YouTube Banner Size Guide (Perfect Channel Art in 2026)
YouTube shows your banner differently on phone, desktop and TV. Here's the correct size, the safe area, and how to crop it right.
Your YouTube banner (channel art) is shown at wildly different sizes on phone, desktop and TV — so a banner that looks fine on your laptop can have its logo cut off on mobile. The key is designing to the right size and keeping everything important inside the safe area. Here's the YouTube banner size guide, plus how to crop yours free.
The correct banner size
Upload your YouTube banner at 2560 × 1440 pixels (16:9). That's the full canvas YouTube stores. But it never shows all of it at once — different devices crop into that image. So while you upload 2560 × 1440, you design for the safe area in the middle.
The all-important safe area
The safe area is 1546 × 423 pixels, centred. That's the only region guaranteed to be visible on every device — phone, desktop and TV. Keep your channel name, logo and any text inside it. Everything outside the safe area is decorative background that may be cropped on smaller screens, so never put anything essential out there.
How to crop your banner (free)
Step 1 — Open the crop/resize tool at sjpt.io.
Step 2 — Upload your artwork.Step 3 — Crop or pad to 2560 × 1440, keeping your key elements within the centred safe area.
Step 4 — Download and upload it to YouTube.
Free, no watermark, no sign-up.
Design tips for every screen
Centre everything important — logo and channel name in the middle safe zone.
Use the outer area for atmosphere — colour, texture or imagery that can be cropped without losing meaning.
Test at small sizes — glance at it as a thumbnail to make sure the text still reads on a phone.
Keep the file under YouTube's limit (6MB) — compress if needed.
Frequently asked questions
What size should a YouTube banner be?Upload at 2560×1440 (16:9), and keep key content within the centred 1546×423 safe area.
What is the YouTube banner safe area?1546×423 pixels in the centre — the region visible on all devices. Keep text and logos inside it.
Why is my banner cut off on mobile?Anything outside the safe area gets cropped on smaller screens. Move essential elements to the centre.
Is cropping a banner free?Yes — crop and resize your channel art free, no watermark, no sign-up.
Key takeaways
Upload a YouTube banner at 2560×1440 but design for the centred 1546×423 safe area so nothing critical is cropped on phone or TV. Crop yours free at sjpt.io. Crop Banner Free →
