YouTube Channel Banner Size
A channel banner is one file shown on four kinds of screen, and each one displays a different slice of it. The upload size is 2560 × 1440, but the number that decides whether the banner works is the safe area inside it: 1546 × 423.
YouTube Channel banner size calculator
Pre-filled with 2560 × 1440, the size YouTube expects for a channel banner.
- Fraction
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- Closest common ratio
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- Reduced by
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Custom Ratio — pick a preset or type your own
- New size
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- Total pixels
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- CSS
aspect-ratio: —;
The 16:9 ratio is locked in. Edit New Width and the channel banner height recalculates instantly; edit the height and the width follows. Sizes round to whole pixels, because platforms do not accept fractional ones.
Recently used sizes
Saved in this browser only. Click a size to load it back into the calculator.
One image, four crops
Upload a single 2560 × 1440 picture and YouTube does not scale it down for smaller screens. It keeps the full width and cuts height instead, because the width is what fills the row across the top of the channel.
A television shows the whole 16:9 canvas. A desktop browser shows a wide horizontal strip from the middle. A phone shows the narrowest band of all, and the intersection of those four views — the part guaranteed to appear on every device — is a centred box measuring 1546 × 423 pixels.
YouTube banner specification
Build on the recommended canvas, not the minimum one. The minimum exists so a small upload is accepted, not so that it looks good on a living-room screen.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Recommended size | 2560 × 1440 px (16:9) |
| Minimum accepted size | 2048 × 1152 px |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Maximum file size | 6 MB |
| Formats | JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP |
| Safe area on a 2560 × 1440 canvas | 1546 × 423 px, centred |
| Safe area on a 2048 × 1152 canvas | 1235 × 338 px, centred |
How to size a banner and place the safe area
The canvas is a whole 16:9 frame, so the unit method applies directly. The safe area is then a second calculation on top of the first.
- Divide the width by 16: 2560 ÷ 16 = 160 px per unit.
- Multiply by 9 to confirm the height: 160 × 9 = 1440 px.
- Check the total is within the 6 MB cap before uploading. A 2560 × 1440 JPEG lands well under it; a PNG of the same size may not.
- Find the centre of the canvas and mark a 1546 × 423 box there — that is the only area every device shows.
- Keep names, logos and schedules inside that box, leave the rest as background, and export as JPG or PNG.
Worked example
The minimum accepted canvas is 2048 × 1152, and its safe area is quoted as 1235 × 338. Scaling both up by 1.25 gives 2560 × 1440 and 1544 × 423, which is the figure normally quoted for the recommended canvas — the same box, expressed for a larger file. Nothing about the layout changes; only the pixel count does. That is why designing on the minimum canvas and then enlarging is the wrong order: the artwork gets soft while the proportions stay identical.
Designing inside the 1546 × 423 box
The safe area sits in the middle of the canvas, and its top edge starts roughly 509 pixels down from the top of a 2560 × 1440 file, with about 507 pixels of margin on either side. Everything that has to be read goes inside it: the channel name, the logo, the upload schedule, the one-line promise.
What is left over is not waste. The outer canvas is what makes the banner look like a considered piece on a television, and it can be cut away on a phone without the design falling apart. The mistake is a layout that depends on the full canvas, because most of the audience never sees it.
- Draw the safe box as a guide layer and design inside it first, then extend the background outwards.
- Do not bake in a border, shadow or frame. YouTube crops the file differently per device, so any frame drawn on the canvas gets sliced open.
- Set the channel name as text in the safe area even if it also appears in the image. The text field is indexed; pixels are not.
- Preview on a phone as well as a desktop before publishing. YouTube's uploader shows the TV, desktop and mobile crops side by side.
How each device crops the same file
The mobile column is the one to design for, because it shows the least and carries most of the traffic.
| Device | Visible region | What it means for the design |
|---|---|---|
| TV | The full 2560 × 1440 | Background artwork pays off here and almost nowhere else |
| Desktop | A wide strip about 2560 × 423 | Top and bottom of the canvas disappear |
| Tablet | About 1855 × 423 | Slightly narrower than desktop, same height |
| Phone | About 1546 × 423 | The narrowest band; effectively the safe area itself |
YouTube Channel banner size FAQ
What is the YouTube banner safe area?
It is the centred 1546 × 423 region of a 2560 × 1440 banner that appears on every device. Mobile shows the least of the banner of any device, so the safe area is effectively what a phone displays.
Can I upload a smaller banner?
2048 × 1152 is the minimum YouTube accepts, and it will display — it simply gets upscaled on a large screen and looks softer than a 2560 × 1440 upload would. Building on the recommended canvas and letting YouTube scale down is always sharper than the reverse.
Why is my PNG rejected as too large?
The cap is 6 MB regardless of format. A photographic 2560 × 1440 PNG can exceed it easily, while the same image as a quality JPEG is usually a small fraction of that. Exporting at double size is the other common cause.
Does the banner show in full anywhere?
On a television it does, which is the reason the recommended size is that large. Every smaller screen shows a horizontal band from the middle, narrower as the screen shrinks.