Flyers · Glossary
Facebook profile picture size: upload and display
A Facebook profile picture should be a square of at least 320 by 320 pixels, the size social media guides from Buffer, Sprout Social and Hootsuite recommend. Facebook shows it as a circle on profiles, Pages, posts and comments, so the corners of the square are cut off and the subject belongs in the centre.
On a business Page the profile picture appears far more often than the cover: beside every post, every reply and every ad. It is shown tiny, so its job is recognition, not information.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
4 min read · Published
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended upload | 320 x 320 px, square | Buffer, Sprout Social, Hootsuite |
| Display shape | Circle | All three guides |
| Corners hidden by the circle | About 21% of the square | Calculated: 1 minus pi over 4 |
| Smallest common display | Beside comments, a few dozen pixels across | Seen in the app; not published as a number |
| Cover photo beside it | 851 x 315 px | Buffer; see the Facebook cover size page |
| Blank canvas on this page | 320 x 320 px PNG | This page |
Why a small square is enough
A profile picture is displayed small everywhere it appears, from the top of a Page to the corner of a comment. A 320 pixel square already carries more detail than those displays use, even on high density screens, which is why the major size guides settle on that figure. Uploading a larger square does no harm, and it gives Facebook a sharper source if the picture is opened full size. The important part is that the upload is square; a rectangle forces Facebook to pick a crop.
The circle and the cover
On a Page or profile, the picture overlaps the bottom of the cover photo. That overlap differs between desktop and phone, so the cover's lower left area is unreliable for text, and the profile picture needs a solid background that separates it from whatever the cover shows behind it. A white logo on a transparent PNG can vanish over a light cover; give the mark its own coloured disc.
Faces and logos
A personal profile reads best as a face filling most of the circle, lit evenly, looking toward the camera. A business usually does better with its icon rather than its full logo, because a wordmark with a tagline shrinks to an illegible line. Keep the mark inside the middle 80 percent of the square so it does not touch the circle's edge. Using the same picture on Facebook and Instagram helps people confirm they found the right business.
Common mistakes
Uploading a wide logo that becomes a thin strip in the circle. Placing initials near the edge of the square, where the circle cuts them. Using a photo with a cluttered background. Changing the picture for every campaign, which weakens recognition in people's feeds. And using a low resolution image that was cropped from a group photo, which looks soft when someone taps to open it.
Making a profile picture
The flyer editor has no 320 by 320 canvas, so it does not make this size directly. Its Instagram Post canvas is a 1080 by 1080 square and exports at 2160 by 2160; a centred mark designed there can be scaled down with the image resizer, and the round image corners tool cuts the circle to preview what Facebook will show. The blank 320 by 320 PNG on this page is also a ready square for any editor.
Questions people ask
Can a Facebook Page use a different picture from the owner's profile?
Yes. A Page has its own profile picture, separate from the personal profile of the person who manages it. Businesses usually use a logo mark for the Page and keep a personal photo on the manager's own profile, so customers see the brand while friends still see a face.
Why does Facebook crop my picture differently on a phone?
The circle is the same, but the picture sits over the cover photo at a different position, and some views show it smaller. A centred subject with a margin around it looks the same in every view, which is the simplest way to avoid surprises.
Is PNG or JPG better for a profile picture?
PNG keeps logos and flat colour crisp, and it supports transparency, though a transparent background may show as a colour that clashes with the cover. JPG suits photographs. For logos, export a PNG with a solid background colour to control exactly what appears.
Should the profile picture include the business name?
Only if the name is short and is the logo itself. A long name shrinks to an unreadable line inside a small circle, and Facebook already prints the Page name beside the picture almost everywhere it appears. A simple icon, monogram or initials in strong contrast is easier to recognise at comment size.
How do I check the crop before uploading?
Cut a circle from the square with a round corners tool, then look at it at around 40 pixels wide, the size of a comment avatar. If the face or mark still reads at that size, the picture will work across Facebook, from the Page header down to a reply in a long comment thread.
Make one with flyers
The button opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own.
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Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .