Facebook Page Cover Photo Size and FREE Template 2022

Updated on: January 17, 2022 by Louise Myers 334 Comments

Got the right Facebook Page Cover Photo size?

Want it to look good on both desktop AND mobile?

Smart! Optimizing your Facebook content for mobile is non-negotiable, since most Facebook users will only see it there.

But you can have it both ways: Here’s a Facebook Page Cover Photo mobile template that also works great on desktop.

Updated for New Facebook 2022! Good news – it’s simpler than ever.

Read on…

1 | Facebook users who visit your Page on desktop only see a sliver of your cover photo unless they scroll up. See screenshot above.

2 | Almost 4/5 of users will never see your Page on desktop. 79% of Facebook users ONLY access the site by mobile (up from 51.7% in January 2016). source

3 | Virtually all users will see your Page on mobile at some point. In 2020, 98 percent of active user accounts worldwide accessed Facebook via mobile devices. source

Convinced? Onward…

Facebook has 4 different kinds of cover photos, each with a different shape on desktop vs. mobile.

Cover photos have a wider aspect ratio on desktop. They’re taller on mobile.

This isn’t because Facebook is trying to confuse designers! It’s because a browser window is wide. A mobile device is tall. FB is trying to accommodate these completely different displays.

However, Facebook doesn’t help us much when they tell us:

Your Page’s cover photo displays at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on your Page on computers and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones.

Yeah. Well that would be great if we could actually upload a separate image for mobile and desktop. But we can’t!

What we need to do is design one cover photo that works for both places.

This article will explain how to do that for Facebook Business Page cover photos ONLY.

For other cover photos, click the links for details and free templates:

Facebook Profile Cover Photo size

Facebook Group Cover Photo size

Facebook Event Cover Photo size

Here’s the bottom line. Not a lot has changed for the Page cover photo dimensions.

The mobile version stayed the same, per my iPhone display. It’s still a delightfully simple 16×9 proportion.

See it in all its simple beauty below:

And the Page cover photo is also clean and clear of overlays on tablet, with the exact same cropping shown on phones. So that’s good!

The cropping on the desktop version has become a bit more severe in New Facebook. Whereas Facebook is still telling us:

Your Page’s cover photo: Displays at 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on your Page on computers source

I find it’s been cropped down to only 303 pixels tall at that 820 width.

Here’s how the mobile to desktop crop plays out now, in New Facebook. The purple dotted line shows the 16×9 cover photo on mobile while the green dotted line shows how it crops on desktop:

More details on sizing when you get to my template further down this article.

The biggest visual changes on desktop are:

1 | The repositioning of the profile picture from left of the banner image, to below it. There’s only a tiny bit of overlap, so this won’t mess up you banner design.

2 | The gradient bar at the sides. If you’re struggling with how it looks, I’ll explain more about it at the end of the article.

Let’s jump right in. It doesn’t have to be difficult.

If you don’t want to mess with Photoshop and templates, make your FB header the easy way – with Snappa!

Snappa has integrated Facebook’s cover photo dimensions and safe zones into their graphic design tool, so it’ll look perfect on both phones and computers.

Inside Snappa, you’ll also find:

Read on for instructions. Or jump in and try it out now!

• • • Create a Facebook cover photo for free NOW! • • •

Disclosure: IF you upgrade to a paid plan, I may receive a referral fee.

I agree – it’s tricky to design your Facebook cover photo to display properly on both mobile and desktop. Designing with “safe zones” will get you a Facebook cover photo that looks great on all devices!

Facebook doesn’t stretch and distort your image to fit different devices – it crops it automatically instead.

On a mobile device, your Facebook cover photo will crop out the sides, while showing more of the cover photo’s height.

And on a desktop device, Facebook displays more of your cover photo’s width, while cropping the top and bottom.

You can quickly see the difference below.

Using the Facebook cover photo size of 820 pixels by 360 pixels and keeping critical elements within safe zones will ensure that nothing important gets cut off on either mobile devices or desktop.

If you’re ready to create a Facebook cover photo, Snappa’s powerful and easy-to-use graphics builder has made this process incredibly simple.

Here’s a step-by-step video showing you how to create a Facebook Page cover photo in the optimal size using Snappa.

Or, follow these screenshots to walk you through the process.

Choose the Facebook cover photo preset for a perfect cover photo size – automatically!

Next, choose a premade Facebook Cover template (which is fully customizable), or create a cover photo from scratch.

Even if you use a template, you can upload your own image – or choose from Snappa’s library of free images.

Add text, graphics, shapes, and effects to any part of the image.

All of these add-ons can be:

You’ll notice that there’s an overlay showing the mobile and desktop only zones of your Facebook cover so you’ll never have to worry about text and graphics getting cut off. ?

Ready to get going?

• • • Create a Facebook cover photo for free NOW! • • •

Disclosure: IF you upgrade to a paid plan, I may receive a referral fee.

Prefer Photoshop, or another Canva alternative?

Your mobile Cover Photo will no longer have the sides rudely chopped off with this template.

The secret is to make your image much taller than the recommended 820 x 312 pixels – 461 pixels tall, to be exact.

As I mentioned above, the crop on desktop is now only 303 tall if you use the 820 pixel width. This gives you 79 pixels top and bottom that will be cropped on desktop.

I tried different aspect ratios, and this one worked best. You may lose a pixel or two on one or more of the edges on mobile. Nothing worth worrying about!

You have a choice of 2 templates here: low resolution (820 x 461 pixels) and high rez (1200 x 674 pixels).

I do recommend that you make your cover photo larger than 820 pixels for best resolution. The one just below is 820 pixels wide, Facebook’s recommended width.

Just right click the image below to download, and choose “Save Image As…”

For high-resolution version and instructions, keep scrolling!

Even better – Make your Facebook Page Cover Photo BIGGER! I recommend 1200 x 674. Right click here to download the LARGE template.

This template is so close to the recommended size for link shares that you can multi-purpose it. It’s also the perfect size for tweeted images. The proportion is 16:9.

1. Open in Photoshop or other graphics editing program that has layers.

2. Change Image > Mode to RGB (the template is an indexed color PNG).

3. Add guidelines to match template, or use template as a translucent layer for guidance.

4. Delete template from image file when your design is done.

If your design program doesn’t have layers, you can use them for size and visual reference.

There are more social media templates in the Free Member Area.

Photoshop Smart Objects! They let you preview how your design will look on desktop, phone, and tablet. Move your images and text around and see the mockups update before your eyes!

Purchase these social media header templates on Creative Market.

Disclosure: I’m a Creative Market affiliate and will make a small referral fee if you purchase.

I believe the small cost is well worth the time you’ll save.

When you upload your Cover Photo on desktop, you can adjust the top cropping so it’s positioned top-to-bottom exactly as you like it.

If you upload on mobile, it will crop to center automatically in desktop view. However, I don’t recommend this, as the compression is terrible!

Stick to uploading a PNG file via your desktop computer and it will look 10 times better.

New to “New Facebook” is the addition of a gradient (or ombré) color bar to the left and right of the cover photo on desktop.

The gradient can add a nice splash of color when you have a solid background that reflects your brand colors.

Or it can look weird if your cover photo is actually – a photo! Or has different color blocks on either side.

Here’s how it works: Facebook is pulling a color from the top outer edges of your header image. And if the image is different on either side, then so is the gradient.

You can see a couple examples below to help inform your cover photo creation:

Don’t forget to visit these other articles for details and more FREE cover photo templates:

Facebook Profile Cover Photo size

Facebook Group Cover Photo size

Facebook Event Cover Photo size

For all Facebook dimensions, including ads, check out: 

ALL Facebook image dimensions with infographics

For all the social media platforms in one place, with links to in-depth articles on many of the topics:

Try Snappa online design tool for free!

Their templates give you the perfect size, with safe zones to ensure your beautiful design looks great on both desktop and phone.

• • • Create a Facebook cover photo for free NOW! • • •

Disclosure: IF you upgrade to a paid plan, I may receive a referral fee.

What do you think? Now your Facebook Cover Photo size can rock on mobile just like on desktop! Share with a friend.

Filed Under: Facebook Tips Tagged With: Facebook photo size dimensions, Facebook Timeline cover photo, optimize photos for facebook