WhatsApp Image Size Guide: Every Format, Ratio and Limit

Vamsi Mullapudi

Last Updated: 18 September 2026

The right WhatsApp image size depends on where the image appears. Profile photo: 1080 × 1080, shown as a circle. Status: 1080 × 1920 at 9:16. Chat photos are compressed unless you send them in HD or as a document. Business API template headers: JPG or PNG under 5 MB, best at a 12:7 ratio such as 1200 × 700. Stickers: exactly 512 × 512 WebP.

WhatsApp runs three rulebooks: the consumer app, the WhatsApp Business app, and the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API that tools like Spur send through). This guide covers all three. Every number was checked against the WhatsApp Help Center and Meta's developer docs on 18 September 2026, and figures that come from user testing rather than an official page are marked as such.

Bookmark this table. Each row is expanded in its own section below.

Sending images through software rather than a phone? The rules change. The WhatsApp Business API guide explains what the platform is and why its media limits are stricter.

WhatsApp re-encodes every photo you attach from the gallery. The Help Center says media "might be lower than the original version because media files are usually compressed when shared". You have three ways to send the same photo, and they give very different results.

1. Attach the photo, then tap the HD control at the top of the editor and choose HD quality.
2. To make it the default: Settings, then Storage and data, then Media upload quality, and select HD quality.
3. HD is not offered for status updates or profile pictures, so design those two surfaces for standard compression.

1. Tap the attachment icon and choose Document, not Gallery.
2. Pick the image or video file. Anything up to 2 GB goes through with no compression.
3. The recipient sees a file card and taps to open it. Tell them what it is in the caption.

On the WhatsApp Business Platform there is no compression setting, only hard limits. These are Meta's published numbers.

The clause that catches designers is "8-bit, RGB or RGBA". A 16-bit PNG or a CMYK JPEG from a print workflow is refused at upload. Export in sRGB at 8-bit and the problem disappears. If an API image still fails, WhatsApp messages not delivered covers the other causes.

• Export at twice the display size so compression has detail to spare.
• PNG for flat graphics and text, JPG for photographs.
• Never screenshot an image to resend it. That bakes one compression pass into the next. Forwarding does not recompress.

Customer photos count too. Media on WhatsApp's servers expires quickly, so Spur keeps every inbound image for 30 days where your team can still open it.

Upload a 1080 × 1080 square and design for a circle. Every profile photo is displayed round, in the chat list, the conversation header and group info, so the four corners of your square are never seen.

• Flat colours and bold shapes survive the downscale. Thin type and photographic detail turn to mush at chat-list size.
• Leave the edges as plain background. Anything near the corner is cropped on every screen.

The WhatsApp Business app lets you add a cover photo above the profile details. WhatsApp publishes no dimensions for it. It is shown as a wide landscape banner and cropped in the app when you upload.

• Start from a high resolution landscape image, for example 1920 × 1080.
• Keep the subject and any text in the middle third and check the crop preview before saving.
• The cover photo is public by default, like the profile photo.
• Businesses with a Meta Verified subscription go through a review when they change the profile name or picture. Our WhatsApp Business pricing comparison covers what else that subscription changes.

Design status at 1080 × 1920 pixels, 9:16, and keep everything important in the middle. WhatsApp confirms 9:16 as the supported ratio. Wider images are letterboxed and a square floats in the middle with background colour around it.

• Design for compression: large type, high contrast, flat backgrounds, no fine gradients or tiny product labels.
• Check on a real phone. The covered zones vary slightly by device, which is why the safe zone leaves margin.
• Status ads open a chat with your business, so plan the reply. Click to WhatsApp ads covers the post-click flow.

Export template header images at 1200 × 700 pixels (12:7) as a JPG or PNG under 5 MB. Templates are the pre-approved messages a business sends through the API for broadcasts, order updates and reminders, and the header is the image most customers see first.

Meta's documentation gives no pixel dimensions for header images, which is why every provider publishes its own. WhatsApp accepts ratios between 1:1 and 16:9 and then crops the image to fit the bubble on the recipient's device. The crop is not smart. If your headline sits near an edge, it goes.

Spur's help centre lists the full set of allowed template file formats and the template image design guide has a frame for each ratio. Looping GIF headers are covered separately.

Design every card at 17:10, exported at 1700 × 1000 pixels, with the same framing on each. A media carousel is a template with two to ten swipeable cards, each with an image or video header, optional body text and up to two buttons.

• Meta requires every card to have the same components. If one card has body text, all must.
• Media on each card is automatically cropped to a wide ratio, so mixed ratios produce uneven cards.
• The carousel template walkthrough shows the builder step by step.

• Wrong file type, over the size limit, or a 16-bit PNG fails at upload, before review even starts.
• Rejections after upload come from the text, the category or a policy clause, not the picture. WhatsApp template rejected reasons and fixes has the checklist.

A sharp header is half the job. The copy and timing that make people answer are the other half, covered in how to get more replies on WhatsApp broadcasts.

Export catalog images at 1080 × 1080 pixels, square, with the product centred and space on every side. Catalog thumbnails are square and sit side by side, so consistency matters more here than anywhere else.

• Same background, same lighting, same framing across every item, so the grid reads as one shop.
• Shopify stores skip manual uploads. Product images follow the catalog sync, which is why how to add WhatsApp to Shopify starts with the product feed.

Use a 1200 × 630 og:image under 600 KB. When you paste a link into a chat, WhatsApp fetches the page and builds the preview card from four Open Graph tags in the page head. Meta documents the rules precisely.

• Over 600 KB, WhatsApp shows the card with no image and no error. A 1200 × 630 JPG or WebP at good quality usually lands well under 300 KB.
• WhatsApp caches the preview per URL. If you change the image, publish it under a new file name or the old card keeps showing.
• Send the link to yourself first. It is the only test that matters.
• The same tags control what customers see when you share a wa.me link. The WhatsApp link guide covers the format, and the free WhatsApp link generator and WhatsApp QR code generator build one with a pre-filled message.

Stickers are the one WhatsApp image with no tolerance. Every value below is a requirement from WhatsApp's published sticker specification, not a recommendation, and nothing is resized for you.

Three message types have their own rules and are easy to miss in a size guide.

Voice and video notes are recorded live, so there is nothing to export. View once is a toggle on a normal photo or video, so the image sizes above still apply. Treat it as a privacy feature, not a security one: WhatsApp reduces screenshots, it does not prevent a second phone pointed at the screen.

The video limit is where most guides are out of date. Many still quote 16 MB for videos in the app. WhatsApp's Help Center now states 64 MB as the maximum on all platforms, with a default of 100 MB at 720p on a fast connection and 64 MB at 480p on a slow one. The 16 MB figure survives only on the Business API.

Run through this before an image goes into a broadcast, a template submission or a status post.

Spur sends WhatsApp messages through the Business API, so the API limits above are the ones that apply.

• Template and broadcast headers: upload a JPG or PNG under 5 MB and Spur passes it to Meta through the required resumable upload.
• Carousels: up to ten cards with the same component rules Meta enforces.
• GIF headers: loop inline when kept under 3.5 MB.
• Inbound media: stored for 30 days rather than expiring with WhatsApp's own media links.

Plans start at $12 a month and every plan includes unlimited broadcasts. See the current plans and pricing, or try Spur free for seven days.

There is no single size because each surface has its own shape. Use 1080 × 1080 for profile photos and catalog items, 1080 × 1920 for status, 1200 × 700 for Business API template headers, 1700 × 1000 for carousel cards, 1200 × 630 for link preview images and exactly 512 × 512 for stickers. For chat photos, send the original in HD or as a document.

Upload a square at 1080 × 1080 pixels. WhatsApp's minimum is 192 by 192, but the image is downscaled on upload and shown as a circle, so start large and keep the logo inside the central 70 percent. HD upload is not available for profile pictures.

1080 × 1920 pixels, a 9:16 ratio, which fills the phone screen without cropping. Keep text and logos in the middle, because WhatsApp draws the name bar over the top and the reply field over the bottom. Status videos are limited to 90 seconds and there is no HD option for status.

WhatsApp compresses photos on send so they load quickly. Choose HD in the media editor, or set HD as the default under Settings, Storage and data, Media upload quality. For the original file with no compression at all, including 4K video, attach it as a document instead of a photo. Documents can be up to 2 GB.

Export the header at 1200 × 700 pixels (12:7) as a JPG or PNG under 5 MB. WhatsApp accepts anything between 1:1 and 16:9 but crops to fit the bubble, and 12:7 loses the least. Carousel cards should be 17:10, for example 1700 × 1000, with the same framing on every card.

Exactly 512 × 512 pixels in WebP. Static stickers must be 100 KB or less and animated stickers 500 KB or less, with animations no longer than 10 seconds. WhatsApp recommends an 8 px white stroke and a transparent background. Packs hold 3 to 30 stickers plus a 96 × 96 tray icon under 50 KB.

Use a 1200 × 630 image. Meta requires at least 300 px of width, an aspect ratio of 4:1 or less and a file under 600 KB, referenced by an absolute URL in the og:image tag inside the page head. Over 600 KB, WhatsApp shows the preview without any image.

In the app WhatsApp states 64 MB as the maximum for videos, with a default of 100 MB at 720p on faster connections. Status videos are capped at 90 seconds and video notes at 60 seconds. On the Business API the limit is 16 MB. The safest export everywhere is MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. Larger or 4K files go from the app as a document, up to 2 GB.

• Profile photo and catalog: 1080 × 1080, designed for the circle or the square grid.
• Status: 1080 × 1920, everything important in the middle 65 percent.
• Chat photos: HD or a document when sharpness matters.
• Template headers: 1200 × 700, JPG or PNG under 5 MB. Carousel cards: 1700 × 1000.
• Link previews: 1200 × 630 under 600 KB. Stickers: exactly 512 × 512 WebP.

Save these as export presets once and the blurry photos, cropped headlines and missing preview images stop for good. If you send through the Business API, start a free trial of Spur and upload your first template header sized to the frame it will actually be shown in.