How to Change Your Facebook Cover Photo

Go to your profile to select a new Facebook cover photo

What to Know

  • From a computer, open your profile page and choose Edit cover photo superimposed on your current cover photo.
  • In the menu, choose Select photo or Upload photo, pick an image, and then choose Save changes.
  • From the app, on your profile page, tap the camera, and then Upload photo or Select photo on Facebook.

This article explains how to change your Facebook cover photo on the web or the Facebook mobile app.

Change Your Facebook Cover Photo on a Computer

Changing your cover photo is easy and will immediately revamp how your Facebook profile looks. The cover photo is different from your profile image; it's much larger and sits above and behind your profile picture.

  1. Open Facebook and select your name to get to your profile page.

  2. Scroll to the top of the page to see the entire cover photo area.

  3. Choose Edit cover photo.

    Edit Cover Photo button on Facebook
  4. Choose an appropriate option:

    • Select photo lets you pick an existing image from your Facebook profile.
    • Upload photo is for just that: select a photo from your computer that you want as the cover photo.
    • Create avatar cover photo will let you design a digital version of yourself with your choice of a graphic background.
    • Reposition lets you change how the existing cover photo looks. You might do this if it's not showing the whole image, or you want to refocus on a different part of the photo.
    • Remove is for deleting your Facebook cover photo.
  5. Follow the directions for the option you chose. For example, if you picked Select photo, choose an image you've already uploaded.

    List of recent Facebook photos
  6. Drag the cover photo to position it how you want, and then select Save changes.

    Facebook cover photo edit screen

Change Your Facebook Cover Photo via the App

Follow these steps to change your cover photo from the Facebook app:

Specific steps may differ based on the operating system version you're running, but the basic process will be the same.

  1. Select the menu button at the top right of the app.

  2. Tap your profile picture.

  3. Select the camera icon at the bottom of your existing cover photo.

  4. Select one of these options:

    • Create avatar cover photo to design a digital version of yourself on a fake background.
    • Upload photo to pick an image from your device.
    • Select photo on Facebook to make a previously uploaded image the cover photo. This might be called Select from album on some devices.
    • Create cover collage to choose images on your device that you want to combine into a collage for your photo.
    Facebook app menu, profile, and cover photo options
  5. Locate and select the image you want to use for your Facebook cover photo.

  6. Drag the image if you need to so that it fits correctly in the cover photo area, and then tap SAVE or Use.

    facebook app drag to adjust new cover photo

Tips for Changing Your Facebook Cover Photo

As you can see above, changing the cover photo is easy. What you'll probably find more difficult is choosing a great photo.

You don't want to select just anything from your profile or a random photo from your computer. Beyond the image having a purpose for your specific profile, it should also fit correctly on the screen.

Follow these tips to make the best cover photo for your Facebook profile, but also remember that you're restricted in some ways on what you can do.

  • The picture must be 400 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall, at minimum. Ideally, it should be 851x315 pixels. To ensure fast load time, make the image less than 100 KB. See the other Facebook cover photo dimensions here.
  • You can't make the current cover photo private; it must be public. However, you can make older ones private by locating them in the Cover photos album and changing who can see them (e.g., certain friends only or only you).
  • Pictures with a logo or text are best saved as PNGs, whereas "real life" images look best saved as JPGs.
  • All Facebook friends will get a notification on their News Feed that you uploaded your cover photo. The only way to stop this is to quickly change the post's visibility to Only me after you changed the photo, or to uncheck Share your update to News Feed if you're changing it from the app. Or, before the change, adjust your privacy settings so that nobody can see your future posts.
  • Add a watermark to your image to make sure your brand stays with it if it gets stolen.
FAQ
  • What size is a Facebook cover photo?

    Facebook recommends that the best viewing format for cover photos on a computer is 820 width x 312 height and 640 width x 360 height for smartphones.

  • How do I make a temporary cover photo on Facebook?

    To add a temporary cover photo on Facebook, select the camera icon on your current cover photo and choose Upload Photo or Add Frame > Make Temporary and set the time length. On the app, tap your profile picture > Select Profile Picture > Make Temporary.

  • How do I resize a Facebook cover photo?

    You can resize your photo to optimize it as a Facebook cover photo with an image-editing tool like Canva, PicMonkey, or Photoshop. The tool you choose will have an edit or crop option that allows you to resize the photo so it works as a Facebook cover photo.

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