YouTube banner size, dimensions and ratio
The correct YouTube banner size is 2560 × 1440 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio. YouTube uses this single large image to render every device view, cropping down from a TV-sized canvas to a mobile-safe strip. The file must be under 6 MB and saved as JPG, PNG, GIF (non-animated) or BMP. This is the official upload spec YouTube lists for channel art, and it is the only size that guarantees your banner stays sharp on a television while still being readable on a phone.
Creators often search for "YouTube channel banner dimensions" or "YouTube banner size 2026" and the answer is the same every year: 2560 by 1440 pixels at 16:9. The reason the number does not change is that the platform is locked to a 16:9 header area, so any image that fits the ratio will scale cleanly without black bars or unexpected cropping.
The 1546 × 423 safe area explained
The most important part of a YouTube banner is the safe area of 1546 × 423 pixels in the exact centre of the 2560 × 1440 canvas. This is the only rectangle visible on every device, including the smallest phones. Your channel name, logo, tagline, upload schedule and any call-to-action must sit inside this centre strip, with a comfortable margin from the edges so nothing is trimmed.
Outside the safe area, treat the remaining canvas as decorative bleed. Wide monitors and TVs show more of it, while phones and narrow tablets show almost none. Use gradients, patterns or brand colour blocks in the outer regions, but never place text, faces or critical branding there.
Why one image has five different crops
YouTube asks for a single 2560×1440 file and then crops it differently for every screen. A television shows almost the whole canvas, a desktop browser shows a wide horizontal strip of 2560 × 423, a typical laptop shows 1855 × 423, and a phone shows only the 1546 × 423 centre. That is why a banner designed by eye on a laptop so often looks broken on mobile: the designer placed the logo where the laptop crop happens to end, not in the centre where every device keeps it.
Design the centre first, then treat everything around it as bonus space that some viewers will never see. If you already have a custom image, drop it into the banner checker at the top of this page to verify the safe area before uploading to YouTube.
Export settings that keep it sharp
- Canvas: 2560 × 1440 px at 72 dpi, RGB colour.
- Format: JPG for photographic banners, PNG when you have flat colour and crisp type.
- Weight: stay under the 6 MB ceiling; 1–3 MB is plenty.
- Type size: set headline text at 120 px or larger on the full canvas so it survives the mobile downscale.
- Contrast: check the banner against both light and dark interface themes before publishing.
Free YouTube banner template
Click the "Download 2560×1440 template" button at the top of the page to save a blank PNG template with the 1546×423 safe area and the desktop crop marked. Open it in Photoshop, Canva, Figma, GIMP or any image editor. The template is the exact YouTube banner size, so you never have to guess the canvas or the safe area.
What a high-converting banner says
The best channel art answers three questions in under two seconds: what is this channel about, who is it for, and when do new videos arrive. A cooking channel might read "15-minute weeknight dinners — new recipe every Tuesday". That single line does more for subscriptions than any amount of decorative artwork. Keep the profile picture and banner colour palette consistent with your thumbnails so a viewer who arrives from a search result immediately recognises they are in the right place.
Match your channel art to your video thumbnails using the thumbnail size guide, and pull reference images from other channels with the thumbnail downloader. If you want the same banner text to rank your videos, generate metadata with the tag generator and preview how your visuals will look across devices in the thumbnail checker.
When to refresh your channel art
Update your banner whenever your upload schedule, series line-up or branding changes. A banner that states what the channel covers and when new videos drop converts browsers into subscribers. The 2560 × 1440 size stays the same, so the only thing that changes is the message. Save the old version as a backup, upload the new one, and preview it on mobile and desktop within YouTube Studio to confirm the safe area survived the crop.