You upload a perfectly designed image to Facebook and half your text is missing. Your logo is cut off. The face in your cover photo is sliced at the forehead. It looked fine on your screen — so what happened?
Facebook automatically crops every image you upload to fit standardized display sizes. The problem is that each placement — posts, covers, stories, Reels, ads, carousels, profile pictures — uses a different aspect ratio and different crop behavior. An image that looks perfect as a post gets butchered as a cover. A story that works fullscreen gets cropped to a rectangle in the Reels grid.
This guide explains exactly why Facebook crops your images, how the crop differs by placement, and how to fix it before you upload.
Facebook doesn't display images at their original dimensions. Every image is resized and cropped to fit a target aspect ratio determined by the placement type, the device, and whether the viewer is on mobile or desktop.
The only reliable way to prevent cropping is to match the target aspect ratio before uploading. Use the Facebook image crop tool to pre-crop your image to the exact ratio for your placement.
Headlines, watermarks, or captions placed near the image border get cropped. Keep all text inside the center 80% of the image. Check with the safe zone visualizer.
Desktop shows 820×312 and mobile shows roughly 640×360 — a taller, narrower crop. Content visible on desktop may be hidden on mobile and vice versa. Preview both with the cover photo tool.
Logos placed in corners get covered by Facebook's profile icon (top-left) and reaction buttons (bottom-right). Move logos to the center third of the frame. Preview with the story preview tool.
Tall portrait images get center-cropped to landscape ratios for posts, cutting faces at the top or bottom. Pre-crop to 1200×630 and position the face in the center.
Carousel cards display at 1:1. Non-square images get auto-cropped, and each card may crop differently. Upload all cards at 1080×1080. Preview with the carousel preview tool.
Facebook's "Learn More," "Shop Now," and other CTA buttons overlay the bottom 15-20% of ad images. Avoid placing key content there. Preview with the ad image preview tool.
Every Facebook placement has a different target aspect ratio, which means the same image gets cropped differently depending on where it's shown.
| Placement | Target Ratio | Upload Size | How It Crops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed Post | 1.91:1 | 1200×630 | Center crop; top/bottom cut on tall images |
| Link Preview | 1.91:1 | 1200×630 | Same as post; small images get stretched and blurred |
| Cover (Desktop) | 2.63:1 | 820×312 | Exact fit at correct size; sides cropped if wider |
| Cover (Mobile) | 1.78:1 | 640×360 | Taller crop from center; sides hidden vs desktop |
| Story | 9:16 | 1080×1920 | Fullscreen + UI overlay hides top/bottom 15% |
| Reels (Full) | 9:16 | 1080×1920 | Fullscreen + UI overlay similar to stories |
| Reels (Grid) | ~3:4 | 1080×1920 | Center crop to shorter rectangle; edges lost |
| Profile Picture | 1:1 → circle | 320×320+ | Square upload cropped to circle; corners lost |
| Carousel | 1:1 | 1080×1080 | Center crop if non-square; each card independent |
| Ad (Feed) | 1.91:1 | 1200×628 | Center crop + CTA/headline overlay at bottom |
| Event Cover | 1.91:1 | 1200×628 | Center crop + event title text overlay at bottom |
| Group Cover | 1.91:1 | 1640×856 | Center crop; mobile shows less width |
Verify your image matches the target size with the image size checker before uploading.
You can't change how Facebook crops — but you can upload images that don't need to be cropped. Here's the fix process:
If your image has text overlays, also run it through the text overlay checker to make sure text isn't positioned where it'll be cropped or obscured.
Upload at 820×312 for desktop. Keep important content (text, logo, face) centered in the middle 70% of the image — this is the overlap area visible on both desktop and mobile. Preview with the cover photo preview. For group covers, use 1640×856 and check with the group cover tool. For events, use 1200×628 and verify with the event cover tool.
Upload at 1200×630. This is the most forgiving placement — keep content in the center 90% and it won't be cropped. Tall images (portrait orientation) will be center-cropped to landscape. Preview with the post preview tool.
Upload at 1080×1920 (9:16). The image fills the screen, but Facebook overlays your profile picture and name at the top, and action buttons at the bottom — covering roughly 15% on each end. Keep text and key visuals in the middle 60-70% of the vertical space. Preview stories with the story preview and Reels with the Reels thumbnail preview.
Upload a square image at 320×320 pixels or larger. Facebook clips the square to a circle, cutting roughly 22% of the image area (the corners). Make sure faces, logos, and text fit inside the inscribed circle. Check with the profile picture preview.
Upload all cards at 1080×1080 (1:1 square). Non-square images are auto-cropped per card, and the results can be unpredictable. Preview the full set with the carousel preview tool.
Upload at 1200×628 for feed ads. Avoid placing text or logos in the bottom 20% — this is where Facebook layers the CTA button and headline. Use the ad image preview to check, and the text overlay checker to verify text coverage.
These free tools let you pre-crop, preview, and verify your images before uploading to Facebook: