Flyers · Glossary
Twitter profile picture size: 400 x 400 pixels
An X, formerly Twitter, profile picture is a 400 by 400 pixel square, the size the Buffer and Hootsuite guides recommend, and X shows it as a circle. Hootsuite lists a 2 MB file limit for profile photos. JPG and PNG are the usual formats; X's media documentation also accepts GIF and WEBP for images.
The profile picture is the mark that sits beside every post and reply an account makes on X. It is shown at tiny sizes, so it needs to be recognisable as a circle a few dozen pixels across.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
3 min read · Published
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Upload size | 400 x 400 px, square | Buffer, May 2026; Hootsuite, October 2026 |
| Display shape | Circle | Seen on the profile and beside posts |
| Profile photo file size | 2 MB | Hootsuite |
| Image formats accepted by X | JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP | X developer docs |
| Header beside it | 1500 x 500 px, 3:1 | Buffer; see the X header page |
| Corners hidden by the circle | About 21% of the square | Calculated: 1 minus pi over 4 |
A circle cut from a square
X stores the profile picture as a square and displays it as a circle, so the four corners of the upload are never seen. Anything placed there, the end of a name, a small badge, a cropped shoulder, disappears. Centring the subject with a margin of about a tenth of the width on every side keeps it clear of the circle's edge at every size, from the large picture on the profile page to the small one beside a reply.
Where it overlaps the header
On the profile page, the picture sits over the lower left of the 1500 by 500 header. The overlap moves between desktop and the phone app, so the header's lower left is unreliable for text and the profile picture needs its own background colour so it separates from the header photo behind it. A transparent PNG logo may blend into the header and look like a hole.
Recognition at small sizes
In a busy timeline people recognise accounts by colour and shape before they read a name. A single bold mark, a monogram or a face filling most of the circle, in high contrast, does that job. Detailed logos with thin lines, small type or several colours turn into noise at reply size. Keeping the same picture on X, Instagram and LinkedIn also helps people know it is the same business or person.
Common mistakes
Uploading a wide logo that becomes a thin strip in the circle. Using a group photo where each face is tiny. Leaving text near the square's edge. Exporting a large uncompressed PNG over the file limit. And changing the picture for every campaign, which costs the recognition the image exists to build.
Making a profile picture
The flyer editor's X canvas is the Twitter Header at 1500 by 500, which is the header, not the profile picture; the editor has no 400 by 400 canvas and does not make this size directly. A centred mark designed on its Instagram Post canvas, 1080 by 1080, can be scaled to 400 by 400 with the image resizer, and the round image corners tool shows the circle X will display. The blank 400 by 400 PNG on this page is a ready square.
Questions people ask
Should the X profile picture match the header?
They should belong together without repeating each other. A common pattern is a plain coloured profile picture with a bold mark, and a header that carries a photo or a short line. Because the picture overlaps the header, give the picture a solid background so it separates from whatever the header shows behind it.
Why is my X profile picture blurry?
The source was probably smaller than 400 by 400 or was cropped from a small part of a larger photo, then enlarged. Start from a square of at least 400 pixels where the subject already fills most of the frame, and export it as PNG or high quality JPG.
Should a business use its logo or a person's face on X?
A business account usually uses its logo mark so posts are recognised as the company's. A founder or expert account usually uses a face, which tends to feel more personal in replies. Whichever is chosen, keep it consistent with the other social profiles.
What size is the X header?
The header is 1500 by 500 pixels, a 3:1 strip at the top of the profile, and the profile picture overlaps its lower left. The flyer editor has a Twitter Header canvas at exactly 1500 by 500, exported at 3000 by 1000, so the header can be designed there.
How do I preview the circle crop?
Cut a circle from the square with a round corners tool, then view it at about 48 pixels wide, roughly the size beside a post in the timeline. If the mark or face still reads at that size, it will work everywhere on X.
Make one with flyers
The button opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own.
Create a flyer with OneCraftRelated questions
- Threads post size: image dimensions in pixelsThreads post size: square 1080 x 1080 or portrait 1440 x 1800 per Sprout Social, an 8 MB image limit, and Meta's 500 character and 5 minute video limits.
- WhatsApp status size: 1080 x 1920 pixelsWhatsApp status size: make images and videos 1080 x 1920 at 9:16 to fill a phone screen. WhatsApp publishes no pixel spec, and a status expires after 24 hours.
- Twitch banner size: 1200 x 480 pixelsTwitch banner size: profile banner 1200 x 480 (5:2), offline video player banner 1920 x 1080 (16:9), JPEG, PNG or GIF under 10 MB, per streamer guides.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .