LinkedIn Profile Banner Sizes and Templates for 2025 [With 9 Actionable Tips Inside!]
Your LinkedIn banner is the first thing people see when they visit your profile. It spans the full width of the page, sits behind your photo, and takes up more visual real estate than almost anything else on your profile.
Most people leave it as the default blue gradient. That's a mistake.
A well-designed banner reinforces your personal brand, communicates what you do, and makes your profile look like it belongs to someone who takes their professional presence seriously. Here's everything you need to know to get it right.
What Is a LinkedIn Profile Banner? (And Why You Need It)
A LinkedIn profile banner, also called a background photo or cover image, is the large horizontal image that sits at the top of your LinkedIn profile behind your profile picture. It's the visual backdrop that frames your entire profile.
LinkedIn added this feature to give professionals a dedicated space for personal branding. Unlike your profile photo, which is constrained to a small circle, the banner gives you a wide canvas to communicate who you are, what you do, and what you stand for.
Why does it matter? When a recruiter, potential client, or new connection visits your profile, they form an impression in seconds. The banner is part of that first read. A blank or default banner signals one of two things: you haven't thought about your profile, or you don't care about your professional image. Neither is the impression you want to make.
A custom banner, even a simple one, signals intentionality. It shows you've put thought into how you present yourself. Beyond aesthetics, it's also a branding opportunity. It's the one place on your profile where you have full creative control over a large visual space.
How to Change Your LinkedIn Profile Banner
Changing your banner takes about two minutes:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile
- Click the camera icon that appears when you hover over the banner area (top right of the banner)
- Select "Change photo" or "Upload photo"
- Choose your image file
- Adjust the crop if needed
- Click "Apply"
That's it. The change is live immediately.
Everything About the Ideal LinkedIn Banner Sizes
Getting the dimensions right is the most technical part of creating a LinkedIn banner. Get it wrong and your image will look pixelated, cropped in the wrong places, or stretched.
LinkedIn Banner Sizes and Dimensions
The official LinkedIn profile banner size is 1584 x 396 pixels with an aspect ratio of 4:1.
LinkedIn Banner Dimensions Breakdown
- Recommended size: 1584 x 396 pixels
- Minimum size: 1192 x 220 pixels (will look blurry on high-resolution screens)
- Maximum file size: 8MB
- Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, GIF (static only, no animated GIFs)
And here's something most people don't know:
LinkedIn crops the banner differently on desktop versus mobile. On desktop, the full image shows. On mobile, the sides get cropped and the bottom portion gets covered by your profile photo and name.
Safe zone for important content: Keep text and key visuals in the center 60% of the image, and avoid placing anything in the bottom 20% of the banner. That area gets covered by your profile photo on most screen sizes. Always check your banner on mobile after uploading.
Where to Find LinkedIn Banners
You don't need to create your banner from scratch. Several tools offer LinkedIn-specific templates:
Canva is the most popular option. Search "LinkedIn banner" in the template library and you'll find hundreds of starting points. The free tier is more than enough for most people.
Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) has a clean interface and solid templates. The free version covers the basics.
Figma is better if you're comfortable with design tools and want more control. Set up a 1584 x 396 artboard and build from scratch.
Snappa is a lesser-known option with good LinkedIn templates and a simple drag-and-drop editor.
PosterMyWall and Visme also have LinkedIn banner templates worth exploring.
Free LinkedIn Banner Templates You Can Use Right Now
All of the tools above offer free templates. In Canva specifically, search "LinkedIn banner" and filter by free. You'll find clean, professional designs across every industry. Pick one that matches your color palette, swap in your text, and you're done. The whole process takes 20-30 minutes.
Should You Use Text in Your LinkedIn Banner?
Yes, but sparingly. Text in your banner can reinforce your headline, communicate your value proposition, or include a call to action. The key is keeping it short and readable.
Limit text to one or two short lines. Long sentences get hard to read at banner scale, and they look cluttered. Think tagline, not paragraph. "Brand strategy for early-stage startups" works. A paragraph about your services does not.
Also consider that text renders differently on different screen sizes. What looks balanced on a 27-inch monitor can get cropped or obscured on a phone. Stick to the center of the image and test on mobile before publishing.
Create Your Own LinkedIn Profile Banner (7 Templates You Cannot Go Wrong With)
Not sure what to put on your banner? Here are seven proven approaches that work across different professional contexts.
1. Your Business Solutions in Action
Show your work, not just your title. If you're a consultant, designer, or service provider, feature a visual that represents the outcome you deliver. A data analyst might show a clean dashboard. A copywriter might feature a headline they're proud of. This approach immediately communicates what you do without requiring the visitor to read your headline.
2. Company Branding and Mission
If you're representing a company, use your brand's visual identity. Your company logo, brand colors, and a one-line mission statement create a professional, cohesive look. This works especially well for founders, executives, and anyone whose personal brand is closely tied to their company.
3. Your Team
A photo of your team in action humanizes your profile and signals that you're part of something bigger than yourself. This works well for managers, team leads, and anyone who wants to emphasize culture and collaboration. Keep the photo high-quality and make sure it's recent.
4. Achievements in the Field and Social Proof
Numbers build credibility fast. "Helped 200+ companies grow their pipeline" or "Featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, and Inc." as a banner element tells visitors something concrete about your track record before they've read a single word of your profile. Keep the stat specific and verifiable.
5. Your Product or Service
If you have a product, show it. A clean product screenshot, a mockup, or a visual of your service in action can be more compelling than any text description. This works particularly well for SaaS founders, product managers, and anyone whose work has a visual component.
6. Abstract Icons
Not every banner needs to be literal. Abstract icons, patterns, or geometric designs in your brand colors create a polished, professional look without requiring specific content. This is a good fallback if you're not sure what else to use. It's better than the default blue gradient and takes minimal effort to create in Canva.
7. Finally, Something Quirky
If your personal brand has a distinct personality, let it show. A creative professional might use an illustration. A speaker might use a photo from a talk. A writer might feature a quote they love. The key is that it should feel intentional and authentic, not random. Quirky works when it's consistent with who you are.
BONUS: 9 LinkedIn Profile Banner Tips to Knock It Out of the Park
1. Match It to Your Headline
Your banner and headline should tell the same story. If your headline says you help SaaS companies reduce churn, your banner could reinforce that with a simple tagline or visual. Consistency builds credibility.
2. Keep Text Short and Readable
If you add text to your banner, limit it to one or two short lines. Long sentences get hard to read at banner scale, and they look cluttered. Think tagline, not paragraph.
3. Use Your Brand Colors
If you work for a company or run your own business, use your brand's color palette. It creates visual consistency across your profile and any content you share.
4. Test It on Mobile Before Publishing
Upload your banner, then check your profile on your phone. What looks balanced on a large monitor can look completely different on a small screen. The safe zone rule helps, but always verify.
5. Avoid Stock Photo Clichés
Handshakes, cityscapes, and generic "teamwork" photos are everywhere. They don't say anything specific about you. If you're going to use a photo, make it relevant to your actual work or industry.
6. Include a Subtle Call to Action
Some people add a small CTA to their banner: "Book a call," "Download my guide," or a website URL. This works well if you're actively generating leads from LinkedIn. Keep it subtle. It shouldn't feel like an ad.
7. Update It When Your Focus Changes
Your banner isn't permanent. If you change roles, launch a new product, or shift your professional focus, update your banner to reflect that. A stale banner from a previous job can confuse visitors.
8. Use Contrast for Readability
If you add text, make sure it contrasts with the background. Light text on a dark background, or dark text on a light background. Low-contrast text is hard to read and looks unprofessional.
9. Don't Overcrowd It
The banner is a visual anchor, not a billboard. One clear message, one visual element, and some breathing room will always outperform a banner packed with logos, text, and graphics.
Before You Choose Your LinkedIn Profile Banner...
A few things that consistently make banners look bad:
Pixelated images. Always use the recommended dimensions. Uploading a small image that gets stretched looks worse than the default banner.
Too many fonts. Stick to one or two. Mixing five different typefaces looks chaotic.
Irrelevant imagery. A photo of a mountain range is beautiful, but if you're a software engineer, it doesn't say anything about your work.
Outdated information. A banner promoting a product you no longer sell or a company you left two years ago creates confusion.
Ignoring mobile. A significant portion of LinkedIn browsing happens on phones. If your banner looks great on desktop but gets cropped awkwardly on mobile, fix it.
Your LinkedIn banner takes 20-30 minutes to create and lasts for months or years. The return on that time investment is real: a more polished profile, a stronger first impression, and a clearer signal to anyone who visits about who you are and what you do.
Start with Canva, pick a template that fits your industry, and customize it with your colors and a short tagline. That's it. You don't need to overthink it.
Once your profile looks the part, the next step is making it work for you. Outly automates LinkedIn outreach so your optimized profile starts generating conversations without you having to manually send every message. Plans start at $39.99/month.
