Then you’ll love my FREE cover photo template below.
Not a pro designer? No worries!
There’s an EASY online design app that includes a template right inside!
Read on for both of these options, with instructions on keeping your elements within the “safe zone” so it won’t get cropped on either desktop or mobile.
Why Should You Care about Optimizing for Mobile?
Mobile use is on the rise, and this trend will continue to grow.
Google won’t like your website if it’s not optimized for mobile – and Facebook users won’t understand your cover photo that’s designed only for desktop viewing!
Facebook mobile usage stats for 2021
These are the most recent stats available, checked December 2020.
79% of Facebook users ONLY access the site by mobile (up from 51.7% in January 2016). source
One billion users access Facebook daily through their mobile phones. source
In 2020, 98 percent of active user accounts worldwide accessed Facebook via mobile devices. source
That’s up from 96% in January 2019, and let’s face it, it’s just about everyone!
Because people access Facebook from a variety of devices, the percentage numbers are over 100%. Stats and chart: Statista
I love my big beautiful desktop monitor, but even I use Facebook on mobile sometimes 😉
Why is the Facebook Page Cover Photo so Confusing?
Facebook Cover Photo sizes seem to be a tough concept for many to grasp.
First off, there are 4 different kinds of cover photos on Facebook (see below).
If that’s not confusing enough, Facebook recommends different sizes for each.
BUT the problem is NOT the pixel dimensions!
Issues arise because each cover photo has a different shape on desktop vs. mobile.
Cover photos have a wider aspect ratio on desktop. They’re taller on mobile.
This isn’t because Facebook is trying to confuse designers! It’s because a browser window is wide. A mobile device is tall.
FB is trying to accommodate these completely different displays.
However, Facebook doesn’t help us much when they tell us:
Your Page’s cover photo:
Displays at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on your Page on computers and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones.
Must be at least 400 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall.
Loads fastest as an sRGB JPG file that’s 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall and less than 100 kilobytes.*
Yeah. Well that would be great if we could actually upload a separate image for mobile and desktop. But we can’t!
What we need to do is design a cover photo that works for both sizes / shapes.
Let me reiterate, the pixel size is not the critical issue. It’s that the SHAPES are different.
You can design for desktop, and have a huge portion of the sides cut off on mobile.
OR, you can design for mobile, and allow some cropping top and bottom on desktop.
I highly recommend mobile-first design!
As marketers, we spend a lot of time at a computer monitor. This is not the case with the general public!
Over half – 56.5% – of Facebook users ONLY access the site by mobile. These folks will never see your desktop-optimized design.
My templates are optimized for mobile first.
*By the way, I strongly suggest you ignore any cover photo size advice from Facebook!
This article applies to Facebook Business Page cover photos ONLY.
For personal profiles, groups, and events, click:
Facebook Profile Cover Photo size
Facebook Group Cover Photo size
Facebook Event Cover Photo size
What’s New in “New Facebook” Page Cover Photos?
Here’s the bottom line. Not a lot has changed for the Page cover photo dimensions.
The mobile version stayed the same, per my iPhone display. It’s still a delightfully simple 16×9 proportion.
See it in all its simple beauty below:
Pre-New FB, my iPad showed the profile picture, page name, and username splashed over a heavily shaded cover photo that was cropped a bit from the iPhone display.
But no longer!
Now the Page cover photo is clean and clear of overlays on tablet, with the exact same cropping shown on phones. So that’s good!
Facebook Page cover photo on desktop
The cropping on the desktop version has become a bit more severe in New Facebook. Whereas Facebook is still telling us:
Your Page’s cover photo:
Displays at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on your Page on computers source
I find it’s been cropped down to only 303 pixels tall (if you go with that 820 width).
Here’s how the mobile to desktop crop plays out now, in New Facebook. The purple dotted line shows the 16×9 cover photo on mobile while the green dotted line shows how it crops on desktop:
More details on sizing when you get to my template further down this article.
The biggest visual changes on desktop are:
1 | The repositioning of the profile picture from left of the banner image, to below it. There’s only a tiny bit of overlap, so this won’t mess up you banner design.
2 | That gradient! While it can add a nice splash of color when you have a solid background that reflects your brand colors, it can also look weird if your cover photo is actually – a photo!
Or just different color blocks on either side.
Facebook is pulling a color from the top outer edges of your header image. And if the image is different on either side, then so is the gradient.
Me no likey.
You can see a couple examples below to help inform your cover photo creation:
Facebook Page Cover Photos made easy!
Let me alleviate your confusion. It doesn’t have to be difficult.
If you don’t want to mess with Photoshop and templates, make your FB header the easy way – with Snappa!
Snappa has integrated Facebook’s cover photo dimensions and safe zones into their graphic design tool, so it’ll look perfect on both phones and computers.
Inside Snappa, you’ll also find:
- 40,000+ photos and 3,500+ graphics – royalty-free and licensed for commercial use.
- Or, upload your own photos into Snappa.
- 200+ fonts pre-loaded in Snappa
- Or, import your own custom fonts to keep your branding intact.
- Hundreds of pre-designed templates!
Read on for instructions. Or jump in and try it out now!
• • • Create a Facebook cover photo for free NOW! • • •
Disclosure: IF you upgrade to a paid plan, I may receive a referral fee.
Cover Photos on Desktop vs. Mobile
I agree – it’s tricky to design your Facebook cover photo to display properly on both mobile and desktop. Designing with “safe zones” will get you a Facebook cover photo that looks great on all devices!
Facebook doesn’t stretch and distort your image to fit different devices – it crops it automatically instead.
On a mobile device, your Facebook cover photo will crop out the sides, while showing more of the cover photo’s height.
And on a desktop device, Facebook displays more of your cover photo’s width, while cropping the top and bottom.
You can quickly see the difference below.
Using the Facebook cover photo size of 820 pixels by 360 pixels and keeping critical elements within safe zones will ensure that nothing important gets cut off on either mobile devices or desktop.
If you’re ready to create a Facebook cover photo, Snappa’s powerful and easy-to-use graphics builder has made this process incredibly simple.
Here’s a step-by-step video showing you how to create a Facebook Page cover photo in the optimal size using Snappa.
Or, follow these screenshots to walk you through the process.
Choose the Facebook cover photo preset for a perfect cover photo size – automatically!
Next, choose a premade Facebook Cover template (which is fully customizable), or create a cover photo from scratch.
Even if you use a template, you can upload your own image – or choose from Snappa’s library of free images.
Add text, graphics, shapes, and effects to any part of the image.
All of these add-ons can be:
- Dragged and dropped easily.
- Defined as to the opacity you desire.
- Placed on whichever layer you choose.
You’ll notice that there’s an overlay showing the mobile and desktop only zones of your Facebook cover so you’ll never have to worry about text and graphics getting cut off. ?
Ready to get going?
• • • Create a Facebook cover photo for free NOW! • • •
Disclosure: IF you upgrade to a paid plan, I may receive a referral fee.
Facebook Page Cover Photo Mobile / Desktop Template 2021
Prefer Photoshop, or another Canva alternative?
Your mobile Cover Photo will no longer have the sides rudely chopped off with this template.
The secret is to make your image much taller than the recommended 820 x 312 pixels – 461 pixels tall, to be exact.
As I mentioned above, the crop on desktop is now only 303 tall if you use the 820 pixel width. This gives you 79 pixels top and bottom that will be cropped on desktop.
I tried different aspect ratios, and this one worked best. You may lose a pixel or two on one or more of the edges on mobile. Nothing worth worrying about!
You have a choice of 2 templates here: low resolution (820 x 461 pixels) and high rez (1200 x 674 pixels).
I do recommend that you make your cover photo larger than 820 pixels for best resolution. The one just below is 820 pixels wide, Facebook’s recommended width.
Just right click the image below to download, and choose “Save Image As…”
For high-resolution version and instructions, keep scrolling!
Facebook Page Cover Photo template, UPSIZED!
Even better – Make your Facebook Page Cover Photo BIGGER! I recommend 1200 x 674. Right click here to download the LARGE template.
Instructions for using the Facebook Cover Photo templates under the next heading ⬇️
This template is so close to the recommended size for link shares that you can multi-purpose it. It’s also the perfect size for tweeted images. The proportion is 16:9.
Instructions for using my social media templates
1. Open in Photoshop or other graphics editing program that has layers.
2. Change Image > Mode to RGB (the template is an indexed color PNG).
3. Add guidelines to match template, or use template as a translucent layer for guidance.
4. Delete template from image file when your design is done.
If your design program doesn’t have layers, you can use them for size and visual reference.
There are more social media templates in the Free Member Area.
The easier Photoshop solution for Facebook Cover Photos
Photoshop Smart Objects!
You can find flexible social media header templates available for purchase on Creative Market.
They use Photoshop Smart Objects so you can preview how your design will look on desktop, phone, and tablet. Move your images and text around and see the mockups update before your eyes!
Disclosure: I’m a Creative Market affiliate and will make a small referral fee if you purchase.
I believe the small cost is well worth the time you’ll save.
How to upload your Facebook Page Cover Photo
When you upload your Cover Photo on desktop, you can adjust the top cropping so it’s positioned top-to-bottom exactly as you like it.
If you upload on mobile, it will crop to center automatically in desktop view. However, I don’t recommend this, as the compression is terrible!
Stick to uploading a PNG file via your desktop computer and it will look 10 times better.
Facebook Cover Photos: Conclusion
Don’t forget to visit these other articles for more cover photo templates:
Facebook Profile Cover Photo size
Facebook Group Cover Photo size
Facebook Event Cover Photo size
For all Facebook dimensions, including ads:
Want all the top social media image sizes?
Find them all in one place, with links to in-depth articles on many of the topics! It’s truly the ultimate guide to social media image sizes.
Ready to make your Facebook Page cover photo the easy way?
Try Snappa online design tool for free!
Their templates give you the perfect size, with safe zones to ensure your beautiful design looks great on both desktop and phone.
- Create highly engaging images in minutes with drag-and-drop.
- 40,000+ photos and 3,500+ graphics – royalty-free and licensed for commercial use.
- Or upload your own photos into Snappa.
- 200+ fonts pre-loaded in Snappa.
- Or import your own custom fonts to keep your branding intact.
- Choose from hundreds of pre-made templates, suitable for a wide range of niches.
- Image dimensions for social media, display ads, blogs, emails, and infographics.
Whether you’re a designer or not, it’s really got everything you need.
• • • Create a Facebook cover photo for free NOW! • • •
Disclosure: IF you upgrade to a paid plan, I may receive a referral fee.
What do you think? Now your Facebook Cover Photo mobile version can rock just like on desktop! Share with a friend!
amanda says
Can you explain why every image no matter the dimensions and including 820×360 stretches on a fan page and none of my images fit despite all of the blogs saying this works at 820×360? Why is it still stretching?
Louise Myers says
You’re welcome to send me screenshots of the original image and where you see it stretched and I can try to figure it out.
Did you try my templates and/or recommended sizes? I have 820 x 461 and 1200 x 674. I don’t find 820 to be wide enough so this width would be enlarged on many devices, but it shouldn’t be stretched out of proportion.
bradley sikunu says
how to move profile picture from middle to left bottom corner of cover photo ?
Louise Myers says
It’s not possible to move the position of your profile photo. On personal profiles it’s in the middle. On business pages it’s to the left.
Kim says
My business page is showing the middle profile image as well. 🙁
Louise Myers says
Was it set up as an actual business page or as a profile?
If it’s truly a business page then it could be just a FB layout experiment. In any event, there’s nothing you can do to change the position of it.
Crystal Posey says
I created a free account, but no matter link I use, when I download the template it is locked and cannot be unlocked. Therefore, I’ll have to create my own template based off of looking at yours. So, unfortunately, it did me no good to create an account and download the template.
Louise Myers says
Hi Crystal,
The template is available right on this page, or as a member on the free resources page. However it is not able to be edited as I don’t allow people to build upon my creations.
Jen says
Hi, Louise! I used your newest 2021 dimensions and my cover image looks great on desktop and on the Facebook mobile app (THANK YOU!). However, if I’m viewing Facebook from my mobile device via Safari, the image is cropped badly. Any way around that one?
Thank you so much!
Louise Myers says
I’ll have to check into that next time I update this article, but don’t worry, most likely a very small number of people view FB that way.
George McConnell says
Hi – very useful article – I have the same issue as Jen though. Whichever browser I use on my mobile device the image is not cropped as I would expect. Perfect on desktop and mobile app. If it makes any difference I opted (after reading lots of advice from different sources) for a relatively large image – a 1920×1080 png – which does look good where properly cropped.
Difficult to be precise, but it seems that I get approx 56% in Chrome and 37% in Firefox – in both cases seemingly cropped equally top and bottom (which is reasonable) but only cropped from the right – so you can only see the left hand side of the full image. In neither case is the image sufficiently shrunk to the appropriate size – I could use a smaller image, but would then lose the resolution.
Definitely an unexplained issue – I don’t see an explanation on any of the “How to do cover pictures” articles online.
Many thanks
Louise Myers says
It’s quite odd. I imagine no one is addressing this bc the number of people looking at your cover photo on a mobile browser is insignificant. Still, I will check this the next time I update.
Jessica says
I used the 1200×674 dimensions and it worked perfectly, thank you so much!!!
Susan says
Any insight for the sizing on the new look Facebook? Seems to be behaving differently.
Louise Myers says
I wish I could! FB has still not given me access to new FB.
Amanda says
Hi I have tried this so many times but it still doesnt work. On my mobile, part of the cover is cut off on my business page. I used the dimensions 820 X 461… any idea how to fix?
Thanks,
Louise Myers says
What device and how severe is the cropping?
There’s definitely a different crop on tablets, which I don’t believe is worth worrying about, since only a tiny fraction of FB users are on tablets.
All I can tell you is the dimensions on the template are still perfect on my devices.
David says
Using the template the cover photo shows up fine on desktop and in the Facebook app on a mobile phone but when using a web browser on a mobile phone things are getting cut off. Not sure what Facebook is doing different in a mobile browser versus the app.
Louise Myers says
How strange. I believe this would represent a miniscule portion of page visitors though.
Dan says
Does the template for FB cover photos work now for both business and personal pages? 1200×458 desktop, cropped from 1200×674 IPhone and 1200×581 IPad?
Louise Myers says
No, this is called out in the article above, with links to the other 3 kinds of Facebook cover photos.
“This article applies to Facebook Business Page cover photos ONLY.”
Here are Facebook Profile Cover Photos.
Russell says
This article is a mess. In order to get “better seo” you fill the article with 99% rubbish peppered with 1 million ads that make it virtually impossible to read. Now i will take your png “template”. make it a psd and give it away for free. Essentially duplicating your page without all of the spam and provide the reader with what they want. This page is part of the 99% of the internet that is total rubbish.
Thanks for being a part of that. And thanks for not being brave enough to approve this 100% truthful comment
Louise Myers says
So you 100% hated my article but are taking my template for your own purposes. Lovely.
“99% rubbish” and “1 million ads” isn’t exactly “100% truthful.”
Have a great day though.
Louise Myers says
More thoughts for you.
“Essentially duplicating your page without all of the spam and provide the reader with what they want.”
That’s 100% stealing, aka copyright infringement.
It appears you think I should figure all this out for you, do it for free (no ads), and not be found by search engines (so you and others can’t find it). And not only that, but it’s OK for you to copy and post it elsewhere.
I guess that makes sense ?
Fortunately I had a kind comment last week from a reader saying they love the thoroughness of my articles. Some do like all the “rubbish,” aka pertinent information.
Daniela says
Hey! I can’t locate where the PSD file is, could you help me?
Thank you so much 🙂
Louise Myers says
Link is in post: https://crmrkt.com/zBV8pM
I don’t offer a free one.
Robin says
Thank you Louise! I’m new at this and your suggestion of 820 X 461 was perfect for mobile and laptop. I wish I saw your page a 3-4 hours ago! All the other dimensions I chose just didn’t work.
Thanks again!
Louise Myers says
You are welcome!
Sara Scheuermann says
Hi Louise,
What about file size? Trying to get my 1200x675px image under 100K seems to be next to impossible. I’m in Photoshop Save for web, saving as a PNG-8 and have to select 4 colours to get the file size below 100K. (Needless to say it’s not pretty!)
Louise Myers says
Honestly I’ve never tried to compress the file that much. In my experience, the bigger the file, the better the result!
Anthony says
Thank you for this. I posted this article on my facebook page.
I also used it for my new banner design… saved me a lot of hassle.
Thanks,
Anthony
Louise Myers says
Glad it helped! Thanks for sharing.