A YouTube channel banner looks simple until you preview it on a phone and your channel name is sliced in half. The reason is that one image has to work on televisions, desktop browsers and mobile screens, and each one crops it differently.
The recommended size
YouTube recommends uploading a banner at 2560 x 1440 pixels, with a minimum of 2048 x 1152 and a file size under 6 MB. That’s a 16:9 image, the same shape as a TV screen, which is the largest place your banner is shown. Guidelines like these get revised occasionally, so confirm the numbers in YouTube’s help pages if you’re doing a full channel redesign.
The safe area is what really matters
On a desktop or phone, YouTube shows only a thin strip from the middle of your banner. The commonly cited safe area is about 1546 x 423 pixels, centered. Anything outside that strip may be cut off on some devices. The tall space above and below it only appears on TVs.
The practical rule: put your channel name, logo, tagline and any text inside the central strip. Use the outer area only for background color or texture that can afford to disappear.
How to build one that works everywhere
- Create a 2560 x 1440 canvas.
- Draw a guide box around the central 1546 x 423 area.
- Place all important content inside that box.
- Extend your background to the full canvas so TVs show something good looking.
- Export as JPG or PNG under 6 MB.
Design tips
- Keep text short. A channel name and a one-line promise is plenty. Upload schedules in tiny type are unreadable on a phone.
- Use high contrast. Text needs to stand out from a busy photo background.
- Avoid placing key content near the sides of the safe strip. Leave a small margin even inside it.
- Remember the links. YouTube can overlay your social links in the bottom right corner of the banner, so don’t put important details there.
Photos or illustration?
Either works as long as it’s sharp. Starting from a small photo and stretching it to 2560 pixels wide will look soft. If your source image is too small, read can you increase image resolution to know what’s realistic.
Keeping the file size down
A banner full of fine detail can exceed 6 MB as a PNG. If that happens, save it as a JPG at around quality 85, which is usually a fraction of the size. Our guide on the JPG quality setting explains the trade-off.
Matching your other graphics
Your banner sits above your profile picture and video thumbnails, so keep the colors and fonts consistent. For those other pieces, see the YouTube thumbnail size guide and our advice on profile pictures.
Need to scale an existing design to 2560 x 1440 without distortion? Use our free image resizer with the aspect ratio locked.