YouTube banner size and safe-zone editor
The short answer
A YouTube channel banner should be 2560 × 1440 pixels (16:9), with all text and logos inside the centre 1546 × 423 safe area, and the file must be 6 MB or smaller — checked 31 July 2026.
Source: YouTube Help — Channel banner & profile picture tips · Last checked · READ FROM SOURCE
Workbench
2560 × 1440 · 16:9
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Why this asset is awkward
YouTube shows a different slice of the same banner on every surface. A television app renders the entire 16:9 image, a desktop browser keeps the full width but only a 423-pixel-tall band, a tablet trims the sides, and a phone shows nothing but the 1546 × 423 centre. That is why banners that look balanced in a design tool arrive on a phone with the channel name sliced in half.
The editor below solves it by showing all four crops at once from a single upload. Move the image until your wordmark sits inside the safe area on the mobile frame, and every larger surface is automatically correct. Nothing is uploaded anywhere — the crop and the export both happen in this browser tab.
Exact specification
| Asset | Pixels | Ratio | Formats | File limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube channel banner | 2560 × 1440 | 16:9 | png, jpeg | 6.00 MB |
This one page also answers: youtube banner dimensions, youtube channel art size, youtube banner template size. They describe the same asset, so they share a single URL rather than getting a thin page each.
What the overlays mean
The shaded band is the 1546 × 423 text-and-logo safe area YouTube publishes. It is the only part of the banner guaranteed to be visible on every device. Everything outside it is background: use it for texture, colour and bleed, never for a tagline, a schedule or a social handle.
- Text and logo safe areakeep content here
- The 1546 × 423 centre region (1235 × 338 at the 2048 × 1152 minimum). YouTube states this area stays visible on every device, so keep names, taglines and logos inside it.
Three things that go wrong
- 01
Design for the phone crop, decorate for the TV crop
Put your channel name and one short promise inside the safe area, then let the artwork bleed outward. If the outer region were deleted entirely, the banner should still make sense.
- 02
Do not paste a 1546 × 423 strip into a 2560 × 1440 canvas
A common mistake is designing only the safe area and padding it with flat colour. On a TV that reads as a small label floating in an empty field. Fill the whole canvas with something.
- 03
Watch the file size, not just the pixels
A photographic 2560 × 1440 PNG can pass 10 MB and get rejected at 6 MB. Export JPEG at quality 0.82–0.9 and check the byte counter under the download button before you upload.
Questions people actually ask
What is the YouTube banner safe area in pixels?
It is 1546 × 423 pixels at the recommended 2560 × 1440 canvas, or 1235 × 338 at the 2048 × 1152 minimum upload. Both describe the same centred region — about 60% of the width and 29% of the height — because YouTube scales the safe area with the canvas.
Is 2048 × 1152 good enough for a YouTube banner?
It is the minimum YouTube accepts, and it will look fine on phones and laptops. On a large television the image is being stretched, so 2560 × 1440 is the better upload if you have the source resolution for it. This editor will warn you if your source image is too small to fill either size without upscaling.
Why does my YouTube banner look blurry after uploading?
Either the source was smaller than 2048 × 1152 and got upscaled, or the JPEG quality was pushed low to squeeze under 6 MB. Check the upscale warning in the editor: if it says your image is being enlarged, the fix is a bigger source file, not a different export setting.
What file format should a YouTube banner be?
JPEG or PNG. JPEG is usually right for photographic banners because it stays comfortably under the 6 MB ceiling. Use PNG when the banner is flat colour, gradients or text, where JPEG artefacts show up around hard edges.
More YouTube sizes
The same job on other platforms
Need several of these at once? The One Image to Social Pack takes a single focal point and exports every destination you choose as one ZIP with a manifest.